The monkey belongs. To the troop. To the forest. To the particular branch his particular weight has bent, over the years, into a particular shape.
He did not earn this. He did not pass an interview. He showed up, and the troop made room, the way troops do.
We convinced ourselves that belonging was a reward for becoming someone better. The squirrel monkey would not understand this sentence. The squirrel monkey is a squirrel monkey. He is among squirrel monkeys. The forest is the forest.
The forest does not check ID at the door.