a little monkey tale...

if you are sitting comfortably,

then i shall begin...

once upon a time in a far away land

lived a little wooden monkey.

he was a happy little wooden monkey

who liked to spend his days high above the jungle floor

playing in the trees.

the little wooden girl monkeys thought him quite the best swinger in the jungle.

this made the other wooden boy monkeys rather cross.

one day as the little wooden monkey was just doing his thing,

a branch broke,

he fell

down

down

down

landing with quite an awful thud.

as he lay there dazed and confused

he could hear chattering coming from above.

to start with the little wooden monkey thought it was

the great monkey gods in the sky talking to him,

but no it was not.

it was the naughty wooden boy monkeys laughing

for indeed they were most wicked

and in their jealousies

had weakened a branch

thus causing

this terrible tragedy

to befall the little wooden monkey.

worse was still to come,

as the little wooden monkey lay upon the jungle floor

he noted something different

for although he was face down

he could not smell the ground.

he touched his little wooden face

and a great sadness washed over him.

where once his lovely little wooden nose had been,

there was nothing.

early the next morning,

being sure no other little wooden monkeys would see him

and his 'ugliness'

he walked to where the great wooden wise owl was waiting,

for the wooden owl was so wise he knew the little wooden monkey would be coming.

and so he got up especially early

and waited

after much thought and consideration,

he told the little wooden monkey

quite wisely,

there was only one hope,

he had heard of a place far far away,

a thrift store for little forsaken souls.

legend has it

that an eclectic woman of an uncertain age who goes by the name of Tif,

frequents this mysterious place.

often looking for little waifs and strays who may need some help.

the great wise wooden owl continued to tell the little wooden monkey

that legend also has it,

Tif lives in a dwelling called Mossy Shed.

a place that it has been told

is a mecca for little forsaken souls.

all the time,

the little wooden monkey's eyes got bigger and bigger

the very next morning

the little wooden monkey stood exactly where the wise wooden owl had told him to wait.

he waited

and then he waited a little bit more

just as he thought he could wait no more

a large shout came from the trees.

the little wooden monkey turned to find

Eric the Viking

with his mode of transport

"hop aboard little wooden monkey,

it's time to go"

he growled.

after many, many days and nights

the little wooden monkey found himself in Tif's thrift store

he was frightened

he was tired

and

he was still without a little nose.

he looked around him,

for the first time in days he started to feel normal.

for next to him was

a little ceramic bird with no tail,

and on the other side

a china doll with a nasty gash in her head and not much hair.

days past,

he watched as forsaken little souls

came and went.

he got used to being picked up

and put down.

he got used to small children

spinning his little arms around and around

until it hurt so badly

he wished to weep...

then one day it happened.

an hour before closing the little wooden monkey heard

the other lost souls start to chatter words of

"that's her"

and

"see, i told you she was real"

the little wooden monkey watched

as an eclectic woman of an uncertain age

perused the shelves.

she came closer,

she gasped

she looked straight at him,

he gulped

and then he felt himself being lifted up

in a rather gently way.

"little wooden monkey, how lucky am i to have found you" said Tif

upon arrival home at mossy shed

Tif's man asked

"any good stuff tonight?"

to which she replied

"oh yes!"

"what did you say" he called "only crappity crap?"

Tif smiled

pulled out the little wooden monkey,

placed him on the table and said

"i think i struck gold"

several hours later

the little wooden monkey,

who's little nose had been lost,

who had travelled so far from the jungle

had a spiffy new dottie angel nose

and

knew without a doubt

he would live

happily ever after...

the end

she is past the third coat and still the green mocks her ~ Tif