Today’s Story Spark was Animal Antics. I chose the prompt “Write a story about a monkey escaping from a zoo.”
The Family George
I’m sure you have all heard about Curious George, the character created by H. A. Rey and his wife, Margret Rey. What you might not know is that George was a real monkey, not fictional. George was his family name. He was named Curious George by the man in the Yellow Hat, who found him in a jungle in Africa. Curious seemed an appropriate name considering all the trouble he got into because of his curiosity. You might remember him dialing the fire department while playing with a telephone he had discovered, or him floating above the city, holding onto many helium balloons which he had taken from a vendor. Of course, after escaping from a zoo, he ended up riding a bus, making a mess of spaghetti at a restaurant (where he ended up becoming a dish washer), becoming a window washer, discovering painting, and painting a jungle scene in a hotel room. Such was the life of a curious Curious George.
In my research, I have discovered a number of other members of the George family who, too, had escaped from zoos and had been discovered in jungles.
Here are a few of them:
There was the one caught by the man in the Black Hat, Devious George. This monkey always had a squinty look in his eye. One could never keep track of him. Whenever your back was turned, he would disappear. You would have to wait until his description was mentioned in the news to know what he had done, such as the time he caused an accident with a truck delivering 50 crates of bananas to an Amazon Fresh store. He somehow escaped and consumed a large quantity of them before being caught.
There was the monkey caught by the man in the Beige Hat, Tedious George. It took forever to get this monkey to do anything. He had a blank stare and found nothing interesting, so he did the same dull things every day. Of course, the man in the Beige Hat didn’t have much of a life either.
Another family monkey was caught by the man in the Green Hat. Anxious George. This one was always shaking. It was impossible to potty train this one. Any medium noise, such as a knock at the door or the stove timer going off, would set Anxious off with a screech and a shake, and on more than one occasion, a loss of bladder control. The man in the Green Hat frequently turned the same color as his hat.
The monkey found by the man in the White striped Hat, Repetitious George, had his hands full, too. Repetitious always did the same thing over and over again. There was no way to teach him anything. He had to do things more than once. And, he was always cleaning himself, as if there was something dirty on his hands. I believe this monkey was the origin of the term OCD.
The worst of the George family was Nefarious George. He was found by the man in the Red-Orange Hat. You could never predict what this monkey was up to. It was the boss of this family. He changed his behavior constantly. He’d do one thing and then do the exact opposite. There was a lot of hate in this monkey. I have no idea why the man in the Orange Hat kept him. It must have made him feel powerful to have such a strong-willed monkey. The man was known to brag to all the other George family owners that he had the very best monkey of the lot.
The last family member I’ll share about is Obsequious* George. I’m not sure if this monkey was a true member of the George clan. This was the most confusing of the monkeys connected to the George family and was certainly the oddest looking. He was also found by the man in the Orange Hat. This monkey started out with red hair. It lived in the same place as Nefarious George and loved to hang around with him. What made this monkey so odd, besides its red hair, was that over time, its red hair turned yellow the more he followed Nefarious around, and then changed again to be completely orange. My research didn’t find much uniqueness about Obsequious, other than it always hung around trying to be favored by whatever Nefarious decided to do.
For now, I will continue my research into the George family of monkeys as they escape or are found by members of the Colored Hat Society. I’ve already uncovered some other named ones – Serious George, Atrocious George, Cantankerous George, Delirious George, Facetious George, and Obnoxious George. But those stories will have to wait.
By George! I’ve taken up enough of your time.
* obsequious – exhibiting servile compliance; fawning
