High in the tallest tree in the jungle, a monkey named Max had found the bananas.
All of them.
An entire bunch. Yellow and perfect and wonderfully heavy.
Max dragged them to a branch that only he could reach.
“Mine,” said Max.
Below, other monkeys looked up.
“Share?” said a small monkey.
“No,” said Max.
“Please?”
“Still no,” said Max, and ate a banana very loudly. 🐒
🌿 All the Bananas
Max ate the first banana.
It was delicious.
He ate the second banana.
Also delicious.
The third.
Good.
The fourth.
Fine.
The fifth.
A bit much.
By the ninth banana, Max was not enjoying himself.
His tummy felt very round.
He had banana on his ears, which had not been the plan.
And the branch was very quiet.
Nobody was there.
All the other monkeys had gone to find their own food, somewhere more cheerful.
“Ha,” said Max. “More for me.”
But there was no one to hear his ha.
So it wasn’t quite as satisfying as usual.
🐒 The Problem with Winning Alone
Max ate the tenth banana very slowly.
He looked at the empty jungle below.
Usually the other monkeys were there.
Swinging around. Making noise. Stealing each other’s food in a friendly way. Grooming each other’s backs in that way that monkeys do, which is disgusting but meaningful.
Now just Max.
And nine banana peels.
And a very round tummy.
Max looked at the final banana.
He picked it up.
“I don’t actually want it,” he admitted to nobody.
💛 Daniel and the Sharing Plan
Max climbed down, carrying the last banana.
He found the other monkeys in the fig tree, sharing figs, which were not as good as bananas but were being enjoyed more.
Because they were being enjoyed together.
Daniel was watching from the path below.
Max walked up to the smallest monkey and held out the last banana.
The small monkey looked at it.
“Yours,” said Max.
The small monkey broke it in half and gave half back.
Max ate his half.
It tasted better than the first nine.
“Why is this one nicer?” Max asked Daniel.
Daniel smiled.
“Because you didn’t eat it alone,” said Daniel.
Max looked at his half-banana.
Half as much. Twice as good.
Funny how that works. 🐒