The scene was every bystander’s nightmare: a young, curious monkey, separated from its troop, had scrambled up a utility pole and now clung precariously close to high-voltage electricity lines. The air buzzed with lethal current. One slip, one moment of contact, would mean instant electrocution.
Below, a crowd gathered, their faces etched with horror. Among them was Kong, a local electrician who knew the deadly stakes better than anyone. He saw the monkey’s confused, terrified eyes and made a split-second decision. He was trying to rescue it.
Without protective gear meant for such voltages, his every move was a calculated risk. He shouted for the power to be cut, but knew it could take too long. Grabbing an insulated fiberglass pole from his truck, he began to climb an adjacent pole, careful to maintain a safe distance. His plan was not to touch the monkey directly, but to use the pole to gently guide it downward, away from the lines.
The monkey, startled by the movement, shrieked and inched even closer to the humming cables. The crowd gasped. Kong, trying to rescue, froze, his heart pounding. He began making soft, calming clicks with his tongue—a sound he used with stray animals. The monkey paused, its attention shifting from the wires to the man.
With painstaking slowness, Kong extended the insulated pole and gently tapped the structure behind the monkey, encouraging it to move downward. After an agonizing minute, the monkey descended a few feet. Seizing the moment, Kong quickly climbed down and positioned a long wooden plank from a nearby tree to the pole, creating an escape route.
Finally, with one last anxious look at the wires, the monkey scrambled onto the plank and leaped into the branches of the tree, vanishing into the foliage. The crowd erupted in relieved cheers.
Kong, the man trying to rescue, descended, his hands trembling not from the climb, but from the aftermath of adrenaline. He hadn’t made direct contact, but he had bridged a gap of understanding between species in the shadow of high-voltage electricity. The rescue was a victory, a fragile life saved not by force, but by steady nerves, gentle persuasion, and a profound refusal to stand by and watch tragedy unfold.
