Clouds gathered and rumbles of thunder were heard far off as the storm worsened. Rain poured down on the dry ground and the animals cheered and greeted the rare occurrence with dancing and laughter. Not only did it not often rain in the jungle, but a storm of this magnitude was rare indeed. Lightning sliced through the sky, zapping the ground and an occasional tree.

 Freddy Monkey was showing off, as he usually did. He had been warned to come home as the storm approached, but being a young monkey, this was an adventure he didn't want to miss. Some of his braver friends had stayed too and they watched from the ground as Freddy Monkey climbed the tree and swung from its branches.

 "Maybe, you should come down," said one. "It is getting worse and that lightning could hit the tree."

 "The chances of that are like winning a lottery when you don't have a ticket," boasted Freddy Monkey.

 "If you aren't coming down, Freddy Monkey, we're going home. We are getting wet and it's lunchtime," said Marvin Monkey.

 "Okay! You go home then, but I'm staying," said Freddy Monkey swinging again. His friends left shaking their heads.

 When Freddy didn't have anyone to show-off for, it wasn't the same. He was just about convinced to go home himself, when a large CRACK sounded and lightning hit the tree. KABOOM!

 Sparks flew from the tree and Freddy Monkey, who was holding onto the tree at the time the bolt struck, felt a sizzle run down his fingers. He couldn't see that his eyeballs enlarged, but he could feel them seem to stretch his face. His legs wobbled and his tail drooped.

 Fire sprang from the wood and Freddy Monkey jumped as the tree split in half and fell to the ground. His jump would have been successful, if he didn't land on a sleeping tiger.

 "Ouch!" growled Richard Tiger, shaking the monkey off his back.

 "It was the storm's fault. Lightning hit the tree and it split in half," said Freddy Monkey so fast that the words tumbled into each other.

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 The tiger seemed to notice the storm for the first time. "I'm a heavy sleeper," Richard Tiger said yawning. "No hard feelings then, let's shake."

 When the tiger stretched his paw forward and it touched the monkey's, sparks zapped off the monkey. The energized monkey sent sparks off his fingers, that burnt like embers of fire. The tiger quickly drew back his hand.

 "You have weird stuff going on in those fingers," said the tiger, quickly running into the forest.

 The monkey wasn't quite sure what had happened when he touched the tiger's paw, but he thought it was something to tell his friends and went looking for them.

 Question about the story: What happened when the lightning hit the monkey?

 Send answers to Storytime, c/o Verna Dunlop, RR#1 Moser River, NS B0J 2K0 or e-mail the answer to the question to vernadunlop@yahoo.com. Prizes will be sent to those sending in the answer.

posted on 06/08/10