Note: This drabble (a short story of exactly 100 words) was written as part of a Writer’s Digest contest, of which it is a finalist.
Jenga King
Domesticated as he had become, there is a price to human interaction. Beyond acquiring a taste for fruits and plants not native to his natural island habitat, the beast gets cranky without its toys.
To placate the enormous creature, the zoologists tried everything from creating a massive tire swing (no place to hang it), life-size stuffed dolls (quickly shredded), to a colossal rubber cherry ball (caused $2 billion in damage after playfully thrown at the science facility.) With a mind for puzzles, the scientists hope the giant Jenga game en route to Skull Island will finally appease the 100-foot-tall gorilla.