The White Gorilla: Asylum Falls

By Bruce Holmberg

Everywhere you look, there are warnings. On food labels, at the gas stations, in our cars, on our clothes, even the toothpaste we use. There are warnings at every level of life, but the one warning that Seymour will never forget is what his father and grandfather always drilled into him. Never touch a White Gorilla. But the question is, Why? Does this creature even exist? Unravel the intriguing answers in The White Gorilla, a fascinating novel by Bruce Holmberg.

The White Gorilla has been an urban legend for hundreds of years and based in many different cultures. Asylum Falls is the last place the White Gorilla is spotted. Seymours newest Dumples Donut Hole Shoppe was built in Asylum Falls not by accident but by design. The grand opening is going to cause more than minor problems for Seymours friends and take a tragic turn one which is going to shape all their lives. Seymour has to know if the White Gorilla is real and why his father and grandfather had told him, Never touch a White Gorilla. Will Seymour live to regret finding the answers to his questions?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 29, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462843220

Bruce Holmberg

Bruce Holmberg was born in Chicago in 1948. He spent his school years and adult life in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and is the father of four children and grandfather of three granddaughters. He is currently an owner of an advertising specialties company and has been writing stories of the White Gorilla for over thirty-five years.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Everywhere you look, there are warnings. On food labels, at the gas stations, in our cars, on our clothes, even the toothpaste we use. Authorities warn us not to cross streets except at the corners, to wait an hour after eating to go in the water, not to make faces at our parents, or our face will freeze that way. There are warnings at every level of life, but the one warning that I will always remember is the one my father and grandfather drilled into me. Never touch a White Gorilla

Seymour leaned back in his chair; thoughts of the White Gorilla haunted his every moment. It had been a tough morning. That all-important meeting was only hours away, and he had a ton of phone calls to make, and all those reports had to be done. Of course, these were only minor problems when compared to the major problem Seymour faced with his friends. How was he going to convince them that he was right this time and that his proof was beyond question? Seymour remembered that on more than one occasion he felt he was right, his friends agreed to follow him, and it turned out that he was wrong. He was always wrong, but not this time.

So what was so different now? Seymour felt in his heart that this time was going to be different. Everything pointed to his conclusion. He knew where the White Gorilla was, and the White Gorilla was within easy reach.

Seymour put his feet up on the top of his desk like he always did when he had tough things to think about. Leaning farther back in his chair, he closed his eyes for just a moment to focus his thoughts. He had to run the facts through his mind just once more. There could be no mistakes this time.

Seymour’s mind started to drift back to the times when he was a child. He thought of his father telling him stories of the White Gorilla. The goose bumps began to crawl up his spine as he recalled each and every detail, but they were not just stories told around campfires; they were true. They had to be true. He had facts to support the existence of the Great White Gorilla. There were newspaper clippings from all over the world telling of a Great White Gorilla. There was even a blurry picture of the White Gorilla in the forest, somewhere in Washington State.

He could picture the Great White Gorilla in his mind. There he stood with huge teeth that looked so sharp when he opened his mouth to roar. The roar that shook the very ground he stood on. Then there were the big ice-blue-colored eyes that made his blood run cold, and they would turn you to stone if you looked into them. Seymour could feel those eyes looking at him even now. It was just a matter of time before the huge White Gorilla would come barging through his office door and . . .

Then off in the corner of his mind, Seymour heard his office door open and heard footsteps coming toward him. There was no time to waste. Like a shot from a cannon, Seymour had his eyes open and was out of his chair and diving under his desk, pulling his chair against the desk to block the attack against him.

Daydreaming again, Seymour? Annie asked, and then added in her baby voice, Did that big bad White Gorilla almost get you this time? She loved to tease Seymour and loved the way he would come up with excuses for his daydreaming.

Annie was his secretary and longtime friend. She had worked for Seymour since they graduated college together. She was always at his side and would help keep Seymour’s feet planted firmly on the ground and protect him from those who would take advantage of his good nature.

