**MONKEY'S WORLD**
Once upon a time on a little island far, far away there lived a little monkey who always wondered if she would ever see places besides the little island she lived on. Not that where she lived wasn't nice, in fact it was a very nice place to live. There were tall leafy trees she could swing from branch to branch and fruit trees every where you looked. There were banana trees, papaya trees, mango trees and kiwis in the most convenient places, which was every place she looked, there were even wild sweet grapes which she loved to eat the most, but still she wondered what it would be like to see other places. Most days she would climb to the highest limb she could find and nestle in a soft leafy bough and spend the day dreaming about what there was to see away from her little island.One day eating her breakfast she asked her momma what places were like away from their little island. "Oh my Little Monkey, why do you want to know such things? Aren't you happy here?" her momma asked her.
"Yes momma, I am happy here, but I can only do so much before I do the same things again and I've already seen every thing on our island." Monkey lamented.
"Are you sure you have seen every thing there is to see?" Momma asked her little monkey.
"Yes momma I am sure. I know the best places to find the sweetest fruit, where the biggest coconuts are, where the prettiest flowers are and the best trees to swing from are at." She answered.
"That is your world. There are other worlds on our island completely different than your world Little Monkey." Momma explained. "Maybe you should explore those first before you wonder about other places."
"Like what momma?" Monkey asked curiously.
"Besides you and me and our world Little Monkey there are other worlds here." Momma started explaining. "There are other creatures that live here that have their own world."
"Like what momma?" Monkey continued.
"The birds, the turtles, frogs, butterflies, leaf hoppers, fish and the list just keeps going on with the different worlds around you Little Monkey. Instead of asking me, why don't you go and discover this worlds for yourself and explore them." Momma explained.
"Where should I start momma?" Monkey continued asking.
"Try starting outside our front door." Momma answered her.
With what Little Monkey's momma had told her, she set off to discover the different worlds that were all around her. Before going out she grabbed her drawing paper and pencil and her little note book she liked to write in and having those in hand she hurried out the front door ready to explore these new worlds.
Monkey started out on the path that led to the little pond she liked to wiggle her toes in. When she arrived to the little pond she noticed a frog sitting on a lily pad croaking.
"Hai frog!" Monkey haled. "How are you today frog?"
"Hai Monkey! I'm doing very well, thank you for asking." Frog responded to Monkey. "What brings you to the pond today?"
"I am trying to discover new worlds frog. Momma told me there are other worlds besides mine here on the island." Monkey explained to frog. "Have you seen any worlds around here frog?" Monkey asked.
"No Monkey I haven't." Frog replied.
"You sure frog you haven't noticed anything?" Monkey quizzed frog. "Mom said that they are everywhere around me." She continued.
"I'm sure Monkey. Nothing new here that I can see. All the usual things I see every day." Frog assured her. "Tadpoles swimming, eating and waiting to be frogs."
"Oh? Tadpoles are fat little fish silly frog, not frogs, they don't even hop." Monkey laughed informing frog of his mistake.
"No Monkey, they aren't fish, they are frogs that start their life in the pond swimming and eating, waiting for their time when their tails start shrinking, gills close and legs start to grow." Frog explained to her.
"Hahaha frog, tadpoles can't do that. Fish are fish and frogs are frogs, they can't change." Monkey said laughing.
"In my world Monkey that is the cycle of life." Frog informed her.
"In your world?" Monkey asked surprised.
"Yes, in my world. In it we live in water and on land. As a tadpole we stay in the pond waiting to grow up into frogs and as frogs we live on land, but we can still swim in the pond and hide from those who see us as their dinner." Frog explained to her.
"Frogs for dinner?!" Monkey asked shocked, "Who would eat a frog for dinner?"
"Big fish do and large birds like the storks and hawks." Said frog very nervously.
"Then where do you hide if they see you and they are hungry?" Monkey asked in a concerned tone.
"If it is a hungry bird I dive into the pond and bury in the mud and if it is a big fish, I jump on the shore and hide in the reeds." Frog explained.
"Snakes are in the reeds, momma said so and told me never to play in the reeds." Monkey stated. "Aren't you afraid the snake will eat you?" She asked frog.
"Not really, I can hear the snakes rustling in the dry reeds and can hop away before they can get me, plus snakes don't like the way frogs taste. We have a very bitter taste and the slime on my skin makes his mouth foam with bitter bubbles." Frog explained to Monkey.
"Doesn't it do the same to the fish and birds?" Monkey asked, "Why can they eat a frog and not the snake?"
"Because they eat us whole and swallow right away." Frog explained further.
"Your world is much different than mine frog." Monkey told him. "So why are you in my world too?"
"Yes Monkey, much different than your world. I really don't know why I am in your world too, maybe you can figure it out and come back to tell me." Frog stated to her.
