1Another day, another order was placed at Mung Daal's Catering Company. Mung Daal was preparing the ingredients on the central kitchen counter, while Chowder observed optimistically to his side.
"Alright Chowder, let's go over the ingredients we need for our Safary Pastries." Mung explained. "We got bun-nanas, crumble-nuts, flew-berries, one turtle egg and a good chug of elephant's milk. Just one thing left..."
"Ooooh, I know!" Chowder exclaimed, bouncing up and down.
"And what is that, my dear boy?" Mung questioned, confident.
"It's right in the recipe here." Chowder said, holding up a cookbook. "A cinnamonkey's tail. It'll add some spice to the dish." Mung happily patted Chowder with accolade for studying up on the Safary Pastry recipe. "Should we check the cupboards?"
"Indeed." Mung said. He and Chowder made their way to the spice cupboard to see if they had any in stock. Turns out, their stash of cinnamonkey tails was straight empty with nothing but some sprinkles. "Real bummer. Looks like we're gonna have to go get some on our own, Chowder!" Mung exclaimed.
"Oh boy, you mean an actual cinnamonkey safari?" The purple apprentice called out, thrilled. Mung nodded, as he called upon Schnitzel to help load their equipment for the trip.
Mung, Chowder and Schnitzel donned on their vests and pith helmets as they carried out backpacks full of everything they'd need for a journey to the Marzipan Jungle. They began their journey by following the map across the city, over and around every path until they had reached the wilderness beyond the seashores south of the capital. The Marzipan Jungle was densely humid, a mist tugging at its skies. The lush green trees and oversized tropical foliage colored up the trail as the three carried on, the ambient chirps and cries of exotic creatures hiding in the canopies echoed about.
Chowder peeked his curiosity into seeing the many sights as he could. First, he managed to catch a view of some cocoa-burra birds happily roosting in a gum tree. "Awwww, they're so cute." Chowder said, as he playfully tickled one under the beak softly with his finger. The cocoa-burras began to chuckle altogether as if they were rejoicing before they flew off. Next, Chowder watched as a saltwater taffy crocodile treaded stealthily through a bog to hunt for prey. He managed to flinch away in panic when he saw the croc gulp down a pink flanmingo to nothing but fruity feathers. Once he was in the clear, he caught up with Mung and Schnitzel as they set up a camp.
"Alright Chowder, the plan is of course we catch a cinnamonkey." Mung began to explain. "First, we know one thing that cinnamonkeys really do love, and that is a sweet bun-nana. So what we'll do is build a small snare and await patiently and hidden for them to come and then, we caught them!"
"Radda radda?" Schnitzel questioned, as he helped straighten the rope for the snare trap.
"No I am not gonna go with the idea of using Chowder as a decoy by dressing him up as a cinnamonkey, then having him dance and holler around making disgruntled noises." Mung reassured back at him. Chowder, who was already wearing the monkey costume, felt bummed out. "Instead, Chowder since you're a pretty good climber, do you think you could keep an eye out from the trees above for anything? I hear wild creatures sometimes cross around this path. Nasty, wild creatures." Mung explained.
"Oh, of course. I'm on it!" Chowder responded, saluting confidently. He managed to scamper up a tree with ease, climbing carefully out of the edge of a branch to keep watch. Once the trap was set, Mung and Schnitzel hid in the shrubs so they wouldn't be caught in sight.
"Remember Chowder, just lightly nudge or jump upon the tree to send a signal if anything's coming." Mung explained, before going back to tuck away in the bush. Chowder gave an okay-approval of his hand and nodded, putting upon a paw over his forehead to glimpse around. Just then, a rustling noise came from out of the canopies. It was a cinnamonkey, fleeing in dread of some other animal straight behind it. Once the monkey came closer, Chowder timed a slight jump to shake the tree a bit.
"Okay, now!" He shouted, as Mung and Schnitzel tugged upon the rope. Something had been caught in the snare for sure.
"Did it work?" Mung questioned, as he looked out to see if the coast was clear.
"Well..." Chowder objected, twiddling his hands. What ended up caught in the trap instead was a lion, and boy, it was not amused. Mung and Schnitzel fleed as the lion broke free and pursued them with a vicious prowl. Thankfully, they had a first-aid supply to treat up all those scratches and bruises.
"Okay, new plan." Mung assured. "We'll build a traditional pitfall trap and then hide it up when that monkey comes around." Schnitzel got to digging out the ground as much as he could, as Chowder helped Mung weave together a tarp of leaves and branches. Once it was set, they went back to hiding. Chowder, of course, keeping a lookout. He could see another cinnamonkey now leaping about with its tail flailing around, playfully. The monkey however, did a back-flip over the trap cover. Just as Chowder was to explain,
a thud was heard. As Mung and Schnitzel went to check though, they were once again pummeled from the ferocious, irritated lion.