Annie and Seymour grew up together. They became friends in second grade. Even back then, she was protecting Seymour from the neighborhood and school yard bullies. No one dared mess with Seymour when Annie was around.

She wasn’t the biggest girl in second grade, but she was quick and knew exactly where to kick the bullies if they wouldn’t heed her warnings. More than one bully ended up going to the nurse’s office with a stomachache.

Although Annie never grew to be the Amazon warrior she had always wanted to be, she was five feet and eight inches tall and 120 pounds. All of which was muscle. Annie looked like she worked out each day, but she always looked like a lady. That’s what fooled everyone. They didn’t realize just how strong and quick she was, and by the time they did find out, it was too late.

She had long brown hair and dark green eyes. She never thought of herself as movie-star beautiful, but she knew she wasn’t born in the ugly tree either, and her sense of humor could be brutal and overly honest sometimes.

The very first time that Annie saw Seymour was on the opening day of school in second grade. They were standing in line waiting to be let into school. Each class separated into groups of boys and girls. Standing with all the other girls, she let her eyes roam across those awful boys that would be in her class, dreading the time that she would have to spend dealing with them and all their macho attitudes.

Her eyes took in all the features of the boys standing only a few feet from her. They were punching and shoving each other and acting like real dopes. Then she saw him. He was standing off to the side reading a book and not the least bit interested in all the commotion going on around him. She knew there was something special about him and knew that they would have a future together. All morning she couldn’t get her mind off this fascinating boy. Then the recess bell rang.

Annie made it her duty to make her presence known to him. She stood on the steps of the door going out to the playground and surveyed the area for that special boy. She spotted him sitting on the ground with his back against the fence. It was now do-or-die time, she thought. She gathered her nerve up, straightened her back, and walked down the steps and over to Seymour.

She stopped in front of him and saw that he didn’t even notice she was there. Clearing her throat and taking a deep breath of air she said in as commanding a voice as she could, Hi, I’m Annie. Get up and sit with me at that bench.

Seymour raised his head and looked at her. He hadn’t heard a word she said but saw that this girl was standing in front of him and pointing her finger off into the distance. Slowly he turned his head in the direction that her finger was pointed, focused his eyes on an old weather-beaten wood bench next to a tree.

I’m talking to you, are you deaf or just dumb? Annie growled. Her patience was growing thin. Maybe this was a mistake; after all, he was a boy.

Seymour switched his gaze from the bench to that pushy little girl and knew he should just do it and not give her any reason to hurt him. The tone in her voice was all he needed to hear to know he wasn’t in control of this situation.

So Seymour closed his book and stood up. At this point, Annie grabbed him by the shirtsleeve and pulled him toward the bench.

It had been like that all through grade school and into high school. When Annie told Seymour something, he did it. No questions asked. It really never bothered him either; Seymour liked Annie and would have moved heaven and earth if she had asked him to.

In college, some things changed. Annie let Seymour make the decisions, with only a little help from her in most cases, and she played down her bodyguard role. She could still have taken Seymour two out of three falls, but she had promised herself to let Seymour be Seymour. That’s why she liked him so much. He was different. He was a dreamer and had a heart as big as a mountain.

Annie had been on most of Seymour’s adventures and was part of his close-knit group that was always available to save the world from the big bad White Gorilla. She was not sure what to really believe as far as the White Gorilla was concerned. She had seen all the newspaper clippings and pictures and had heard all the stories from both Seymour and his father while growing up. They believed in the White Gorilla, and that was good enough for her.

Annie and Seymour shared more than friendship; they had a bond between them. It was never talked about, but they each felt it and knew there was something more than friendship. They told everyone they were just good friends even though they hoped it would be more.