With that frog turned away and sprang into the water to cool off and look for something to eat. Monkey sat on her favorite rock staring after frog and realized she had found another world here on her little island. Happy with herself she got up and started out to see what other worlds were there to discover and explore.
Walking in the shade of the jungle trees, Monkey noticed a butterfly going from flower to flower to drink the nectar. She watched as the butterfly flew in her direction and landed on a hibiscus flower right in front of her.
"Hai butterfly!" Exclaimed Monkey. "How are you today?""Oh, hai Monkey." Returned the butterfly. "I am doing well thank you, all the sweetest flowers are blooming today."
"Yes I have been eating them too as I look for new worlds to explore." Monkey informed him.
"Eat?" Butterfly asked confused. "Why would you eat a flower Monkey?"
"The same reason you do butterfly, they taste good." Monkey answered smiling.
"Oh I don't eat them at all, I sip their sweet nectar." Butterfly explained, "That way I can visit them again and again sipping from them until the turn to seed to make more flowers for me to sip from. Eating the flower as you do would not let the flower make more nectar and it would never turn to seed to make new flowers."
"But they taste very delicious to eat. Plus I always see flowers blooming all the time." Monkey said defending her actions.
"If every Monkey thought like you, there would be no flowers left for the butterflies and then we would starve and have to leave the island to find flowers." Butterfly stated.
"Oh my!" Exclaimed Monkey, "I wouldn't want that, I like seeing all the beautiful butterflies on the island. I am sorry for eating your flowers, but I never thought eating them would hurt anyone."
"In my world it is the only thing I eat." He explained, "And without them I couldn't live."
"In your world?" Monkey asked, realizing she had just discovered another new world.
"Yes Monkey, my world." Butterfly assured her.
"Why do I never see any baby butterflies?" Monkey asked.
"What do you mean by baby butterflies Monkey?" Asked Butterfly, "Maybe you aren't looking the right way. We do have babies, they are called caterpillars."
"Awe caterpillars are just fuzzy worms butterfly, they don't even have wings." Monkey said laughing at the silly thought.
"They turn into butterflies Monkey." Butterfly explained.
"You sound like frog now, he says tadpoles turn into frogs." Monkey said a little confused.
"Please do not mention that name frog in my presence, they are horrible creatures that eat butterflies and caterpillars." Butterfly stated shivering in fear.
"Frogs eat butterflies and caterpillars?" Monkey asked, "How sad to think."
"How sad indeed, that's why I always say there are never enough storks and hawks when it comes to frogs." Butterfly stated.
"But those are frog's enemies, they eat frogs for dinner!" Monkey exclaimed.
"Exactly Monkey, they eat frogs for dinner and not caterpillars and butterflies." Butterfly said smugly.
"Tell me how caterpillars turn into butterflies." Monkey said to him, "I hope it isn't as silly as tadpoles into frogs."
"No, not silly at all. As a matter of fact, quite normal in my world." Butterfly stated and then started to explain. "Butterflies lay eggs on leaves, on the leaves of the plant that will feed them as they grow, once the eggs hatch they are called larvae and are very small, from a larvae they turn into caterpillars. The caterpillars continue to eat leaves from the same plant they were born on. Once they have eaten enough and enough fat stored in them, they roll themselves up into a cocoon where they become pupae and start changing into butterflies. Soon after a few weeks they are ready to leave their cocoon and fly away as butterflies."
"That sounds as silly as tadpoles turning into frogs." Monkey stated laughing.
"Maybe in your world it sounds silly, in my world it is perfectly normal." Butterfly stated as he flew off towards the jungle to get away from the nosey little Monkey.
Monkey stood there watching the butterfly disappear into the jungle and wondering if all the worlds were the same. Tadpoles and caterpillars turning into frogs and butterflies. It was all just a bunch of silly nonsense to Monkey.
Monkey looked around her wondering what other worlds there were yet to discover. As she thought a shadow near the edge of the jungle caught her eye. She stood up on her tiptoes to see if she could see what it was. Unable to tell, she started quietly walking towards the shadow staying close the hibiscus bushes so she wouldn't be seen.
"Oh my oh my." Monkey heard someone saying. "I know I heard them around here somewhere."
Monkey peeked around the bush being extra quiet and moving very slow. Soon she could see it, it was small, about the size of a tennis ball with short quills instead of fur. Monkey stared at it for some time leaning in closer and closer until...
"Hai there!" It said to Monkey, startling her so that she fell back in a sitting position in the dirt.
"How did you know I was here?" Monkey asked, "I was being so very quiet."
"Being quiet?" The little creature asked, "If you want to call stomping around like a bunch of monkeys on drums quiet, then I guess you were."
"Was I really that noisy?" Monkey asked.
"I could hear you and that darn butterfly yelling from over here earlier." The little creature stated.
"Oh, I apologize...uh...err...I don't know who you are to apologize to." Monkey said.
