Purple Gorilla Story
This Story has scary parts and is meant for Scouts BSA, Webelos scouts.
Decide for yourself if it is appropriate for your younger scouts or not.
Decide for yourself if it is appropriate for your younger scouts or not.
Notes:
The anticipation and telling is scary, but the funny ending is a release. The sound effects of the different doors makes the story.
When I was younger, I had an old pick-up that didn't run very well. I was constantly needing to repair it, but I couldn't afford anything better.
One evening, I was driving home from a camping trip out in the mountains and it started sputtering which was a good sign it would soon stop running. Luckily, there was a farm up ahead so I pulled in and stopped.
I knocked on the door and asked the farmer if I could use his phone to call for help. Unfortunately, he didn't have a phone way out there. So, I asked him if I could spend the night in his barn and maybe use his tools to fix my truck in the morning. Now, you know how farmers are - always willing to help folks out and all - so he said that would be just fine. He even invited me to have dinner before turning in for the night.
We had a nice dinner of beef, potatoes, and beans and then he showed me to the barn so I could lay out my sleeping bag on the straw. It was a real nice barn and I was sure I'd get a good night's sleep. But, just as he was leaving, he said there was one thing he figured I should know about.
So, he tool me over to a pile of straw and pushed it out of the way, revealing a trap door in the floor. He grabbed the iron ring on the door, and pulled it up - creeeeeeeeeeek. There I saw stairs heading down into the dark and I followed the farmer down the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek, squeek.
At the bottom of the stairs there was a large oak door with an iron bolt. The farmer pushed the bolt across - clunk - and pulled the door open - creeeeeeeeeek - and walked through.
Down a narrow, dark tunnel we encountered a steel door with a solid crossbar holding it clossed. The farmer lifted the crossbar - groooooooan - and struggled to pull the door open - uuumph, grunt - and we walked on.
A few yards further on was a clear door made of bullet-proof glass 12 inches thick. It had a combination lock and I watched as the farmer opened it - 12-23-7 - click, click, click and then swung the door open - swooooosh.
Past this door was a huge cage made of 3-inch round titanium bars. But, that wasn't what caught my eye. What I saw was the huge monster inside the cage. It was gigantic! It was covered with purple fur! And, it was asleep.
The farmer said, 'This is what I needed to show you. This is my purple gorilla and you've got to promise me, I mean really promise me, that you will NOT touch him!'
Well, I thought that was about the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. Of course, I'm not going to touch a gigantic purple gorilla! And, so I promised him. And, I thanked him for showing my his secret.
Then, we made our way back to the surface. He closed the glass door - swooosh - and spun the lock - click, click, click. He closed the steel door - uumph, grunt - and lowered the crossbar - groooan. He closed the oak door - creeeeeek - and slid the bolt in place - clunk. We climbed the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek, squeek and then dropped the trapdoor closed - ker-thump! Then, he spread straw back over the trapdoor to hide it.
Well, I was tired so I laid out my sleeping bag and 'hit the hay' (ha-ha) and the farmer went back to his house. But, I just couldn't stop thinking about that purple gorilla. What a magnificent creature! I wonder why the farmer didn't want me to touch it? Hmmmm, it was asleep so what harm would there be?
Finally, my curiousity got the best of me and I couldn't fight it any longer. I jumped up and went over and brushed the straw from the trapdoor.
I grabbed the iron ring on the door, and pulled it up - creeeeeeeeeeek. I went down the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek, squeek.
I pushed the bolt on the oak door open - clunk - and pulled the door open - creeeeeeeeeek - and walked through.
I raised the crossbar on the steel door - groooooooan - and struggled to pull the door open - uuumph, grunt - and walked on.
I came to the 12-inch thick bullet-proof glass door and opened the combination lock - 12-23-7 - click, click, click and then swung the door open - swooooosh.
I walked up to the huge cage made of 3-inch round titanium bars and gazed at the purple gorilla that was still fast asleep. I reached out my hand. I softly touched his fur.
And, he immediately jumped up and let out a blood-curdling roar, turning and staring at me with huge, blood-red eyes!
Needless to say, I tore out of there as fast as I could! When I got to the glass door, I could hear the gorilla tearing at the bars of the cage. I turned around in time to see him ripping and bending the bars and forcing his way through.