After college, Seymour started his business, and Annie worked for him. She worked the same hours as Seymour and always took care of him. She made sure he ate, always had clean clothes, and that he had time to do his daydreaming. Annie understood Seymour in a way that others couldn’t, and she would never get mad when he would go off to his daydream world of the White Gorilla. It was just something he had to do. The White Gorilla was in his very soul, and Annie accepted it.

Chapter 2

I was not thinking of the White Gorilla, Seymour muttered. Besides, the White Gorilla doesn’t scare me. I’m too smart for him.

But that wasn’t quite the truth either, Seymour thought to himself. He was scared to death of finding the White Gorilla. All the stories his dad had told him would make anyone afraid of the Great White Gorilla.

Then how come you are under your desk with the chair pulled over your head? Annie teased.

I was looking for something that fell off my desk. If you don’t mind…

Well, I just came in to remind you of your meeting this afternoon. Everyone will be here about four o’clock. Do you want me to order dinner in?

That would be great, Annie. I don’t know what I would do without you.

Probably starve and be living under a bridge in a refrigerator carton, Annie said.

That’s not funny, Seymour groaned as he made his way out from under the desk, knowing that it was probably true.

Seymour stood up and brushed the dust off his pants that he had gotten on them while under his desk. His legs were a bit shaky, and he felt foolish that Annie had scared him so bad, scared him over nothing. Why he was so jumpy? What was so different this time? The new information that he had found on the White Gorilla wasn’t really that different except for one part.

Annie stood at the doorway and watched Seymour wander around his office, trying to look busy for her. If he only spent as much time trying to keep his office clean as he did daydreaming, she thought, half her problems would be solved.

She never could understand how he could work in such a mess. On more than one occasion, she had tried to help him straighten his office up but always got told to go back to her desk. He stated that he knew where everything was and told her not to touch anything if she knew what was good for her.

That comment always was good for at least two days of silence, and Seymour would finally give in and apologize when he got hungry enough for real food

Annie continued to gaze at his beat-up old desk, cluttered with papers and sticky notes and his worn-out leather chair that squeaked whenever he sat in it. There were broken pencils and paper clips bent into shapes of the White Gorilla scattered all over his desk. The waste basket was overflowing. Half-empty paper coffee cups, with the name of his donut hole shop on them covered his desk, file cabinets, and windowsill. Stacks of file folders stuffed with papers were piled in the corners and in front of his desk. Seymour wouldn’t let her put them away. He was always working on them and didn’t want them touched.

The only window in his office was so dirty that it always looked like the sun was setting outside, and that forced Seymour to keep lights on in his office so he could see what he was doing. That window was his special window, and she was not allowed to clean it. There was a small circle rubbed clean in the dirt, about the size of a silver dollar. This was Seymour’s spy hole to the outside world. He could stand at his window and look out to see the whole town, and yet no one could see him. She knew he was watching for the White Gorilla.

The card table that was used as a conference table sat in the corner of his office, covered with newspaper articles of the White Gorilla, and around the table were the same four old folding chairs. More than once, a chair would decide to give way and deposit one of us in a rather awkward position on the floor. That always brought a laugh out of whoever was in the office at the time.

This conference table was special too. It was used for all their secret meetings and discussions about the dreaded White Gorilla.

Annie noticed something different about the conference table setup today. There was a box on each of the chairs, wrapped in brown paper. Looking closer, she noticed that each box had a name written on it in red crayon. What was Seymour up to now? she wondered. The butterflies in her stomach decided to come to life, and she couldn’t wait for their meeting. This had to be why he was so jumpy.

Was there something special that you want me to order for dinner, boss? Annie asked.

Let’s just have the usual, cheeseburgers and coffee. Oh yeah, don’t forget the donut holes

Oh yeah, donut holes, Annie thought. Like Seymour needed more donut holes. He was already on the plump side, and being short didn’t help any. Granted he wasn’t fat, just plump, kind of like a pear. His sports coat was too tight across his stomach, and his pants were two sizes too big. His pants did, however, match his coat, which was more than his shirt and bowtie ever did. No matter how much Annie tried, she could never teach Seymour the art of dressing himself so all his clothes would match.

