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[Adam 5th place]
Monkey's Fool
On one sunny day, there was a young man who needed to write a theme for a school essay. He was told it could be anything, but he could not think of anything to write. He sat in his room, feeling depressed over his inability to write anything on the paper in front of him. He looked over to his pet, a golden haired monkey named Bosco.
"What do you think Bosco? What should I write about?" he said, asking the monkey a rhetorical question.
The monkey, of course, said nothing. The writer just continued to look at the monkey, but suddenly, the monkey's silence gave him an idea! He thought to himself what he was going to write and then, without realizing it, he was doing it. He was writing down a story based off a woman he knew at the place he worked at.
Enter a middle aged woman named Brenda. Brenda works at an office as a supervisor for data entry. Most days she chats with the ladies there and often says things which are not highly appropriate. Today, however, she will be visited by a unique individual on the morning she goes to work.
Brenda walked out of her house to go to her car. She fumbled for her keys in her purse and when she looked up, she saw, sitting in her path, a fair-haired monkey.
"Hello." the monkey said to her in a smooth, deep voice.
"Um, hello." Brenda replied with uncertainty. She was perplexed at the very situation. It wasn't everyday a monkey came to talk to her.
"You've been a naughty girl Brenda."
"What are you talking about? Is some joke? Somebody put you up to this?"
"Not at all. I'm just doing my job and you happened to be on my list."
"List? List for what?" she asked. It was only now that she realized she wasn't hearing the monkey so much with her ears as in her very mind!
"A list of people who have taken their words for granted. You are one such person."
Brenda thought for a moment. Had she taken the monkey seriously, she might have discerned what it was he was hinting at, but she was not accustomed to telepathic monkeys and she was going to be late for work.
"Uhhh, look, Mr. Monkey I wish I could stay and chat, but I have to get to work. See ya!" she said and she walked past the monkey to her car.
"Before you go Brenda, you should know that you should be careful with the things you say or you'll be seeing me again." warned the monkey.
Brenda turned to ask the monkey what he meant, but he was gone.
On the way to work, Brenda found she couldn't take her mind off of the strange little monkey who spoke to her. This has certainly been a strange morning so far. How did he know my name? she thought to herself as she continued on her usual route.
Brenda finally reached the office where she worked and went to settle in at her desk.
"Good mornin!" said Ms. Theresa.
"Good mornin." Brenda replied. She wanted to tell her co-worker what she experienced only a few minutes earlier, but she dared not to as she felt she might have been viewed as crazy. Hec, she wasn't sure she wasn't going mad herself.
"The system went down again."
"What? Again? When?"
"Ohh around seven-fifty this morning."
"And what did Alan do? He went to sleep didn't he? I bet he did nothing."
Alan, who was sitting nearby in the same office, heard what Brenda said and wondered what she meant. Without the system no one in the office can do anything and he knows he never sleeps at his desk. He thought it might be a joke, but he and Brenda did not know each other well enough to joke in that manner.
"Umm, no I was trying to get back in since before you got here." Alan said, defending himself.
Brenda didn't respond though and commenced with getting her computer booted up so she could see if she could get in. She found she couldn't. Eventually, the system was restored and all those in the office started working. Throughout the day, Brenda said some of the usual things she would say on any given day. She was always prone to speaking before she put much thought behind it.
"Lord, that Tod. He spends half the damn day on the dock instead of working!" she said amongst the ladies in the usual gossip.
"I swear Jack doesn't do anything but goof off!"
"That Jolene walks around here like she's so cute! One of these days me and her are going to go at it."
"Oh I heard he used to go to the bathroom and nod off! It's no wonder they let him go."
Brenda did not speak too well of some people and yet, whenever she saw them in person, she would smile and joke with them. Alan, hearing the whole thing, just shook his head.
At this point, the writer wasn't sure of what next to write. He thought about how to get his short story to its conclusion. Within minutes the remaining words came to him.
Eventually, it was time to get off from work. Everyone turned off their computers and left to go home. On this day, Brenda was the last to leave. She walked out into the parking lot. Once again, she looked into her purse for her keys. When she looked up the monkey was once again in her path.
"Hello Brenda. Remember me?"
"How can I forget? What do you want now Mr. Monkey."
"I warned you about the things you say. You have committed great sins."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, if I must remind you I shall. You said Alan didn't do anything when the system went down and yet you were not there. In truth he did do his best to resolve the issue."
"Yeah, whatever." she said. "I didn't mean anything by it."
"Yet you said it Brenda. And what about the things you said about Tod?"
"What? He spends most of his time on the dock. It's a wonder if he ever gets any work done!"
"Ah, but Tod only spends a few minutes there on any particular day. In truth, he works very hard."
"Um, okay, what, are you here to judge me or something?"
"Hmm, I would say my role is that of executioner." the monkey said, beginning to form a large, devilish grin on his face.
"What? What are saying now?" asked a somewhat disconcerted Brenda.
"You will know as soon as I leave. Oh and my name isn't Mr. Monkey. I don't have any cards so I'll just leave a gold coin for you to keep. Farewell Brenda." the monkey said and he vanished in a flash of light. In his place was a gold coin as he promised. Brenda went to pick up the coin.
"Well I'll be" Brenda began to say to herself, but her voice suddenly cut out on her like a rickety old car. Brenda cleared her throat, thinking that was all she needed to do. However, she discovered she still could not speak. Not one word escaped her lips.
Puzzled by this new development she got into her car to go home. Maybe I just have a really sore throat. I have been talking a lot today. Yeah, that's it. It'll clear up in a few hours. she thought to herself. She decided to examine the coin she picked up to see if it was real gold. It was real gold, but that wasn't what shocked her. Inscribed on the coin were three words she would never forget for the rest of her mute life. Speak No Evil.
The writer concluded the tale he wrote with The End and pat himself on the back for his ingenuity. The writer turned to the golden haired monkey and said, "That was certainly an easy theme."
The writer then started to spell check his work and put it away in his notebook to be turned in the next day.
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