Little Tarzan was spending a happy evening playing with his mother Kala; rolling about each other, tree climbing, fighting lessons and a happy hour of a tickle war which Tarzan always enjoyably lost.
As night fell, Kala lay down, brought Tarzan to her chest and wrapped him up warmly. She soothed him to sleep with a lullaby she had sung to him ever since he was baby and he drifted off in ten seconds.
Tarzan awoke unexpectedly and surprisingly extremely hot. He wiggled out of his mother's grasp, crawled away and lay ontop of her round, warm belly. Even then he still felt rather hot. He climbed off his mother and found a nearby puddle. He looked into it and reflection revealed a brown gorilla just like his mother. He jumped for joy at the amazing sight, careful not to wake any of the snoring gorillas nearby. He went back tonhisnnest and climbed back onto Kala's belly. He would sleep there tonight to give her a shocking surprise; waking up to find he ran gone and see him as an ape. Maybe he would earn Kerchak's respect.
The sound of singing birds woke Tarzan up but he was rather drowsy. Kala's belly was drifting him and down so he couldn't help but relax a little more in his sleep.
A short while later, he heard his mother chuckle as she stroked him lovingly. "Good morning, my little ape."
That made him realise.
"Mom!" he cried as he sat up. "I'm an ape now! Look at me! I'm an a-"
He looked at his arms that were now hairless and so were his feet. He felt his face which always felt the same for him.
"Tarzan?" asked Kala concerned.
He hopped off his mother and sat at a corner.
"Last night I woke up as an ape," he complained. "It must have been a dream."
Kala sympathetically got up and sat down next to him. Next thing she knew, he started to sob.
"I know, dear one," she said as she picked him up and cuddled him. "Dreams can seem real and very disappointing when you wake up.
"It's not fair!" he wailed as he sobbed into Kala's chest.
Kala soothed him and sang to him in her usual gentle, beautiful voice.
Come stop your crying, it'll be alright
Just take my hand, hold it tight
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here don't you cry
Tarzan's sobbing stopped and he nuzzled into his mother's embrace. At which time, he listened to a familiar sound:
"I feel your heart!"
"Of course you do," chuckled his mother. "The very thing that makes us the same as each other. While you may not have the body of ape, you are one deep inside."
She hugged him tight. "You'll always be an ape to me."
"Thanks, Mom," said Tarzan as pressed his face to his mother's chest.
"Now," she said playfully. "We have a little score to settle."
With those words, they were ticking each other endlessly. They settled their
laughter with Kala lying down on her back and holding her son in the air with her feet.
"Can apes fly, Mom?"
"There is one flying now," Kala smiled. "Apes can do anything they want if they believe."
She brought Tarzan down and covered him in a huge hug.