Finally. After the longest time Grandma left her computer out. I was able to sneak in while she was out of the room and write to my friends.
She hasn’t worked on her computer because she has been busy playing with my new friends in Kentucky. They are some of her other grandchildren, David, Benjamine, Annelyse, and Jonathan.
We’ve had lots of adventures together, but I haven’t told you about my camp adventure yet — or the time the goat almost got me – or the time I almost lost my stuffing. I have lots of catching up to do!
So I’ll start by telling you about what happened at church camp.
I never heard of church camp before. Would we be camping out in the jungle? Gibbon monkeys like me live in the trees in the jungle. Maybe I would see some of my real relatives.
But instead of getting on a plane to go to the jungle, we got into a van with my new friends from Sherwood Baptist Church.
We drove on and on, and at last we arrived at Oachita Baptist Camp. Here is what it looked like.
We didn’t sleep around a campfire, but stayed in a building called a “dorm.” Here I am with my new friends in our dorm. That’s my friend Abbie holding me.
We were very busy at camp!
We had a class like Sunday School. I went to class with Grandma. My friends Justin, Abbie, and Enoch were in my class.
Then we went to quiz where everyone got candy for answering Bible questions. My friends Henry and Abbie knew lots of answers.
Then we went to preaching. I liked hearing about God.
We ate lunch in the big lunchroom. Everyone thought the food was very good!
After lunch we played on the playground, or went on a hike, or went swimming. It was lots of fun!
Every day we got up early and everyone worked hard to clean up our dorm. “We want to win the prize for the best dorm room,” Grandma said. “Everybody make your beds and straighten up your things.”
“I have an idea,” Miss Brianna said. “Let’s leave the judges some candy. Maybe that will help them decide that ours is the best dorm.”
“Okay,” Grandma said. “Everyone does that and the judges like it. I don’t think it makes them change their minds, though. We will have to make sure our room is the very best!”
They put some candy on the plate and left me to guard it. It looked very good and I was s-o-o-o hungry. There were Dum-dum suckers — my favorite! Probably no one would notice if I ate just one of the suckers.
I had just finished when the judges came. They smiled when they saw the candy. “What’s this?” Brother Blasi asked. He held up the wrapper and stick from the sucker I ate. “Someone left candy wrappers lying around. I guess this dorm isn’t the neatest today.”
I felt bad inside. I ate some candy that wasn’t mine and I made my friends lose the contest. But that wasn’t the worst part. Sometimes it seems like when I start being naughty I can’t stop and that day I was naughtier and naughtier.
It rained, so we had to have our preaching service in the dining hall. I didn’t want to sit still and listen. I wanted to play. I climbed on Enoch’s shoulder and chattered in his ear.
“Stop that Linkee,” he said. “I can’t hear the preaching.”
He was no fun! I went over and climbed on Justin. I liked his flowered shirt, so I started unbuttoning his buttons. I wanted to wear it!
“Linkee, behave!” Justin said. “That’s not how to act in the service.”
Phooey. He wasn’t any fun, either. I went over and climbed on Henry’s lap. He played with me and that made me get excited. Monkeys do funny things when they are excited. I don’t know why, but I suddenly noticed Henry’s nose. I liked his nose. So I bit it.
Henry yelled, “Ow!”
Henry’s mommy, Miss Becky, didn’t see me bite Henry’s nose, but she heard Henry yell. “Henry!” she said. “You should be quiet during the preaching.”
Jeremiah took me on his lap. “You aren’t being a good monkey today,” he said. “You bit Henry’s nose and got him into trouble. You better sit here with me and be good.” He held me tight so I had to sit still. I wiggled and wiggled, but I couldn’t get away. Finally I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was VERY hungry. I wanted them to hurry and put the chairs away so we could eat lunch. I didn’t want to stand in line and wait for my food. I wanted it right NOW! I sneaked into the kitchen. The cooks were busy getting our food ready. They fixed us such good food! I wanted to eat some and I didn’t want to wait. Maybe no one would notice if I took some a little early. Oh, no! The cook saw me!
“I’m sorry, Linkee,” he said. “Everyone has to wait until lunch is ready and everyone has to wait their turn in line. We will eat soon.”
I felt grumpy, but I went and waited in line. It was a very good lunch when I finally got to eat it.
After lunch we went out to play on the porch. It was still raining. Bro. Blasi, the camp director, blew his whistle. “Come back on the porch,” he called to some boys. “It is too wet out there for you to play on the swings.”
I looked at his whistle. I wished I had one. I wished I could at least blow on the whistle. He probably wouldn’t let me. Maybe I could trick him. I climbed up on his shoulder and hung around his neck. His beard tickled my ears!
“Hello, Linkee,” he said cheerfully. “Are you being a good monkey today?”
Well, I wasn’t, but I didn’t want to tell him that. What I wanted was to blow his whistle. Could I get it before he noticed? I tried to sneak it off his head while he was talking to a little girl. He caught me!
“No, Linkee, I need my whistle,” he said. “I need to blow it to get everyone’s attention when something is wrong.”
I was sad. I REALLY wanted to blow that whistle! Brother Blasi saw my disappointed face. “Would you like to blow the whistle?” he asked. He held it up and let me blow it. I made a LOUD sound! That made me feel better.
On the last day of camp there were some special awards. Miss Jeana gave awards to the kids who answered the most Bible questions. They were so happy to get their ribbons. It made me wish I had tried harder so I could get a ribbon, too. My friend Abbie won the blue one.
Then they gave special awards for the honor camper. Would I get one? I hoped so! But they didn’t call my name. They called Abbie’s name again. I didn’t think that was fair! She won two things and I didn’t get any. I felt my lip stick out in a pout. I was mad at Abbie.
“What’s the matter, Linkee?” Abbie asked. “Are you made because you didn’t get an award? If you try very hard to be a very good monkey, maybe you can get an award next time.”
She gave me a hug. That made me feel better. And I know I wasn’t really a very good monkey at camp this year, was I? What do you think I did that kept me from winning the award?
I shouldn’t have eaten the judges’ candy and left the wrapper on the table. I shouldn’t have been naughty in the church service or tried to take Brother Blasi’s whistle. Sneaking into the kitchen to get my food early wasn’t right, either. And I guess honor campers don’t bite noses and get their friends in trouble.
But maybe I can go to camp next year. I hope so. It was so much fun! I will try to be a better monkey then. I will be the first monkey to win the honor camper award!
Your friend,
Linkee