His face was round, and he had big brown eyes that always twinkled. His cheeks were a little chubby and pink. Then there was his nose—it was small and button shaped. It almost looked out of place when compared to the rest of his face. His hair was always messed up because of the hat that he wore. At least that was Seymour’s excuse. In reality, Seymour never took the time to comb or brush his hair. He would get out of the shower each morning and just run his fingers through his hair. To him that was enough.

You had to understand Seymour, Annie thought. He just didn’t think things like that were important. He had important things to do, like search for the White Gorilla. That was Seymour Dumple, the one and only owner of Dumple’s Donut Hole Shoppes.

Chapter 3

Seymour leaned against the old file cabinet and watched as Annie finally left his office, closing the door behind her. Now he was alone again and immediately began to think about the White Gorilla.

He began to mutter, White Gorillas… legends… stories…

Seymour couldn’t stop thinking about them. Up until now he was never 100 percent sure if the stories or newspaper articles were true. He always had that one little lingering doubt about the truth of what he read. He always believed and thought there had to be something to the White Gorilla stories. In fact, there were stories of the White Gorilla that came from all over the world and the stories had been around for hundreds of years.

How could that be? How could the same White Gorilla be that old? Maybe it wasn’t the same White Gorilla, maybe it was a family of White Gorillas. Now that was nonsense, Seymour thought to himself. There was no family of White Gorillas. They would have been discovered and captured by now. Up till this point, however, there had been only reports of sightings and only one photograph, and that one was pretty shabby at that.

Seymour walked over to the window in his office and looked out the small hole he had made in the dirt. He could see the whole town as his eye darted back and forth at every little movement. Slowly his eyes closed, his head rested against the window, and things around him grew fuzzy. He could see himself with sword in hand, commanding his brave and fearless men. They entered the town to save the people from that awesome creature.

This way, men! Seymour yelled as he led the attack. "Follow me as I . . ."

"Seymour? Seymour?

Seymour snapped to attention, blinked his eyes, and turned to see Annie standing in the doorway again.

Are you all right, Seymour? I heard voices in your office.

Seymour coughed, straightened his bowtie, and made his way back to his desk. Yes, I’m fine, Annie. Just talking to myself again.

Annie smiled to herself and realized that she had seen that faraway look on Seymour’s face more than once and knew he was off on one of his big adventures, conquering the forces of evil and making the world a safer place to live. He was a dreamer, and that was going to get him into trouble one day.

Seymour took his pocket watch out. It was his dad’s watch, and his dad gave it to him on his twenty-first birthday. It had a picture of an old train engine on it that was all scratched and worn down. That watch had been through a lot but was still working fine.

Holy cow, it’s time almost for everyone to show up, he said. I have to finish getting things ready. Annie, would you wheel the blackboard in from the other office? I have things to get ready before our meeting.

She was pushing the blackboard into his office before Seymour had finished his sentence. She knew what he wanted before he did most times. She also knew how big a production he loved to make in his presentations, especially when it concerned the White Gorilla.

He had been talking about having a sales meeting the last few days, though; maybe this was going to be a sales meeting. He was going to open a new type of store, and this meeting was nothing more than that. But if it was, then what was in the boxes on the chairs? New uniforms maybe? He was definitely up to something.

Seymour thanked Annie and asked her to leave and not disturb him till their meeting. He didn’t wait for her to leave his office before he grabbed some papers from his open briefcase and walked over to the blackboard.

Chapter 4

Seymour stood in front of the blackboard for a few moments, looking at it from one angle and then another angle. Grabbing a piece of chalk, he began writing names of different cities on the board. He checked and rechecked his notebook and wrote more cities’ names on the blackboard and changed their order. He would erase one city name and put another in its place and check his notes yet again. He stood back and nodded his head in agreement. By jove, I think I’ve got it Seymour whispered to himself.

