Tarzan: Daughter and Son
by S.M. Scott
Disclaimer: I do not own Tarzan, Disney does. I only own the characters I made up. Take Chuimbo and Elizabeth, for example.
Growing up "African"
Eleven years had passed since the day Chuimba and Elizabeth were born into a loving, even if rather strange, family. After all, Chuimba and Elizabeth-who everybody now called Eliza- both had a father who was orphaned in the jungle, raised by gorillas, swung from vines, surfed the trees, generally only wore a loincloth, was now the leader of that same family of gorillas, and fought vicious jungle animals, and sometimes, troublesome humans. He always came out the victor, and his name was Tarzan. But, Chuimba and Eliza were quite used to it.
Their mother, on the other hand, was an Englishwoman from London and apparently went on an expedition to Africa with her father, and their grandfather, Professor Archimedes Q. Porter. They both decided, in the end, to stay in Africa with Tarzan, and he and Jane were married in the jungle...I think. Even though Jane Porter was really a well brought-up Victorian lady, she had also changed considerably and adapted to the ways of the jungle, with both its' breathtaking beauty and perilous dangers. Their father was there to guide and protect her, and them.
Their Grandad, Professor Porter, was the one who oversaw their education by home-schooling them in all of their academics, their mother taught them about manners and etiquette. Eliza was the better-behaved of the twins. She learned everything she needed to and learned well, but still found time to make friends with the gorillas, and Terk and Tantor. Chuimba was different from his twin sister as night and day. Of course he loved her, but he often thought she could be annoying, and worse, boring. Chuimba was closest to his father. He looked up to Tarzan as a kind of hero who would always do what it took to protect his family and keep it all together, but still didn't realize that Tarzan had another family. For some reason, his mother didn't even want Chuimba to learn about all the things his father had to, let alone putting them into practice. Chuimba knew he was only eleven and the jungle was a dangerous place. But he did still get annoyed! He wasn't a baby anymore!
There were also times when his father could also make quite an effort at being what was termed "civilized." On these occasions, for example, Chuimba's and Eliza's shared birthdays, Tarzan was to be seen dressed in his father's best suit. Chuimba and Elizabeth never were told anything about how their paternal grandparents really died. Only that they were 'very sick', and it was a long time ago. At present, Chuimba was still sleeping in his treehouse cot. Maybe he would get away with sleeping in a bit later than usual, since it was the weekend and all. But no such luck.
Eliza, Chuimba's twin sister had said, "Wake up, Chuimba. Just because it's a Saturday doesn't mean you get to be what Grandad Porter calls a slugabed. Dad is going to take us to visit the gorillas. And don't you dare go back to sleep, because Mum has made us breakfast." Since Elizabeth had an eye on Chuimba, all he could do was stretch, stifle a yawn best as he could and say, "Yeah, yeah, I'm up Eliza, Bloody..."
"And don't you dare use that language. You know Mum and Dad told you not to." Elizabeth snapped. "Especially not in front of girls." Chuimba was bursting to retort that it was the jungle, and no one should care what language he used. It also didn't help that he had just gotten what felt like a completely rude awakening. But Chuimba knew his sister would just go and tell on him. Blast all sisters, why couldn't he have had a brother for a twin instead?
"Chuimba, Elizabeth, your breakfast is ready." Jane called from the dining table. Breakfast that morning consisted of porridge, mango slices, and bananas with coconut milk for the children. Jane had also prepared tea since she was never particularly fond of coconut milk, especially since that day quite a few years ago when Tantor had offered her and Tarzan coconut milk fresh from his trunk. So tea it was for Jane. Chuimba, on the other hand, couldn't stand porridge. He tried to make it look as though he ate some of it, but Eliza saw that trick. "Chuimba, eat your porridge." Of course, Chuimba hated to be told to eat porridge even more than trying to force it down. "I'm not eating that, it's mushy and disgusting. Dad only had fruit to eat anyway." Chuimba said, as though that was that and Eliza could say no more.
But Tarzan said, "Chuimba, your sister's right. You're both growing, and that disgusting mush is very good for you. At least eat a few spoonfuls, and then we will go visit Terk and Tantor."
"Yes, Dad." Said Chuimba, resigning himself to tackling those spoonfuls. The sooner he ate them, the sooner he would get to see Terk and Tantor, who were the best friends a growing boy could have, after first place, which his Dad always took for him. "Good morning, everyone!"
Their grandfather, Professor Porter had just arrived with the mail. "Jane my dear, we have a telegram and letter all the way from London. From your Aunt Theodora and Uncle George." Jane's Aunt Theodora was her mother's elder sister, and was a socialite married to her Uncle George, the Lord Danford. The children of course, were as yet unaware of that. "Mummy, you never told us about this Aunt and Uncle." Elizabeth pointed out. "They have never even visited us."
"That's because your Aunt and Uncle are constantly very busy most of the time in England, and your Aunt and Uncle never cared for the jungle anyway, and they only ever read about it. They are, shall we say, a very particular sort of people." Jane explained. "But nothing's wrong with the jungle!" Chuimba protested. "Shhh! Mummy's going to read the letter." Elizabeth said.