How Kiki and Charlie the monkey helped a little polar bear find his way home

by Gary Rostock

and Charlie the monkey helped a little polar bear find his way home

  By

  Gary Rostock

  Copyright 2011 Gary Rostock

  One day Charlie was coming home from school swinging his bag round his head, like all little monkeys do, when just by the traffic lights he saw a little polar bear crying and looking very sad, as polar bears do sometimes.

  "Hello" said Charlie"

  The poor, sad polar bear looked up at him and said through his tears

  "He…lllllo."

  "Why are you crying? asked Charlie."

  The little polar bear tried to stop his tears for a moment and looked up at Charlie.

  "I've lost my mummy and daddy and I don't know where I am," said the sad little bear.

  "Don't you worry little bear I'll help you and I know a little girl who can help us find your mummy and daddy" said Charlie, who even though he was naughty monkey was a very kind one too. Then Charlie took the lead which was around the polar bear's thick, white, furry neck and led him to his friend's Karolina's house. On the way Charlie asked the little polar bear how he had ended up crying by the traffic lights in the big city. He told Charlie that he and his mummy and daddy were on the way to the city zoo when his crate had fallen off the truck and he bumped his head and then he didn't know where he was and no one could speak animal language until he met Charlie. The two animals chatted and chatted and slowly the little polar bear stopped being so sad because now he had a friend who would help him. And by the by they came to Karolina's house. Charlie rang the bell and from inside came the sound of rushing feet.

  "Hello who's there" she called from behind the door, because her mummy had told her always to ask who it is at the door.

  "Karolinka, it's me Charlie."

  "Oh Charlie, yippee" shouted Karolinka. What she saw when she opened the door was her favourite monkey and a very white, fluffy little polar bear who, because he'd been crying so much, had very red eyes.

  "Hello you two" said the nice little girl.

  "Hello" they both said in animal language, but because Karolinka was a special little girl she could understand them, as could all her family. "Why have you been crying, little polar bear?" She asked in a soft voice.

  "I've lost my mummy and daddy and I don't know how to find them," said the white fluffy animal, but then he started to look sad again.

  "Don't worry little bear we'll help you, but first of all what's your name?"

  "I'm Erik," he said.

  "Well Erik first things first, are you hungry?" asked Karolinka.

  "I'm so, so hungry, I haven't eaten for hours" he said.

  "Well we only have some tuna, and even though you’re a little polar bear I can see you'll need a lot of cans, I think we have four; let's all go and look" she said. So off they went into the house, Charlie had to really wipe his feet because they were always muddy as he didn't like to wear shoes and Karolinka got Erik to wear two pairs of her granddad’s slippers, one pair on his front feet and one pair on his back. He looked so silly, his fluffy white body with two pairs of granddad's slippers at the bottom of his legs. They all giggled when they saw how he looked. When they all got nice and comfy in the kitchen Karolinka gave Charlie two nice big bananas and opened four cans of tuna for Erik. Little Erik was really happy that he'd found such nice friends and after getting lost, without his mummy and daddy and so far from home. When they'd all had something to eat Karolinka asked Erik if he knew which zoo he'd come from and which one he was going to. Although Erik was a clever little bear he was only little and he didn't really know. He had heard his dad saying that the men were taking them all to a nice new "city zoo" but he wasn't sure if it was this city or another.

  "Oh we are in a bit of a pickle," said Karolinka.

  When she said this little Erik's eyes started to get all watery again but before he could think about being sad again Karolinka said, "I know I'll call the City Zoo and ask them if they are expecting three polar bears."

  "You're so clever Kiki, you’re the cleverest Kiki that I know in the whole world" said Charlie who had now scoffed his bananas and was tucking into some biscuits that had been left on the table.

  "You said her name was Karolinka," said Erik.

  "It is Karolinka, but everyone calls me Kiki, do you want to call me Kiki too?"

