The Unlucky One

Monie was an unlucky monkey who always encountered unfortunate events. While swinging from tree to tree, he would sometimes miss grabbing onto the next tree branch and fall. Or, while going near to the river to quench his thirst, he would frequently trip and fall into the water.

Each time it happened, Monie would be upset and blamed everything else except himself. Over time, he became a resentful, angsty monkey.

One day, Monie got up from hunger and headed out of his treehouse to search for food. 

When he came near a fruit farm, he saw a huge basket of fruits on the ground, unattended. He looked around to see if anyone was coming as he wanted to steal some fruits from the farm.

“The coast seemed clear. Let me get in to have a taste of those delicious fruits.” He grinned. Monie tried climbing through the wooden fence to sneak into the farm. However, the unlucky monkey was careless, and he fell onto the ground with a huge “Thump”.

The loud commotion attracted the attention of the owner, Rollie, the rabbit. Rollie sounded the alarm to alert everyone of the intruder.

The farm animals immediately gathered. The hen rushed out from the plantation, the duck came out from the pond nearby, and the timid mouse quickly hid inside the farmhouse.

Rollie took his stick and started chasing after Monie. “If you want food, you should work for it, not steal them!” the angry Rollie yelled. Monie saw Rollie from afar and hastily scrambled away. The farm animals continued shouting behind, “Don’t you dare come again! You will not be so lucky to escape the next time!”

Monie managed to escape to his treehouse. He was exasperated by how he was so close to getting the fruits if not for his bad luck. Collapsing on his bed, he kept thinking about all the succulent fruits he could have tasted. His mouth started to drool, and his stomach rumbled even louder. Just then, a sweet vanilla aroma caught his attention. He took a deep breath at the yummy smell. “It’s the smell of cookies! Someone is baking them!” He thought.

Monie got excited and decided to follow the scent, which led him to a yellow house with a yellow chimney. Monie peeked through the window and saw a little lamb making cookies. The cookies had just been out from the oven and were placed near the window to cool down. Monie chuckled to himself as he reached over the window to take the cookies.

“Ouch! It’s too hot,” Monie shrieked. The noise alerted the little lamb. The kind little lamb wanted to offer his cookies out of kindness. However, the guilty Monie thought he was caught and quickly ran away as fast as he could.  Along the way, he stumbled and fell, causing him to land in a pool of muddy water.

 “What a bad day! Why do these bad things keep happening to me?” Monie exclaimed. Not only had he not eaten, but he was all bruised from the fall and dirty too. Monie felt pessimistic at this point and continued to drag himself home.

When he got home, he lay in his bed and started wondering about all the bad things that happened in his life. “I cannot let this bad luck affect me. I must change my luck!” He said with determination.

Monie heard about the red mandrake who lived in the deep forest. He was famous for solving everyone’s problems and even improving others their luck! At first, Monie was sceptical. However, since he had no one else to turn to, he had to try out for himself.

The following day, Monie went to visit the red mandrake. He took a look at Monie and asked, “When was the last time you cleaned your house?”

Monie was puzzled by the question but replied, “I hardly clean my house. It is in a mess.”

“Have you been anxious and worried about things constantly?” the red mandrake asked again.

“I have, as I have been trying to take things from other people and worried that they will catch me!” Monie replied honestly.

The mandrake then gave Monie a solution, “I need you to start cleaning your house. You will need to start working hard for your food and no more stealing. I am sure your luck will change!”

Monie thought about it and decided to try out the mandrake’s suggestion. Once he got home, he began cleaning his dirty house. As it was too oily and greasy, he took the whole day to clean it thoroughly.

The next day, he went out on the farm to apologise to the animals on the fruit farm. Strangely, the animals accepted his apology. He then requested to help out with the chores in exchange for food. Again, they agreed without much hesitation.

Monie was impressed with the mandrake. He no longer felt anxious or worried that he had to run away from people chasing after him. His luck was back! He also discovered that he no longer fell from branches when he swings from branches to branches!

Monie was baffled how he had managed to improve his luck. He wanted to show his gratitude and at the same time ask the mandrake how he managed to improve his luck. Therefore, he went back to find the mandrake again.

“Wise mandrake, thank you for changing my luck. However, I’m curious.  How did you manage to do so?” Monie asked.

The mandrake laughed. He replied, “I did not change your luck. You did. Your hands were greasy and oily. That was why when you swing from tree to tree, your slippery hands made you lose your grip and fall. And when you are anxious and worried, you will be clumsier than normal. Once you have solved these, naturally, you will not make so many mistakes!”

Monkey finally understood. His behaviour and mental mind affected his actions all this while. There are times luck plays an important role. However, once the state of mind is clear, one will be less prone to errors and mistakes.

The End.