“Everybody, clear out,” a firefighter with a megaphone yells from a spot near Ivan. “Could be danger of more collapse. We’re working on this last metal beam.”

I look to see if Ivan’s fingers are moving.

Nothing.

“Hold on, Ivan!” I yell.

Nothing.

Sometimes nothing is the worst sound in the world.

Ruby lets out a little elephant cry, and then I realize maybe that’s the worst sound in the world.

cpr

The wind dies down to a whisper, as if the world is holding its breath along with the rest of us.

“Do you have any vets standing by?” asks Officer Williams as two more ambulances screech to a halt nearby.

“Yes.” Maya nods. “Not sure when they’ll get here, though.”

Officer Williams waves down an ambulance crew member. “You ever give CPR to a gorilla?”

“Primate’s a primate, I guess,” he says, but he doesn’t look too sure. “What’s going on?”

“We’re waiting on equipment, but we’re stretched pretty thin. Lot of structural damage on the north side of town,” says Officer Williams. “They’re going to get a chain on that last beam, try pulling it free with one of the cars.”

“Somebody under there?”

“Gorilla, we think. Not sure what else. Or who else.”

I look at all the cement. All the wood and metal. Nobody could survive that. Not even a silverback gorilla with the strength of eight men.

And yet. Ivan’s fingers moved.

And then they didn’t.

Several minutes pass. The rain slows a bit, along with the wind. The crowd watches as three firefighters attach a long chain to the metal beam next to Ivan, then hook it to a tow bar on the rear of a police car.

“Back up, folks!” calls the megaphone guy. “Farther!”

The chain clanks, the car growls, the wheels squeal.

Grinding. Groaning.

Progress. Just a bit.

The big chunk of metal has definitely moved a whisker or two.

More grinding. Wheels dig holes in the ground. Mud flies like thick brown rain.

A lurch. A snap.

Clanks and rumbles as the big beam jerks free.

The rescue workers move in, digging with their bare hands. Cement and dust and metal and bits and pieces of Gorilla World are everywhere.

But where is Ivan?

no

No movement, nothing.

But after a few more minutes, one thing is clear.

A gorilla-shaped mound has appeared. Covered by dust and dirt and debris and splattered with rain.

It just lies there.

I’ve lost a lot in my life.

My whole family. Stella.

But Ivan? No. It can’t happen.

Not Ivan.

miracle

The mound sits up.

gorilla ghost

Ivan emerges from a cloud of dust like a jumbo-sized ghost.

He blinks several times. Coughs. Shakes. Stretches a little.

He’s holding a banana.

Which he proceeds to eat.

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, cheers.

wolf on the run