The Monkey's Bride

Hello World!!

"Stop throwing the food! Bubaloo!! I mean it! Stop now or else!" Aastha found herself screaming like crazy at her husband. He didn't even need to be called that! It had been two months since she had been forced into marriage by her parents. Even her two-year-old son had started acting like his new father. She couldn't even manage to describe what had happened with them. She just knew that she couldn't take it anymore. 

"Stop now or else!!" The father and son repeated over and over again. Aastha glared at her son Iagoo and he quickly sat down and put the handful of food on the plate. He reached over and grabbed a spoon as he continued to keep eye contact with his mother's piercing gaze. Aastha tapped her foot as she moved her gaze to Bubaloo. Bubaloo took one look at her and dropped down next to his son. He picked up a spoon and began eating off of his son's plate. If they had learned one thing in these two months it was that Aastha's glare was the warning signal that they had to listen to at any cost. Bubaloo had grown up an only child so when he was around kids he became entirely like one himself. The messes and whining, the tantrums and mischief. While it was cute sometimes, it was not something that Aastha enjoyed having to deal with all the time. 

"Now I have to go to the market to get groceries. I need you two to make sure that this place is spotless when I return. Am I clear?" she managed to say with a stern face.

 "Yes ma'am," echoed both father and son just as a huge chunk of rice fell off of Bubaloo's hair and onto his plate. Bubaloo glanced down at it surprised and shook his hair mimicking a dog. Rice and beans flew in every direction as well as one particular dollop on his nose. Bubaloo then proceeded to try and lick his nose. Aastha stifled a laugh and quickly grabbed her purse and keys and ran outside where she collapsed in laughter. She knew that she had to be the tough one to make sure that things got done, but sometimes she wanted to jump in on the fun as well. After all she had married a monkey and her son had begun to act like a baby monkey since. She sighed and continued to the marketplace. 

***

Aastha struggled to open the door with her keys and grocery bags lined up and down her arms. She finally got the key inside the keyhole and swung the door open only to find her apartment to be... well, it sure was clean. Spotless really. It was also soaking wet. She pushed the door open and stepped inside only to have a bucket of water fall upon her head. Surprised she dropped her groceries and pulled the bucket off of her head. She could hear her two monkeys howling with laughter. Apparently what had started off as a cleaning chore ended as a water fight. She smiled remembering the special tool she had picked up. She leaned down and grabbed the fully loaded water gun. She pulled it out and immediately drenched her entire family in water. As the three of them ran around the apartment continuing the water fight, Aastha smiled to herself and thanked God for her family filled with monkeys. They made each day and adventure and although tiring she couldn't help but be happy as well! Who says they couldn't all be monkeys together? 

Little monkey, Source: earl-brown.info

Author's Note: For this week's story I was inspired by the Quinault story I read about called "The Dog-Husband." The Quinault people are Native Americans who live in the Pacific Northwest of America. In this story, a girl ends up taking her dog with her everywhere and soon becomes pregnant with the dog's children. Upon learning about the pregnancy her family chooses to leave her in the house to die, but she lives with the help of a crow and gives birth to puppies. These puppies eventually end up becoming leaders of the clan, and take their human forms for the rest of their lives. 

I didn't want the story to be so incredibly heavy so I did my best to keep it a light story while still taking the time to use some similar elements. I decided that a sweet story about a family of goofy monkeys was the way that I wanted to go. I would prefer this story to be sweet and bring a smile to your face rather than to be heavy such as the original and have the ability to bother you a bit. I really liked the way that the story ended up turning out, and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! 



All information has been found here: The Dog-Husband, from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson.