By David and Alexander Ellis
After popping so many bubbles blown by Mike and John, the monkeys hands were sticky. Wiping them on the ground got their hands covered in leaves and dirt! Then they wiped them on their fur and got the dirt all over themselves! The monkeys decided they needed a bath.
So the monkeys ran down to the river and jumped in! Wow! That water is cold! But it sure is fun to splash around! And splash each other! Ha ha ha!
But after so many bubbles, the dirt was pretty caked in. The monkeys needed soap.
The splashing in the river had caused the monkeys to drift downstream, and they were in an area of the jungle they didn’t recognize. Soon, one of the monkeys spotted a castle. Sure it would have soap!
So the monkeys got out of the river and shook themselves to get most of the water off, and laid in the sun for a while to dry off. Once that was done, the monkeys went to the castle.
It was a big castle made of large grey stones and sparsely lit by torches; the rest of the castle interior was very dark. It was cold and humid with a musty, moldy smell. The monkeys were slightly scared by the castle, but they continued on looking for soap to clean themselves with.
Soon they started to see some large wooden doors in the hallway they had been walking down. A brave little monkey decided to open one of them and check if there was any soap around. No soap, but there was a wonderful feast of fruits! Bananas, apples, grapes, canteloupe, watermelon, strawberries, guava, you name it, that room had it! All on a very nice silver platter sitting on a fancy white table in the middle of the room.
The monkeys were excited and ran into the room. It had been a long time since they ate! They jumped up on the table – and the whole floor collapsed! The monkeys and the table and the fruit all fell down into the basement below.
It was very dark in the basement, and once their eyes adjusted, they saw a monster on the other side of the room! Shortly thereafter, the monster spoke, “Who are you to trespass in MY castle!?”
The monkeys shrieked and chattered away, but monkeys can’t talk, so they couldn’t explain to the monster that they only wanted to borrow a bar of soap.
The monster heard the chattering and yelled, “A bunch of monkeys!? Scaring you won’t be nearly as fun as scaring some little children, but it will have to do.” Then the monster lifted up his arms, bared his claws and teeth, and bellowed a huge roar, “BWAAAAR!!!”
The monkeys were very scared and all ran away in different directions while the monster ran towards the table with the fruit still on it, where the monkeys had been. “Blast,” the monster roared as it slammed its claws down and mashed the fruit to pieces.
The monkeys regathered at the stairs leading out of the basement and ran up. Back in the castle, they continued looking through doors trying to find a way out, but they were lost; it was a very big castle. The monster was chasing behind them, bellowing “RAAR”s and mashing chairs, tables, candles, anything in his way. Fortunately the monkeys were faster than the monster.
Eventually one of the monkeys found the bathroom. He ran inside and took a bar of soap. When he got back out into the hallway, though, the monster had come closer than before and the monkey became frightened.
He lost grip on the bar of soap and it flew out of his hands – onto the floor in front of the monster, who stepped on it and skidded down the hallway until he hit the wall at the end and knocked himself unconscious.
The monkeys slowly approached the monster. The brave little monkey ran forward and grab the soap. Then he turned to his left and squeaked with joy; there was an exit at that end of the hallway!
The monkeys all raced out of the castle and back to the river where they finally washed themselves off.
All except for one little monkey who was scared to touch anything the monster had touched. He stayed dirty. The next morning Mike noticed he was dirty and told him, “Come with me little monkey to the river! I’ll bring my bubble juice with me, since bubble juice is made out of soap and water. We can pour some on you and scrub you clean.” The other monkeys saw what happened next and vowed to never look for soap again.