I climbed into bed and just watched Missy sleeping for most of the night. At one stage, I woke up and went to get her some milk. It was the last time I would ever do that.
Missy’s story unfolds in the height of the 2015 Ebola epidemic, in Monrovia, Liberia. For the most part, her story’s beginning is not unlike that of thousands of other precious wild animals who are savagely slaughtered for bushmeat, or snatched from the breasts of their freshly murdered mothers for resale to the most despicable of all creatures on our planet – human beings.
However, while Missy’s story is one that reveals all aspects of human depravity, ignorance and fear, it also testifies to the power of love and the capacity human beings have to make a difference and to write miracle endings in the face of impossible adversity.
The author, Gail Gillespie-Fox, makes no apologies for her fierce opposition to the illegal slaughter, trade, and abuse of animals. Her account of the life-changing journey she and Missy shared is so authentic that it’s impossible for the reader to not love Missy too.
As I read this book, I shared Gail’s joy and her love for Missy. Her sheer anguish and determination were palpable as she and Mark tried against all odds to make sure that Missy would live to see the sunset every day. In the face of great danger and uncertainty, she never lost sight (or hope) of her purpose to unite Missy with ‘her own kind’ in a safe, natural environment.
I loved this book, and I confess that at times, I wished I had never started reading it. Gail shares: “She was as delight
ful as a mischievous toddler. She had taken my heart. I was not sure if I would ever get it back.”
Every reader of this book should be warned that you might just share the same fate. Gail’s honest portrayal of Mi
ssy’s personality and trust will steal your heart, too. For this reason, the end will tear your heart out, and as I sobbed in bed beside my sleeping husband last night, my heart ached for Gail, for Missy and for the unthinkable suffering and trauma my own species is capable of. A part of me is sorry that I know this now, because I dislike humans even more than I did before.