Now he numbered them and added dates behind each city name, then took a yellow colored piece of chalk and circled one of the names on the bottom.

Seymour grabbed the blackboard by the end and turned it around. A world map and a map of the United States were taped to the other side with little red sticky dots placed on them. Some of the dots were in Russia, England, Africa, China, and the United States. There were even a few in South America, and one was even in Antarctica. There was a separate map of the United States because of all the sightings in the country; besides, the world map didn’t show the small towns in the United States.

Seymour went to his desk and picked up a sheet of paper covered with red dots. Slowly he peeled one off and let the sheet fall to the floor. He walked over to the map of the United States and put his face close to see the little towns printed on it. Using his finger, he traced a line left, then down and back to the right again. Ahh, there it is, he sighed. Peeling the red sticker from his finger, he placed it on the spot he found and took his pen and wrote 6904 on it. Now that dot corresponded to the number in his journal, and the journal listed the date of the last sighting of the White Gorilla and where it was.

This was going to be fantastic. If everything went according to the way he had it planned, then they would be on their way to catch the White Gorilla. He had a feeling that this was going to be the time. He had never felt so sure of anything in his life before. Well, maybe there was a time or two that he felt this way, but this was different. The more he thought about it, though, the more confused he got. Doubts that the White Gorilla was even real flooded his mind. There was a lot of evidence, but it was all open to interpretation. You could probably prove the White Gorilla wasn’t real as much as you could prove that he was. He had to stop and go over all the information in his mind and do away with all those silly thoughts about the White Gorilla not being real. He was real, and Seymour was going to catch him, once and for all.

Then something that his father always told him popped into his mind. Never touch a White Gorilla. If you ever get close to the White Gorilla, never ever touch it. I mean it. That will be the last thing you ever do.

Seymour brought his attention back to the blackboard and stepped back to get a better look at the map on it. It always gave him the queasy feeling of excitement inside when he looked at all the spots the White Gorilla had been seen. How amazing it was that no one had ever captured him. He knew that somewhere or sometime a person must have gotten close and touched him. That could explain why there were only sightings and never any captures. Whoever had touched the White Gorilla was killed and probably eaten.

Goose bumps shot through Seymour from that thought. He could picture the huge White Gorilla holding the person that had touched him up in the air, pulling his arms out one at a time and eating them. The person would be screaming for mercy, saying how sorry they were for touching him.

Seymour wondered, how do you catch a White Gorilla and not touch him? That was certainly going to be a problem, and he was going to have to do his homework and come up with a plan of capture.

Turning the chalkboard around again so the maps were not facing the conference table, he took a sheet and covered it. Seymour went over to the file cabinet and took his keys from his pants pocket. Fumbling through them, he finally found the right key and unlocked the file cabinet. He bent down, pulled open the bottom drawer, and took out four big brown envelopes. The envelopes were all sealed and taped shut. Each had a name written on them, and they were all marked TOP SECRET.

Seymour walked over to the conference table and carefully set the envelopes down, one envelope in front of each chair. There was Annie, Matt, Big J, and Seymour. Each chair already had a box sitting in them with the names of each person handwritten in red. He was almost ready for the meeting. All he had to do now was go over his notes to make sure he had forgotten nothing.

Chapter 5

Seymour sat at his desk drawing circles and figure eights on a piece of paper, unaware of the time. It was fifteen minutes past four, and no one was there yet for the big meeting. His eyes were staring at a fly that was walking on the window across the room, and yet the image of the fly never registered in his brain. He was lost in his thoughts of the White Gorilla.

The White Gorilla towered over him, saliva dripping from the huge yellowish teeth and forming a puddle on the floor in front of him. Seymour could hear the growl slowly rising in the Gorilla’s throat. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the White Gorilla’s arm beginning to rise. Slowly backing up, he tried not to make any sudden or threatening moves. Seymour knew he was in big trouble.

