There was a man that had to go on a business trip in another country, so he asked his friend if he could take care of his pet ape while he was away. His friend agreed, and the man proceeded to give him specific directions.

The man led his friend to a bookcase in his study. He tilted one of the books on the shelf, and the bookcase creaked open. There was a huge steel door with 12 locks. The man showed his friend how to unlock the door, and then they proceeded down a long, dark staircase, lit only by candles. At the bottom of the stairs, there was another huge steel door with 12 locks. The man showed his friend how to unlock this door as well.

The door opened into a huge room, completely empty except for a large cage in the center of the room.

The man led his friend to this cage, and inside sat a small, furry, purple ball. "This is my purple ape" the man said proudly. "To feed and water him, you need only to pull out the drawer in the bottom of the cage, and deposit the food and water there.... Whatever you do... don't touch him!!"

The man's friend thought this somewhat bizarre, but agreed, and assured the man that everything would be fine. The next day, the friend went to the house, pulled on the book, unlocked the 12 locks, went down the stairs, unlocked the 12 locks on the second door, and entered the room.

He went to the cage, opened the drawer, deposited the food and water, closed the drawer, and began to walk away. He stopped about half way across the room, and thought to himself, "I wonder what happens when you touch him?"

He turned, walked back to the cage, and reached in, touching the small purple ball. The ball began to twitch, and then tremble. Suddenly, the small purple ball grew into a huge purple ape, that was foaming at the mouth, growling, and snarling. The friend was instantly terrified, and began to run away. Just as he reached the door, he heard the ape tearing through the bars of the cage. He slammed the door shut, and ran up the stairs.

When he got to the top, he heard the ape busting through the door, and coming after him. He slammed the second door, and closed the bookcase. "This thing really wants to kill me," he thought, as he ran out of the house. As he got into his cab in front of the house, he saw the purple ape breaking out of the front door, drooling, and bearing his teeth. "Drive as fast as you can!" he yelled to the cab driver as the car sped away. They drove for almost a hour, but every time the man turned around, the ape was behind them. "Take me to the airport, I'll bet he can't fly" the man said. They reached the airport, and the man boarded a small passenger plane, took off, and felt safe.

But, when he looked down, he could see the ape running directly after him. "Fly over that huge lake, I'll bet he can't swim" the man directed to the pilot, and over the water they flew. The man looked down, and sure enough, below him, the purple ape swam.

Just then, the plane began to spit and sputter, and the pilot handed him a parachute. "we have to bail" the pilot said. So they jumped from the plane. The pilot's parachute opened, and he drifted safely to the ground.

The man's parachute, however, did not open. He fell straight into the water. As he came up for air, he remembered the purple ape, and began to panic.

He could hear the beast writhing behind him as he swam for his life. He reached a huge cliff along the bank and began to climb, all the while hearing the ape pursuing him to kill him. He reached the top, and began to run. Just then, his foot got caught on a vine and he fell, breaking his leg. That was the end, he couldn't run with a broken leg. He decided to accept that his time had come. As the purple ape rushed up on him, he began to pray to the heavens that all his sins be forgiven. Just then, the ape reached out, gently touched the man's arm, and said....




"TAG... You're it!!!"