"I don't doubt that, I know who you are though. Everyone on the island knows who you are. You are that noisy little monkey always swinging from tree to tree and constantly jabbering." The little creature informed Monkey, "As for me I am hedgehog."
"A hedgehog? What is a hedgehog?" Monkey asked quizzically.
"You're looking at one." Hedgehog stated, "What's so curious about that?"
"Because I've never seen a hedgehog." Monkey replied.
"Of course you haven't. You've been too busy running around the jungle as if your tail was on fire to slow down and be quiet enough to see one. But we're here living in the shadows beneath the bushes and shrubs and being quiet." Hedgehog informed Monkey.
"You seem to like things quiet hedgehog." Monkey stated.
"Yes I do prefer quiet, especially over a noisy and nosey little monkey." Hedgehog said rudely.
"Oh." Monkey said sadly, "I'm very sorry if I spoiled your morning hedgehog, I didn't mean to do it."
"Oh it's not really your fault, I was born with sensitive ears, all hedgehogs are born with sensitive ears." Hedgehog explained to Monkey, "It is how we find food."
"With your hearing you find food? Asked Monkey, "What kind of food do you have to listen for."
"The quiet kind." Hedgehog said as he winked at her, "They live under the soil."
"You mean worms?" Monkey asked curiously.
"Yes, worms among other things." Hedgehog replied.
"Other things? What kind of other things?" Monkey continued.
"Yes, other things like grubs, beetles, ants and termites." Hedgehog's voice went to a whisper as he turned his head to one side and lowered his ear to the ground. "Shhhh, can't you hear the noisy little dirt eaters?"
"No I can't hear a thing except you." Monkey replied.
"You can't hear them eating and burrowing through the dirt? Are you deaf?" Hedgehog asked Monkey.
"No I am not deaf, I can hear perfectly fine if you should know." Monkey replied a little upset with hedgehog's rudeness, "My ears aren't as sensitive as yours are."
"Yes, yes, you're right. You're just a noisy little Monkey interrupting my breakfast." Hedgehog stated as if Monkey wasn't even there. Again Hedgehog turned his ear to the ground and in a flurry of dirt and dust had dug a hole, stuck his head in. A few seconds later Hedgehog looked over at Monkey with a smile and a fat juicy worm between his teeth, "Noisy little things they are." He said as he sucked it in like a string of spaghetti. Licking his lips he turned his back on Monkey and started off back into the jungle.
"What a strange world Hedgehog lives in." Monkey said to herself, "Mom was right. There are many worlds still left to discover and explore on my little island. I wonder what I will discover next?"
Looking up in the trees she noticed someone she recognized, it was the old owl that lived in an old tree near the little pond Monkey liked wiggling her toes in.
"Hai Owl!" Monkey exclaimed, "How are you today?"
"Well hai to you too Monkey. I am doing very well today, thank you." Owl replied, "What brings you to the jungle today?"
"Worlds do Owl." Monkey answered.
"Yes Owl, worlds. Momma told me that I hadn't seen all the different worlds on our little island when I started to ask her about places far away from here. I told her I had done all the was to do here and knew all the best and sweetest fruits, the best trees to swing from, the best places to play hide and seek and where the prettiest flowers were at, but she told me that was only in my world on our island and there were other worlds to discover and explore. So that is what I am doing Owl, discovering worlds." Monkey explained to Owl.
" I see." Said Owl, "And was your mother right? Are there other worlds besides your own you have discovered today?" Owl asked Monkey.
"Oh yes Owl, momma was right. I have discovered there are many worlds around me besides my own." Monkey replied excitedly.
"And what about theses new worlds did you discover?" Asked Owl.
"Oh, that even though they are all around me, they are different than mine in some ways and yet a part of my world." Monkey informed Owl.
"Yes they are different and the same. Replied Owl, "What did you find the same in their world that is in your world?" He asked Monkey.
"The flowers I like to nibble on for a snack, Butterfly needs them for his food and nourishment, that even though we may not be born the same, like frog, he was born a tadpole, we each have the same needs and what we each do in our worlds affects the worlds around us." Monkey proudly informed Owl.
"Very good Monkey, you paid attention I see. And you are right, what we do in our world touches the other worlds around us, so we need to be careful and respectful of those world and think before we do something that could cause harm to those in the worlds around us." Owl stated to Monkey.
"Yes Owl, I know now I need to think before I do something and pay attention closer to what is around me." Monkey replied.
With that Monkey said goodbye to Owl and started walking home, this time walking a little slower and looking a little closer and thinking about her day of discovery. When Monkey arrived home momma asked if she had managed to discover anything new on their little island and Monkey proudly informed her, "I don't need to leave out little island to discover new worlds momma, there are more than enough all around me to keep discovering.
Later...
Stories posted here are the exclusive property of the Smiling Pig. No other use or reproduction of the content contained here is permissible without written prior consent.
