THE GREEN MONKEYS
by Betty Paraskevas
and Michael Paraskevas
©2003
Two highly intelligent green monkeys were discovered deep in the jungle by Professor Flippenwig. He named them Spider and Flytrap.
Every evening, after Spider washed the dishes and Flytrap did the ironing,
they would watch old movies.
They quickly learned to speak the language and the Professor found them to
be wonderful companions.
But one day, Spider and Flytrap told him they wanted seek their fortune in
New York City.
Professor Flippenwig felt an overwhelming sadness as he waved good-bye to
the little fellows and watched them board the plane with their cardboard suitcases.
You would think that two green monkeys taking in the sights at Times Square
would cause quite a stir. But busy New Yorkers didn’t even notice Spider
and Flytrap.
They rented a one room walk up in a run down part of town. The apartment had
been vacant for a
long time and the landlord,
Two-Bucks Needleman, was happy to finally rent it for fifty dollars more than
he expected.
Spider found an old typewriter in the trash and decided he’d learn to
type. Each day he practiced a new letter. A’s on the first day, B’s
on the second day, C’s on the third day and so on.
The little fellows had to earn money. They took on every new job they could
find.
They were dog groomers...
Busboys at the Blue Shark Supper Club...
Tailors...
Ushers at the movie theater...
Television repairmen...
Spear carriers at the Metropolitan Opera Company...
But they were never called back for the same job twice.
While lunching at a sidewalk pushcart, they met an elegant gentleman who showed
them a valuable piece of New York City real estate and Spider and Flytrap
made their first payment on the Brooklyn Bridge.
One night, after they inspected their bridge and gave the gentleman their
second payment, it began to snow as they hurried home, They had never seen
real snow before.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” asked Spider. “It looks just
like the snow in the old movies we used to watch with the Professor.”
Flytrap replied, “Oh, Spider, I love the snow, I love our bridge and
most of all, I love New York.”
Spider just smiled and nodded as they hurried across the busy street.
The End
