Hannah wiped her hand across her sweaty forehead as she pushed back her hat. “I still think this was a bad idea,” Mary complained. “I still do not believe that the purple baboon exists. And you dragged ME all the way out to Africa to look for one...” Mary grumbled.
Hannah ignored her sister, knowing full well that Mary had begged to come along. “…And another thing, I am pretty sure that even normal baboons don’t live in the jungle. Could we please look somewhere else? Like Hawaii maybe? Or the woods behind our house perhaps? Then at least Bruce could come with us.” Mary finished. Hannah stopped walking and turned around to look at her.
“It does not matter where we go, that cat is not coming with us!” Hannah scowled.
“Bruce is not just ‘that cat’; he’s a part of the family!” Mary yelled. Hannah’s face turned beet red and she exploded.

“Shut up already! I am so sick of all your whining and complaining, if you don’t want to do this, you can just go home! We are looking for the purple baboon and that’s all that matters!” Hannah finished, and turned on her heel to stomp through the jungle again. Mary said nothing, but quietly followed Hannah through the jungle, wishing for the millionth time that they were not sisters, let alone twins.
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Hannah stopped walking and looked around: it was near lunch time and she knew it. “I’m hungry!” Mary exclaimed walking up behind Hannah.
“Yeah, me too! But I don’t know where we can find food way out here deep in the jungle.” Hannah sighed.
“Maybe we could catch a deer or something.” Mary commented.
“There aren’t any deer in Africa! Besides how would we cook it?” Hannah shook her head in dismay at her sister. Mary grumbled and started looking around, but all she could see were trees and trees. “Wait, what are those over there? On that tree, right there, are those apples or something?” Mary pointed. They both broke out into a run and raced to the tree. “Here’s some on the ground we can eat!” Mary said in anticipation. They grabbed some of the fruit off the ground and hungrily ate it. “You’re right, they taste like apples!” Hannah said in between bites. “They must be the African version of apples.”
“I think I like the way our apples taste better. These are gross!” Mary wrinkled up her nose.
“Stop complaining! We’re lucky to have even found food! We could have died or something…” Hannah exclaimed. “…Or even worse, eaten by a lion.” Mary was quiet a moment then suddenly her head jerked up.
“What’s that noise?” She cried.
Hannah quieted down as well and looking around. “Do you think that was a lion?” Mary whispered. “It is lunch time; it’s probably really hungry, with there being no deer in Africa for him to eat.” They both stopped. Something was out there! They froze, not daring to move or even breath.
Suddenly, there was a loud roar sending both girls screaming off and running up a tree. “Hurry up Mary, you climb too slow! We’re gonna be eaten!” Hannah yelled.
“I’m hurrying!” Mary cried back. They climbed up and sat on the first branch, their legs dangling in the air. “Do you think lions can climb trees?” Mary said just above a whisper.
“Well, Bruce is too fat to climb and lions are even bigger, so no.” Hannah said.
“WHAT! Did you just call Bruce fat?” Mary shrieked and turned to look at her sister. Hannah sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward, but stopped mid roll because something caught her eye. ‘What is that?’ Hannah thought. She tipped her head back farther and looked up higher in the tree. She caught a glimpse of something that looked purple. “Stop Mary, what is that up there?” Hannah pointed to the spot for her sister to look.
“I don’t know, a purple shirt blowing in the wind?” Mary said.
“No… there is… no wind…” Hannah’s jaw dropped suddenly.”Wait, Mary, is that… what I think it is?” Hannah said slowly.
Mary gasped. “It is! It’s a…”
Hannah cut her off. “A BABOON! Mary! We found our purple baboon!” Hannah screamed. They both then scrambled down from the tree to get a better look from under the tree.
“Wait, it’s gone.” Hannah said sadly.
“It’s okay Hannah, we saw it. And that’s all that matters!” Mary said patting her sister on the back. Hannah sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“I know, but we don’t have a picture or anything of it. No one will believe us!” Hannah cried.
“We know what we saw and if our friends don’t believe us, who cares!” Mary said and threw her hands in the air to show her enthusiasm.
Hannah wiped her tears away and mustered up a smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Hannah sighed. Mary grinned and gave Hannah a hug.
Suddenly a yell broke through the silence. “It’s mom!” Mary cried. She broke free from the embrace and looked in the direction of the noise.
“I think she said it’s time for lunch.” Hannah suggested.
“Oh good, I’m still hungry! Those African apples were not enough.” Mary said with relief. “Race you to the edge of the woods!” Hannah cried. And with that both girls broke into a run and raced home to tell their mother of their adventure.