Merlin the Monkey

Mikey Green

Merlin the Monkey

One day, a group of four friends decided to pay a visit to the local carnival, which had stopped in the village for the weekend. It only came once a year, and the group of friends were ever so keen to explore the wonder of the carnival. The sounds and the sights were so exciting, and amongst beautiful fields, it made for a special event. Rose, Samantha, Vanessa and Michael were as happy as anyone that this weekend had finally arrived. They brought their pet monkey along with them to share in the fun. His name was Merlin, and with the gentlest smile and dazzling eyes, plenty of the villagers had affection for Merlin. The people who ran the carnival came from different countries, and spoke different languages. Merlin had never attended a carnival before, and his owners were keen to show him a good time.

Upon arrival at the carnival, the group of four friends got in close to talk about where they should head first. They quickly made up their minds to head for the haunted house, and turned around to take Merlin with them. To their surprise, Merlin was not there. He had disappeared amongst the crowds, causing panic and worry amongst the four friends.

“Fear not!” shouted Rose, “We shall use our skills amongst these carnival folk to find our beloved Merlin”. Each of the four friends had a skill that was helpful in finding lost people or animals; they had done it before to find Samantha’s younger sister, Rachel. Rose could do a drawing of who was missing so that she could ask people if they had seen anyone looking like Merlin. Samantha spoke many languages and could ask any people from another country if they had seen Merlin. Vanessa was able to do the sounds and actions of Merlin to see if anyone recognized them, and Michael could beg and plea in song as to whether anyone had seen his beloved Merlin.

They tried to find Merlin at the Haunted House, where a man was looking after the ride. Rose drew a picture of Merlin and asked:

“Have you seen my Merlin?”

The man grunted, and it seemed he did not know English. Samantha quickly asked the man in another language if he knew where Merlin was. The man answered in such a way that all four of the friends knew that Merlin was not at the Haunted House.

Next, they went to the teacups, where Vanessa did the sounds and actions that Merlin normally does. The woman looking after the teacups laughed and turned away. Michael began to sing and used his song to ask a question, and the woman took notice of this, and replied “I’m sorry my dear, I have not seen your monkey”.

Finally, they went to the carousel, hoping that Merlin would be there somewhere. Rose showed her drawing of Merlin to people, but nobody knew where Merlin was. Michael sang, but nobody answered back. Samantha asked questions in many languages, but no good news came. Finally, Vanessa did the sounds that Merlin makes, and similar sounds came from the carousel. Merlin ran towards the four friends, who embraced Merlin for what felt like an eternity. The four friends and Merlin held hands for the rest of the day, so they would not lose each other ever again. They went on all the rides until the sun went down, and left the carnival that night, looking forward to its return next year.