Joonie was a 10-year-old, happy boy. He studied well, obeyed his parents and teachers, and played with his friends. He would go cycling with his neighboring friends after school. One day while cycling, he saw a lone infant monkey sitting on a tree near the park.

Joonie thought it is with its troop and rode ahead with his friends.

The next day when Joonie and his friends passed through the same tree, Joonie saw the lone infant again.

He saw that the infant monkey seemed hungry and it needs food to eat so it was searching for food but it was clever enough to not move from its place. Joonie could feel what the infant was thinking,’ If I move from here, I might get misplaced’. The boy parked his bicycle and went near the infant monkey. ‘Who are you? And why are you here?’, Joonie asked.

The monkey was scared as it was sudden for him that Joonie talked with it. Also, the monkey did not understand Joonie’s language. But Joonie wanted the monkey to be friends with him. So he came there daily to meet and talk with the monkey. He kept talking with sign language so that the monkey understand his language.

It was a week that Joonie came for the infant and talked with it. He would get food for it, such that the infant monkey started getting trust in Joonie. One day while Joonie was returning home, the monkey followed him and got to know Joonie’s house.

Days were passing by when one-day Joonie fell ill and he could not come to meet the monkey. The monkey felt to see Joonie so it went to his house, hiding from people.

Seeing the monkey at his window, ” How did you come here?”, Joonie asked the monkey. And he got a gesture from the monkey telling “I felt to see you so I came”.

“Did I do wrong by coming here?”, The monkey asked. “No..No..”, replied Joonie. “You did right by coming here because I wanted to see you.” Both were looking at each other with fond eyes.

“Wil you stay here with me at my house?”, Joonie asked the monkey. The monkey told “Yes…Yes… I would be happy to stay with you, Raja.” The boy was surprised and asked, “Raja!! Why Raja?”. The monkey said, “Sorry if you did not like what I told you. Can I call you ‘Raja’?”. Joonie replied happily, “Yes! You can call me. I love you, Ram”. “Ram! What it mean?”, the monkey asked Joonie. For that Joonie told, “You called me ‘Raja’, I am very happy. So I named you ‘Ram’. If you don’t mind”. They both played and they were very happy.

We as human beings, feel scared of animals. The animals too get scared of us, it’s because we are big and loud and ‘novel’ to them. And so to protect themselves, they try to avoid us as much as possible.

‘When I look into the eyes of an animal, I see a living being, I see a friend and I feel a soul.’

Be kind to animals. It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.

P.S.

1. Images are only for reference.
2. Credit to the right owner.
3. This is an original story by Shivani V. Gombi

In collaboration with Shivani V. Gombi. Heartfelt thank you to you Shivani. We value you for choosing us to collaborate with.

Author introduction:

Shivani is a budding story writer, a 6th-grade student staying at Sampige Nagar, Dharwad. She is born on the 22nd of July 2011. ‘The child who played happily with the monkey’ is the first story she has written.