The Monkey Twins Don't Want a Nap

The house was noisy, very, very noisy. The Monkey Twins played all morning with some friends. They ran this way...


and that way.


They wrestled.


They got underfoot in the kitchen.


They begged for chestnut bars when the Acorn Scouts came by selling cookies.


Grandpa Bear was very tired after such a noisy morning.


"Time for a nap, Monkey Twins," he announced after lunch.


He tucked them in and kissed first this one....


and then that one.


As he started to leave the Monkey Twins jumped up and tried to get Grandpa Bear to stay.


"No, Monkey Twins, it is time to rest." He tucked them back in and turned to leave.


"Oh me, oh my," he sighed to himself as he bent to pick up a toy.


"I sure hope they stay in bed this time. I could use a nap myself."


When Grandpa Bear got downstairs to the sofa, he hesitated. The blankets looked awfully lumpy.


He gently sat down. Indeed they were lumpy, very lumpy.


"Hmmm," he said. "This sofa is very uncomfortable." He tried to smooth out the lumps. He heard a little bit of giggling.


"Yes, indeed," he said, "This is a terribly uncomfortable sofa!"


"Let me see if I can get rid of these lumps," he muttered. He heard some squealing and giggling.


Two little brown heads popped up.
"Ah-hah! No wonder this sofa is lumpy! It has Monkey Twins in it!"


Grandpa Bear hugged and kissed his naughty little Monkey Twins.
"Alright, Monkey Twins," he said gently. "It is time to settle down. I'll sing you a little lullaby."


He tucked the Monkey Twins under the covers and wrapped his arms around them.

"Shh, shh, shhhhhhh," he told them softly. They wiggled for a few minutes, but as he sang about all the pretty little horses, they started to calm down.


Soon, they were still. Everyone was breathing deeply.


The house was quiet, very, very quiet.

Copyright 2009 Elizabeth F. Curtin

To hear some beautiful lullabies, click the link for Renee and Jeremy's wonderful website for their CD "It's a Big World" in the column at right. My favorite lullaby to go with this story is "Powder Blue."

The Monkey Twins Play Restaurant

The Monkey Twins wanted to play restaurant. They had a big basket of play food, most of it made of wood. The Monkey Twins asked Grandpa Bear what he would like to eat for dinner.


"Oh, anything," he said, looking into the basket. "But whatever you do, don't give me any radishes, thank you. I don't care for radishes."


Grandpa Bear listened to the Monkey Twins while he had his bread and butter.



Even though they were making a racket stirring the wooden food with their big spoons, he could still hear them whispering.


The first course came. It was soup.
"Oh, soup," said Grandpa Bear. "I just love soup! I just love.....radish soup." Oh, those mischievous little Monkey Twins!


They laughed when they saw the funny face Grandpa Bear made.


They fell to the floor laughing.


The next course was salad. It looked wonderful: beautiful bright green foam lettuce pieces, and underneath, just peeking out.....a radish.


"What will I do with these Monkey Twins!" said Grandpa Bear, throwing up his arms.


The Monkey Twins burst out laughing and swung their partners, round and round.


More soup next!
"Oh, that smells good!" said Grandpa Bear, "I just can't get enough soup!" He leaned over and inhaled.
"Mmmmm! Yummy! Chicken soup with onion and......" Then he saw it: the radish cuddled up next to the drumstick.



The Monkey Twins laughed and laughed.


Ah, the main course! Meat and plenty of it! Just right for a hungry bear. There was a hot dog fresh off the grill, a big marbled steak, a green hamburger, an egg, and not a vegetable to be seen except......a radish.


Monkey Twins! They stood on their heads and laughed!


And now, for dessert! Surely dessert would be safe from radishes. But when dessert came, there they were, not one but two radishes, pretending to be cherries on top of a plate of fruit.


"Radishes!" moaned Grandpa Bear, slowly tipping over backwards and sticking his feet up in the air.


Boy, did those Monkey Twins laugh! But Grandpa Bear suddenly popped up.


He grabbed those Monkey Twins, first one, then the other.


How Grandpa Bear loved those Monkey Twins. He loved, loved, loved those funny Monkey Twins.



Copyright 2009 Elizabeth F. Curtin

The Easter Egg Hunt

The children gathered in the garden for the Easter Egg Hunt.


"Happy Easter, children," said Mother Owl. "There are lots of eggs for everybody, so please share. And I want to remind you, don't forget the little children. Leave some for them. Now choose a basket and go!"



The children scrambled for the baskets.


The Monkey Twins grabbed the biggest baskets they could carry.






The Pirate ran this way,



and Zibby ran that.




Little Theo didn't know which way to go. This was his first Easter Egg Hunt. Last year he had stood under his mother to watch, but now he was big enough.



He tried following Honeybunch for a little while. She was collecting pink eggs.



But he couldn't run as fast as she could.



He couldn't fly like Little Owl.



He couldn't sniff for food like Truffles,



or like Punkin.



He couldn't climb like Nibbles,



the Pirate,



Zibby,



or the Monkey Twins.



He just couldn't keep up.



But he kept looking. He looked here,



there,



and everywhere.




All of the sudden, Zibby squealed. She had found the golden egg.



Mugwort peeked over the wall to see.



The Easter Egg Hunt was over. The children all sat down on the grass to look at their eggs, all but Little Theo.


He hadn't found a single one. Worst of all, he felt left out. He stuck his head in some flowers and cried.



Zibby heard him.



"Come here," she said, gently scooping him up in her arms. "I'll share with you."



And then Zibby did a magnanimous thing. She gave Little Theo the golden egg.



Honeybunch gave him some pink eggs.



Then everyone wanted to give Little Theo some.



Everyone but the Monkey Twins, that is. They stayed as far away from the sharing as possible.



Theo was speechless with happiness. It was his first Easter Egg Hunt. He had the golden egg. And the children had not forgotten him.



Happy Easter!




Copyright 2009, Elizabeth F. Curtin