Winsley the Two-headed Monkey

Winsley the Two-Headed Monkey

By Rev. Dana Bassinger

Chapter 1: A lesson learned.

Winsley is a monkey born in a zoo, a little creature standing just under a foot tall. His fur is dark brown with golden markings like his mother and most of the other monkeys in his exhibit. One thing however, set him apart from the others. It was the fact he was born with two heads.

Every day the monkey would see many humans laugh and point at him. Some would pull out their rectangle boxes and point them at him. Some would throw trash in his exhibit, others would make strange gestures.

He didn't have many friends at the zoo, but his mother loved him very much and would often just pick him up and let him ride on her broad shoulders, he enjoyed this very much. It was the only time the monkey Winsley seemed to enjoy himself.

One day, there was a little boy wearing a red hat and blue overalls. Several humans were pointing at him, laughing. They had taken his hat teasing the little boy. They were tossing it back and forth until one bully dropped it and the boy wound up getting it back. He brushed it off on his knee and put it back on his head.

This was something the monkey was rather familiar with in his own exhibit. Even his own kind would steal his bananas. They would make him reach, and jump for them before they devoured his meal in front of him.

Normally, he was used to such behavior and would have paid no mind. But it was not that much longer until an older, taller boy snuck up behind the boy with the red hat and ripped it off his head. The bully raised his arm high above the little boy and began taunting him.

“Haha, it’s mine now, loser!” said the bully.
“Give it back!” cried the little boy
“Why don’t you make me!” the bully mocked before putting the hat on his own head.

Winsley watched the crying, hatless boy and thought about all the times when others would do things like this to him. Humans would point and laugh at him while the larger monkeys would dangle his own meals in front of him. Winsley had seen enough. He climbed down from his tree, ran across the exhibit and jumped up onto the rail. Winsley lunged with all his strength to bite the rim of the hat and snatch it from the bigger boy's head before running at full speed back over the rail to safety. Winsley then climbed the tree and took the hat from his mouth, he waved it in the air chattering at the older boy.

“Looks like you ain’t ever getting it back now, loser!”
“B-but… That hat belonged to my dad…” sobbed the little boy.
“Maybe you should have left it in your cage with the rest of your family, loser!”
The bully walked away, laughing cruelly at the little boy’s misfortune.

Winsley had finished tormenting the bully but noticed that the little boy had seemed to give up. Tears streamed down the boy’s face and fell to the ground around his feet. He kicked the ground where the tears had fallen, looking utterly defeated. He walked away with his head hung low.
Winsley saw this and put the hat back in his mouth. Then climbed down the tree, across the exhibit and up the rails after the boy in the overalls. He searched and searched. The little boy was nowhere in sight but that didn't stop him. He had the advantage of being able to run on all fours so he could search the entire zoo in a matter of minutes without losing the little boy's hat and still outrunning the confused zookeepers. He called out for the boy but began losing hope of ever finding the little boy.
The little monkey came across a huge pole with the zoo’s flag right in the center of the zoo. He climbed to the very top to see if he could find the little boy in blue overalls. He put his hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun as he peered around the zoo. The zookeepers were yelling for him to come down. They were making sounds and calling his name, which he ignored. He was determined to find the little boy.
Finally he found the little boy in the overalls. The boy was about to leave the zoo. He had to hurry if he would catch the boy. Winsley slid down the pole and jumped over the zookeepers before dashing off after the boy. The zookeepers chased after him. They paused for a moment, watching Winsley take the hat from his mouth and shrieking in the boy’s direction.
The boy sighed as he pushed on the turnstile but stopped when he heard a little monkey. The little boy looked behind him to see the cause of the commotion. What he saw was the two-headed monkey calling out for him, waving his red hat over both of his heads frantically. Winsley was running as fast as one arm and two legs could carry him towards the boy. He put the hat back into his mouth and took off at full speed to outrun the zookeepers. The little boy stood there, unsure of what was happening as the monkey raced towards him. Was this not the same monkey that took his hat? Wasn’t he the biggest bully of them all?
Winsley came to a stop in front of the little boy. He removed the hat from his mouth and reached out to offer it to the little boy. The boy gratefully took his hat back from the monkey and placed it on his head as one of the zookeepers approached the two of them.

"Oh, so that hat belongs to you!" exclaimed the zookeeper.
"Yes, although I don't know exactly why the monkey decided to return it to me after taking it into his exhibit," said the little boy
"Winsley is the smartest monkey we have! He is constantly picked on by a lot of the kids and even the other monkeys though. I’m sure he can relate to something he saw happen to you."
"Well, ma’am, there were these bullies. They took my hat and wouldn’t give it back! They were taunting me. That monkey jumped out of the exhibit and stole my hat from one of the bullies, then ran off with it. I thought he was teasing me, too because he was waving it around."
“Well, that explains everything! He was looking all over the zoo for you and we have been chasing him for almost an hour.”

“See, he's just like you. Being bullied and made fun of, so he sticks up for those he sees in the same situation. “The zookeeper continues. “People just say he's deformed. They laugh and mock him, and they don't realize that just because he’s different, it doesn't make him any less of a monkey than any others.” explained the zookeeper. “He’s actually faster than every other monkey in the zoo” the zookeeper gestures towards the monkey with a nod and from the looks of things, it looks like you made a new friend."

The two headed monkey looked up at the boy and took his hand, before making a kissing face to him before giving him a wide smile. The little boy smiled back at the monkey and knelt down next to him.

"I will come back and visit you soon Winsley, I promise!" the little boy declared excitedly, as he offered Winsley’s hand to the zookeeper.
"Make sure you keep that promise, Winsley doesn't have very many friends here. He's a good boy and can use one. If you do, I will make sure you can come and see him any time you want for free." Said the zookeeper as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a special pass. She let Winsley clamber up onto her shoulder and waved to the little boy.
“Okay, I will!” said the little boy as he smiled and waved back at the monkey before turning to leave the zoo.
The little boy would regularly come to visit Winsley, who was always very excited to see him. They shared many things together including ice cream, popcorn and even cotton candy. He was the only little boy who got to explore the zoo with a friend that was a monkey.

Moral - We can find friendships in unique places. So judging someone by their appearance will limit those that may just be worthwhile having in your life.