  Little Erik nodded his head; he liked Kiki, it was easier to say and sounded just like the little girl who was helping him. He looked up at her and saw that she was dressed in a yellow t-shirt with a picture of a monkey on it, on her feet she wore big red boots and on her legs jeans with lots of holes in them. She wasn't dressed like all the little girls who came to the zoo to see Erik and his family. They all looked very pretty but like little girls, Kiki looked like she should be swinging from trees with Charlie, she was very pretty but different too. Erik thought that Kiki was wearing a hat but it was her crazy hair and she had the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen with the longest eyelashes in the world.

  "You're so nice Kiki, thank you for helping me" said the polite little polar bear.

  "You're welcome Erik, but now I'll phone the zoo to see where your mummy and daddy are" said the kind little girl with the big brown eyes and the longest eyelashes in the world.

  Kiki phoned the zoo and found out that the polar bears weren't going to her city zoo but to the big city zoo and that it was a long, way, away. She looked at the monkey and his little polar bear friend and said, "Come on you two we need to get going, I don't think the driver knows that Erik has fallen off the truck and we can use my mum's balloon to get there."

  "A balloon?" said Erik, "won't we be to heavy to fly up in the air?"

  "Not that sort of balloon silly, come with me."

  She took the little polar bear to the back of the house and there in the garden stood a lovely big purple balloon with a basket big enough for all three of them.

  "Ohhhhhhh! It's so big, will it take us all up into the sky?" Even though he was a sad, little polar bear he was still brave and one day he would grow up to be very, very brave. But Charlie wasn't so keen to go up into the sky in the balloon.

  "Dear oh dear Kiki, you know that I only like high trees, how will I swing when there are no branches to swing on?" he asked.

  "I know you're a bit scared Charlie but we have to help Erik and in the balloon we'll go high into the sky and look for the truck, we'll hold you tight and make sure you don't fall out."

  The little, naughty, but very nice monkey looked at Kiki and said: "All right Kiki let's go and find Erik's mummy and daddy and then we can have bananas and ice cream and baked beans on toast." Because even though he was a monkey he was like other little boys and loved beans on toast. First of all Kiki phoned her mummy and asked if it was all right to take the balloon; her mummy said it most definitely wasn't and that Kiki would have to go and get her granddad Stan and he would take them. She was a nice mum but it was very dangerous for a nine year old girl to go flying all over in a big, purple balloon and even though Kiki was a little angry because she thought she was old enough to fly the balloon she knew deep down that her mummy was right. Her granddad Stan lived in the next street and she knew he would be at home because it was Thursday afternoon and on Thursday afternoon he had his boxing classes and then a little nap. Now was his little nap time. So she explained that her mummy had said she couldn't take the balloon but that they'd have to go and get her granddad and he'd help them. So they washed all the dishes, tidied up the banana skins and Kiki put on a big crazy blue hat with a yellow bobble on it that her daddy had given her f
or her sixth birthday, it was too small now but she still liked it and so did Charlie.

  "Come on you two, lets go and get granddad Stan." And with that the little girl with big brown eyes and the longest eyelashes in the world and her friends shut the door behind them.

  "Oh dear Erik, look at you" said Kiki.

  Erik was in such a rush to get out of the house that he'd forgotten to take his slippers off and looked very silly running down the street in granddad’s slippers, one pair on his front paws and one pair on his back paws; slipping and sliding and sliding and slipping, off he went down the road shouting "wait for me."

  In a shorter time than you can imagine they arrived at granddads house, by now Erik had lost granddads slippers but luckily Charlie had put them in his satchel and as usual was swinging it around his head, that's when he wasn't hanging off bus stops, and balancing on walls and generally being a naughty monkey.

  "Granddad, granddad are you there?" Called Karolinka.

  The house was bright pink and granddad had painted big flowers all over it, he said he did this because he liked flowers but Kiki thought it was because her nana loved flowers and though nana was always complaining about granddad, he knew the flowers would make her happy. Kiki loved nana too but she was on a jungle safari right now and wouldn't be back from Africa for three months. Kiki liked it lots to be with nana