A Silly Happy Monkey

“Good morning, sunshine!” whispered the leaves, and peeking out from the emerald curtain was Whiskers the Monkey! He was silly, yes—with his bright pink smile and those big, round eyes—but he was also the happiest monkey in the whole wide, wiggly jungle.

Whiskers wasn’t just happy; he was free. He didn’t walk anywhere; he *boinged* and *zoomed* and *tangled* himself through the treetops. His greatest joy was a mid-air dance, a dizzying ballet of leaps and catches, going from one high, swaying branch to another without ever, ever falling. The wind would try to tickle him off balance, but Whiskers just giggled and zipped past it like a grey-furred, four-limbed lightning bolt.

But there was one thing, one golden-yellow prize, that made Whiskers stop all his boinging and focus his entire, silly monkey brain: bananas.

If a bunch of bananas was hanging from the tip-top of the tallest, slipperiest palm tree, Whiskers wouldn’t just climb—he’d become a Banana Spy on a secret mission. If the bananas were guarded by a grumpy, napping parrot, Whiskers would use the gentlest, most feather-light tiptoe known to monkey-kind. And if, heaven forbid, the bananas were across a rushing river and guarded by a tiny, but very fierce, beetle, Whiskers would build a bridge out of vines and sing the beetle a little, distracting song about how wonderful its tiny shell was.

Yes, Whiskers was happy and free, but give him a challenge, especially one with a banana at the finish line, and he would go to the very, very, very extent of his wildest, most wonderful imagination to get his favorite snack. And when he finally held that banana? His pink smile would stretch so wide, it could almost touch his fuzzy ears!

What kind of mischief do you think Whiskers got into right after he finished his morning banana?