There once was a monkey who lived in a tree in the middle of the forest. He was just like any other monkey; he ate his bananas, he went to school and he helped with tree chores.
However, there was something a little different with monkey. He didn't have many friends. In fact, he didn't have a single friend at all.
He would go home each day and cry out to himself, "How can I make friends? I'm so lonely."
There was nothing terribly wrong with the monkey. He was kind, handsome, smart, funny and charming. Yet no one would ever talk to him when he sat alone at school.
He had attempted everything in his power to engage in conversation with anyone. Every time he tried, he was shot down and ignored. Monkey was the loneliest creature on the planet.
One day, something finally snapped within him.
"If they won't be my friends, than they'll be my enemies. They'll learn how it feels to be on the outside," Monkey thought to himself.
And so his wicked ways began. His nice, friendly personality turned cold and bitter. He no longer attempted to make contact with anyone. Monkey decided that he had tried to long and hard and it was time for a drastic change.
He schemed and schemed for hours a day, training his clever mind. His evil plans floated through his mind during school, at home and even in his dreams. He eventually decided that he would trick people when they least expected it.
His trickery started small, by telling people there was no homework when there actually was, by conning people out of their lunch money and even by telling people wrong directions to places.
However, day by day the tricks got bigger and bigger. The monkey had many, many enemies.
"It's so much easier to get enemies than to gain friends," Monkey thought to himself.
One day he decided to trick a turtle and a crocodile. This was the worst one yet. They were starving after a long trek form their home, so he lead them to a farmer's patch of pumpkins to feast, knowing that would get them killed.
The turtle and crocodile met their fate and that's when Monkey knew his transformation was complete. He truly was a wicked being. He surely didn't have to worry about making friend any longer; all he made now were enemies.
Author's Note: The original story is about a monkey, a turtle and crocodile. The monkey was very deceptive and tricked the turtle and crocodile into eating from a farmer's patch of pumpkins. The turtle and crocodile ended up being killed in the process because of the monkey's deceptive ways. My favorite part and why I picked this story was the moral, which was: Never trust a new friend or an old enemy. This made me want to write with this story as the inspiration. I then decided to do the backstory on the monkey and how he turned evil. I also chose this image because the monkey looked wicked.
Bibliography: The original story is part of the Filipino Tales unit. Story source: Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler (1921).
Hi Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteYour story was really interesting. For most of it, I felt really bad for the monkey. Then it got to the last part with the turtle and crocodile. It was an interesting read from my perspective because I am often the person who is too trusting. I liked how you created this sad backstory that still doesn’t justify his actions, but it still makes you feel a little for the monkey.
Hello Kelsey! I think your background info on the evil monkey was really great and creative! I think it was a good idea to see how the evil character actually turned evil! Your author's note was really helpful too. I think if you wanted to expand this story you could write more about the other two characters with the farmer. It seems like the main gist of the original story was barely portrayed, and I would like to see more detail about it. Overall awesome job though!
ReplyDeleteHello Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting story! I like how you gave us the backstory of the monkey as your way to show why he would commit such a wicked dead. I did leave this story craving more and wondering what the reasoning was that people did not like him. Did he talk too much or maybe he only worried about himself when talking to people. This could possibly be something you expand on, but it was a great story!
I think this was a great interpretation of the original story. I liked how you made it very clear as to why the monkey turned evil. As a reader, I didn't like how the story ended simply because I wanted to hear more about the monkey and his evil ways. It ended very abruptly, but it left me wanting to know more. All in all I think it was a great story.
ReplyDelete