A Celebrity Among Us

Well, hello.  How is your day?  The animal neighborhood began too quiet this morning and I had not seen the Spider monkey.  He usually paid everyone a visit early in the morning to extract his share of each food bowl and create a stir in the process.    I decided to go and check the food bowls in my yard only to find Mr. Cat lying across the walkway.

“Oh Mr. Cat.  Your foot is bleeding.  Whatever have you done to yourself?  Ok, be still and I will bring a towel and your carrier because we will have to go to the Veterinarian’s office and have the doctor look at your paw.”

“Okay Shane.  You will be in charge while I am away so keep a sharp eye out for that monkey.  We will be back soon.”

Mr. Cat would remain with the doctor until after they bandaged his paw, administered vaccines, shampooed his coat, trimmed the tufts of fur from around his ears and evened his nails.  At least he would not have to worry about that monkey, because his doctor visit would take most of the day.  Well everything was quiet and Shane was sleeping on the porch while Eli played across the street with the newest member of the animal neighborhood; a Chihuahua puppy.  I truly hoped he didn’t decide the puppy was a water fowl and throw him across the yard with his big jaws only so he could go and retrieve him.  Dear me; something new for the monkey to torture so I hoped Eli did not join the monkeys ranks.

A cup of coffee and my laptop were in order for my day along with this peace and quiet.

Momentarily!  Of course!  That monkey had the dogs riled up again.  The barking began with dogs that were two streets over but were moving closer and closer to my house.   Oh yes.  Eli first, then Shane! Shane barking meant that something or someone was coming into my yard.  That monkey must be up to something if Shane is calling for quiet.

“Hello.  Is there anybody home?  I need to speak to you please,” a man called from the front yard.

I made my way to the front door and discovered the man calling out to me was the spider monkey’s owner.

“Hello,” I replied back to him. “I am Ms Ina.  How may I help you?”

He removed his hat and said, “I am Mr. Logo and I have come for my monkey.  He seems to be missing today and I am sure he is here.”

“I am quite sure he could be anywhere in this neighborhood.”

“Oh no!  He will be where your big, yellow cat is. There were sprinkles of blood on my stoop and I think maybe your cat has injured my monkey.”

“Quite the opposite, I am sure.  I took the cat to the Vet this morning because his paw was bleeding.”

Mr. Logo looked so sad, so being a good neighbor I volunteered to assist him in his search.

The troupe followed us as we traveled around the neighborhood, but no monkey.  We finally arrived in Mr. Logo’s yard and he invited me to see the stoop where the blood was.

“My monkey has no name,” he remarked, rather out of the blue.

“You just call him monkey?  Why?”

“If you would not be offended, I would like to show you something.”

“Of course I am not offended.  Lead the way.”

Inside Mr. Logo’s house were posters and photos of Spider Monkeys in costumes and hats on every wall.

“When my father became ill, I moved here to his house.  His monkey, Hero, had died and I did not know he had ordered another one.  One week before my father died a friend of his delivered the monkey you know and I could never get rid of the monkey.  It would be going against what my father asked me to do.  Do you understand?  The monkey comes from a line of show animals from the mid 1800’s.  My grandfather brought his monkey to America as a stow-away.  When they arrived there was no work and so he dressed him up and the monkey danced while my grand-father played music.  Those were sad times for our family but the next generation, my father and a new monkey, Hero, found work with the circus and they were a huge success.  My father sent me to college and I cannot bring myself to go to the circus.  I work from home as a computer analyst.  My monkey does not know how to put on a show.  I am disgracing my family because I have not taught him to perform. If he could perform, I could give him a name.”

“Nonsense!  That monkey is the most entertaining animal in this neighborhood. I promise you that he can perform, and how.”

“Oh we must find him.”

The phone rang and Mr. Logos went to the kitchen to answer it.  When he returned he was smiling but his eyes were not happy looking.

“The monkey is at the Vet’s office and he is causing problems.  Would you please like to go with me to bring him home?”

“Oh yes!”

We went outside and got into Mr. Logo’s truck.  He had a camper shell on the back with windows and screens in the sides of the camper shell.

  Arriving at the Vet’s office we walked in gingerly and hopefully.   Hopefully the monkey had not destroyed the office.  But we could hear that he was creating a racket and had several animals joining in.  The ladies at the front desk were laughing and told us to go to the right and then to the end of the hallway.  The doctor was sitting on the corner of his desk feeding the monkey a banana and the monkey was throwing pieces of banana across the room to Mr. Cat who lay inside a crate just giving that monkey a dirty look.

“Well come in,” Dr. Adams cheerfully addressed us. “We have had quite a show today and this monkey is a born entertainer.  He loves to aggravate Mr. Cat.  They appear to be inseparable friends and my guess is that they always try to get one up on one another.  Quite a pair!  The monkey came here looking for Mr. Cat and danced on the porch until a patient finally opened the door wide enough for him to get inside.  He went straight to the back and found his Mr. Cat. "

Mr. Logo, the monkey, Mr. Cat and I were happy to return to our respective homes.  Mr. Cat would have to stay inside until his paw healed so we will see how well that monkey handles this problem tomorrow.