Savage Tales

chimpanzee, or one of the cannibalistic Ant-men.
    A gray bearded face rose up through the hole. The eyes met mine.
    I dropped the knife. I began to cry and ran to him, holding onto something I thought I'd never know again.
    He held me like that for a long, long time.

    When I had finally accepted that it was really him, that he had somehow returned – and like myself he had aged and looked different with the hair on his face – he started saying her name again and again. Surrounded by other words of nonsense, but again that name, Jane, Jane. I shook my head and looked at him and shook my hand like he would shake it when he left. I waved and tried to say Goodbye and it came out like "Paaaahhhh". But I think he understood.
    He slept deep that night and I was so excited to have him back. In the morning he said her name again and again and pointed in different directions in the jungle. I shook my head. There was no way to understand how long ago it had been, how long he had been gone. Even if he found her trail, she would be long gone.
    He kept asking, and finally I led him down to the path she had taken, so long ago. He looked at the dirt for any sign of her small footprint, any inkling that she had indeed walked it. There was none, of course, the rain long since having taken any record of her passage away.
    He followed the trail to its end near the big waterfall, and I followed him. I would not let him out of my sight again. When we reached the water he looked around. At the opposite end of the lake at the waterfall's bottom was a hut. I did not think that it would be her, but he was excited. We went down to this hut and looked inside. Living there was one of the cannibalistic Ant-men. The dazed creature took Tarzan's aged face for weakness and tried to attack. Fool! Tarzan rushed him and pinned him to the ground under his knees. Then he began to talk differently and I knew he was speaking the language of the Ant-men and I would hear the word Jane again and again. The Ant-man shook his head repeatedly, but with every blow Tarzan dealt him he grew weaker in will. Finally the beaten man pointed and Tarzan lifted him and made him go somewhere with us.
    We went around the lake a ways and took a different trail that brought us to a small village. It smelled of Ant-men. I did not want to go near it, but Tarzan walked boldly forth and there was nothing to do but follow. Ant-men eyeballed us greedily as we went through and Tarzan ignored them, going to the village center. There the king of that Ant-man village spoke with Tarzan. They exchanged words harshly and I expected more violence, but instead the king pointed to a large cage filled with human bones. The king pointed to a specific set of bones and Tarzan yelled. He said some more and the Ant-men opened the cage and Tarzan took the bones. Then he left the village and let the beaten Ant-man go. I followed Tarzan and we returned to our hut.
    Tarzan took the bones to the base of our tree and began to dig. When he had a large hole many feet deep he placed the bones inside with the greatest care and covered them with dirt. He patted the dirt firmly and water came from his eyes.
    I found myself whimpering when I saw his eyes water. I reached my hand out to his head and scratched it. He looked up at me, and through his tears I saw him smile a little. And in his smile I saw Jane.

THE E MPEROR AND THE FISHERMAN

    Lapis sky, green palms, sand the color of pale gold – these things and more had been manufactured inside the sexy money bin of Alaskan emperor Juan Carlos XXIV. Outside it may have been subzero and higher than your head in snow, but in here the waves of warmth washed over Juan in an orgy of warmth, decadence. He grabbed a bowl from a servant's hand and pressed a nozzle on the wall, and out came ice cream. It was purple and would not decide its flavor until Juan gave it the aura of thought, casting it in his image.
    "What's on the agenda today, Virago?" said Juan.
    Virago, his eunuch, said, "You have a miniature golf game with your aunt at three."
    "Such tedious affairs. How do I land myself inside them?"
    "You are scheduled, sire."
    "And sometimes I would like to schedule some freedom. Is that so much to ask?"
    "You are the leader, sir. You have your duties. The land would crumble without you."
    Scraping his face melodramatically in the sand, Juan cocked an eyebrow as a thought flitted through his mind. "Would it?" he said. "Would it in fact crumble?"
    "I speak