"Third time's the charm?" Mung muttered, trying to hold up his bandaged, clawed nose. He tied a bun-nana upon an extensive rod of string, applying a bit of a sticky paste to its surface. The paste was to act like glue, getting the cinnamonkey's paw caught up if it tried to snatch the snack. Chowder kept watch once again, only to signal Mung at the right moment with visual support. The scalding sun, however, was making Chowder drowsy as he began to accede to the heat. A chomping sound however, awoke his attention and he swung a flag. Once more, Mung and Schnitzel fled from an agitated lion, snarling with a bun-nana stuck to the roof of its jaw.
Chowder was the only one integral throughout the series of unexpected events. Mung and Schnitzel, sore and exhausted, decided to lay back and rest in their aching state of matters. "Chowder...we've tried all the basic things, and we're bummed out." Mung mumbled, rubbing his sore nose.
"Radd-uh..." Schnitzel moaned, before plopping face-first in the soft bushes, exhausted. He let out a snore as he began to feel restless.
"I guess the only thing is up to you now, boy." Mung explained. "Go get the monkey costume and you know...put on a show, okay?" Once he finished speaking, Mung crashed as well in feebleness. Chowder took his advice and went ahead, donning a soft, authentically-scented cinnamonkey costume, complete with a plush tail. He then began to swing and flail around excitedly, making all sorts of hollers and stutters to draw out a cinnamonkey's attention. Turns out, tons of them answered to his call.
Like a wave rushing upon a shore, the monkeys flocked to Chowder in a swarm and snatched him away. "No, no wait!" Chowder exclaimed, startled. "Mung, help! They've got me and they're taking me as one of their own!". Mung was still far too damaged to catch up with Chowder, as he dove back down with an exhausting thud.
Once he could open his eyes without panic, Chowder found himself in a resort of flourishing jungle beauty. Fruits and sweets budded off the branches of the surrounding trees, and vines swung about like ropes of licorice candy. He could make out the cinnamonkeys happily playing around and celebrating, from clapping in hollering chants to flipping and flopping about in acrobatic skill. One of the monkeys, which Chowder recogized from early on, offered him a bun-nana.
"Oh, for me...Well, thank you." Chowder gratefully took upon the offer, eating the bun-nana in a single munch. The cinnamonkey chuckled, playfully clapping. "You know, you guys are really funny...in a good way." Chowder complimented. He began to understand why the animals would be so fearful anyways. The jungle was a dangerous place for a simian to freely roam without anguish, so the idea of losing one's tail was vitally concerning. Or so Chowder thought, when he saw one of the cinnamonkeys break off its own tail to use as a stirrer for a cream-filled coconut drink.
"Wait, you break your own tails off?" Chowder questioned. One of the cinnamonkeys nodded, chuckling. Turns out their tails were naturally disposable and could rebuild as long as the simian had something sweet to eat and keep healthy. Chowder then noticed the monkeys had stashed away some of their discarded cinnamon tails. "Would it be alright if I-" Chowder asked, in which the monkey aside him nodded. With that, he stashed up on some. He did not want to leave so soon however, as the creatures had begun to look upon him as a friend and he enjoyed their company. This was put to a halt, when a booming roar came off from beneath the canopies.
"I know that sound!" Chowder shouted. "Anyone got something to peek with?" He questioned. A cinnamonkey handed him a telescope crafted of a candy cone. As he peeped his eye through, Chowder could make out the same lion from before, now closing in with a fork and knife on a torn, sore and depleted Mung and Schnitzel. "Oh no! It's my fault they're like that in the first place. I got to do something, and quick." Chowder pondered. The monkeys, taking awareness of his trouble, offered to help. Just as the lion could pry a bite, it stopped in awareness of a loud hollering.
Chowder howled like a cinnamonkey as he and the other simians swung about on the longest, largest candy vine they could find. The monkeys, using their discard hollowed-out cinnamon tails, began to fire berries as ammunition at the lion. The lion evaded to the fruity shots, cowering with its paws as it looked around. One monkey began to hurl bun-nana peels about as it tried to escape, causing them to slip and tumble about. Once they were in a clear position, Chowder leaped off the vine bravely in the path of the lion's vision. The creature glared, snarling as it tried to close in on him.
"You want something to eat, you meanie? Take these!" Chowder said, flinging some cinnamonkey tail sticks off into the bushes. The lion took a big whiff and happily pounced off to snack on them, out of sight. The monkeys cheered and hollered happily from the canopies as Chowder warmly approached a newly-awakened Mung and Schnitzel.
"Chowder, where have you been?" Mung wondered. "What even happened?"
"Well...it's quite a fun story." Chowder began to explain. Mung and Schnitzel lied resting on the backside of a traversing elephant. "Those little monkeys were really cool, and we worked together to save you guys from that lion!" Chowder went on, cheerfully and proud.
"So...their tails just break off? Snap like a branch, and they're okay with that?" Mung questioned, raising an eyebrow. Chowder nodded. "Looks like we didn't need to exterminate them after all..." Mung mumbled, looking over awkwardly at Schnitzel. If they had known the cinnamonkeys were that accepting,
they wouldn't felt the need to hunt.
"Heh...yeah, wait, what?" Chowder spoke, confused after a bit of laughter.
"It's nothing. Let's just get these cinnamonkey tail sticks home...that and maybe some vaseline to treat these claws marks." Mung mumbled, exhausted still.