I closed the glass door - swooosh - and spun the lock - click, click, click - and ran on. Just as I was closing the steel door - uumph, grunt - I heard the gorilla hit the glass door and it shattered into millions of shards of glass. I lowered the crossbar - groooan - and ran on. I slammed the oak door closed - creeeeeek - just as the steel door exploded off its hinges. I slid the bolt in place - clunk - and scurried up the stairs - squeek, squeek, squeek, squeek. Just as I was dropping the trapdoor - ker-thump - the oak door disintegrated into slivers no bigger than a toothpick.
I didn't bother spreading straw over the trap door - instead I ran to my truck hoping to escape. As I opened my truck's door, straw and wood flew out the door of the barn as the trapdoor was thrown from its hinges and the gorilla leapt out into the barnyard. He saw me as I jumped in the truck and tried to get it started.
I turned the key and could see the gorilla running across the yard toward me. The truck didn't start. I tried again, and this time the engine turned over and came to life.
Just as I was putting the truck in gear, the purple gorilla reached the door, grabbed the handle and ripped the door completely off the truck. I stomped on the gas, the engine raced, but nothing happened - the gorilla had lifted the truck off the ground and I was helpless.
As I sat there helplessly, that enormous purple gorilla reached into the cab, stretched out his giant hairy hand towards me, grabbed my arm, and said, 'Tag, you're it!'
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Comments:
Apr 23, 2015 - Lee
I'm sure we've reached an age where Scout Masters and Cub Masters are like me and have had cell phones for most or all of the years we've been old enough to drive. That creates plot hole in my mind. So, I worked this into my version.
"Now, this was back in the days when cell phones were just coming out. While I had a cell phone, there was no reception so I couldn�t make any phone calls. I knocked on the door and asked the farmer if I could use his phone to call for help. Unfortunately, even in the late 90�s he did not have a house phone."
May 08, 2015 - Mark
My son really liked it and so did I. We both really liked
the ending
Jul 18, 2015 - You
Awesome!!!!!!!
Nov 07, 2015 - zahra
It was AWESOME!!
May 29, 2016 - Baehead
Great story! I thought the story was real for a second! I would do anything to get this story in
my hands! Please make a SQL I need more I'm thirsty for more ! I'm willing to spend my life
savings to help get a sequel to the story! Seriously, the best thing I've ever heard! My life is
complete! I go to rest forever Now! 💩
Aug 19, 2016 - Courtney L
I remember my best friend Sydney in elementary telling me this story at recess one day; of course, the one she told had less details and she had told me it was a monkey, but I still love this story. Something about writing each thing he went through like a pattern caught my interest.
Aug 22, 2017 - Rena Rosemary Brooks
The stories was great. I just
adopted my two grandsons and I'm
introducing them to all kinds of
things for the first time in
their life. They liked the purple
gorilla a lot. Thanks
Nov 09, 2017 - Ernie
Great joke but there is a much longer version that traverses the world and uses a lot o geography and many forms of transportation. The more you know the longer it lasts.I think my record is 2-3 hours while working in a friends house.Funny thing is no one has ever stopped me. The outcome is the same but ends in the Sahara desert.
Aug 20, 2018 - Jarett
I really liked this story because I heard it 1 week and 3
days ago at camp Royaneh for boy scout camp (I am 10 years
old).But I think the one I was told at camp was a lot more
funny.
Jan 30, 2019 - Bella Bozok
I hate to read but I like the story
Oct 15, 2019 - Steve Sowrey
I love this story and I can't wait to try it out at our next campfire. After the punchline, I was
thinking you could take it a step farther and say something like "It's been a few years since
my encounter with that purple Gorilla and I have a secret to tell you... I'M STILL IT!!" then let
out a big ROAR and chase a kid down to start a game of tag. (Use caution if you're around a
real campfire)
Jun 14, 2022 - Duane
Back in 1974, I heard a more elaborate version of this story, told by a substitute teacher, but with hordes of green monkeys instead of a purple gorilla. Anyone ever heard that variant?
May 28, 2023 - Alyssa
I heard a variant of this story a few years ago from my band director as
we drove home from a day trip. It had quite a few different elements to
make it more suspenseful, and by the end of the story when he 180-ed with
the tone change of 'you're it!' he had us all laughing. I was wondering
about it, and looked it up--it's sweet to read everyone elses memories of
it here too.
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