He moved back as far as he could until his back was against the wall. He turned his head from side to side and quickly looked for an escape. There was none. The White Gorilla moved closer with his unbelievably big arm raised. The White Gorilla straightened his fingers out, and Seymour knew the moment of truth was upon him.

Why did he have to touch the White Gorilla? He knew better than that. His father warned him all the time about it. How could have been so stupid?

Just then the White Gorilla roared so loud the floor shook. Seymour could see the arm coming down, and there he stood, right under it. This was it—his life was over.

Hey, buddy! Whazz up? Matt yelled.

Seymour jumped from his chair, lost his balance, and fell to the floor. He bumped the desk on the way down, and a cup with cold coffee fell in Seymour’s lap. Seymour got up and began brushing himself off.

What happened, Seymour? Did the White Gorilla daydream make you wet your pants? Big J added. Big J was short for Jeremeister. Jeremy was his real name, but no one ever called him that. Not cool enough.

I wasn’t dreaming, if you must know, Seymour snapped.

Wasn’t dreaming? Big J and I were standing in the doorway for five minutes, making growling noises, trying to wake you up, Matt said.

Okay, maybe I was daydreaming a little, but I it wasn’t about the White—wait, what do you mean you were standing there and growling?

Everyone began to laugh as Annie entered the office. What’s so funny? Annie asked.

Oh, we’re just getting a laugh at Seymour’s expense, Big J said.

Annie saw the wet spot in the front of Seymour’s pants and had all she could handle to not add one of her little quips. But she saw Seymour was embarrassed enough and would save her wit for later. Well, I got the food, guys. You got the hunger? Annie inquired as she walked toward the table to set the food down.

We’re starving, babe. Give me the bag? Big J bellowed.

Hey, not so fast, O large one. Annie, you better give me the bag. If Big J gets his paws on it, there will be none for the rest of us, Matt yelled.

You do have a point there, Matt. And we’re not talking about the one on your head. I’ll just hand out the food this time, and then there will be no arguing of who gets what, if that’s all right with you guys.

Chapter 6

Big J and Matt treated Annie like a sister. They both knew they would get their butts kicked if they stepped out of line. Even Big J was hesitant to push the envelope with Annie. He was twice her size and knew he could take her in a fight, but figured that he shouldn’t be taking any chances if he ever wanted to have children. He had heard the stories in school about her and how she would protect old Seymour, and Big J valued all the parts of his body. His actions were tough, but that was only for show. Everyone in their group knew they could count on Big J’s strength, but they also knew they could get away with a whole lot because he was such a teddy bear inside.

Matt, on the other hand, was a chicken. He always whimpered and moaned about everything. When it came to really scary stuff, he would be standing behind everyone else and hanging on to whoever was in front of him. Matt was more of the go-to guy for equipment and technical knowledge. His position in the group was to make sure things worked when they were supposed to and figure ways out of the jams they got into. He had a knack for problem solving. Of course, that came with a price, and the price was having to listen to him moan and cry about what he had to do.

All right, everyone, time to eat. What do you want, a formal invitation? Annie yelled.

Big J was the first to the table. Hey, what’s this on my chair?

Yeah, and mine too, Matt moaned.

Take it easy, everyone. Just put the boxes on the floor. We will open them after dinner and after we have had our meeting. It’s just a little surprise from me, Seymour answered.

Mine’s heavier than yours, Big J, Matt teased

In your dreams, little buddy.

They all settled down at the table and began to eat their cheeseburgers. Hey, who’s hiding the coffee? And I need a couple of packets of sugar, Seymour said, trying to sound tough.

Halfway through dinner, Annie decided she couldn’t keep her mouth shut any longer. Seymour, so what is this big surprise you have for all of us?

Seymour kept eating, ignoring Annie’s question. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to tell them about his plans.

Seymour… SEYMOUR, yelled Annie.

"What? I’m not deaf, you