1066 All Stars

Millie and Molly were two little monkeys who lived in the jungle. They were twin sisters and they did everything together. They would swing, climb and play together. They would even scratch each other when one was itchy.

One day, Millie and Molly were play fighting. 'Make sure you stay close to home,' Mummy Monkey had said. ‘There are lots of dangerous animals in the jungle. There are slithery snakes, hungry hippos, loud lions and lots more besides.' But they had swung all over the jungle, from tree to tree, until they were very far from home.

'Wow, look at that tree!' said Millie. 'Let's climb up that one.' It was the biggest tree in the jungle. If you got to the top, you could see over the whole jungle.

'No Molly,' said Millie. 'I'm not sure where we are. That tree looks really tall and dangerous. I think we should head back to home.'

'Don't be such a baby Molly,' said Millie and started swinging and climbing up the tree. Millie had no choice but to follow, she wasn't sure she could find her way back home by herself. And she didn't want to leave Molly all alone.

'Molly, come back, it's too high,' said Millie. But Molly kept climbing and climbing, so Millie followed her all the way to the top of the tree.

'Wow, look at that,' said Molly. They could see the whole jungle from up here. 'Let's swing over to those trees,' she said excitedly.

'No Molly,' said Millie. She wasn't as sure footed as Molly and she was feeling very nervous this high up. 'Please let's go down now, I am frightened.'

'Come on, said Molly, ‘follow me.' And she started swinging and climbing further and further away from home.

Millie tried to follow but as she tried to swing onto the next tree, she lost her grip. 'Molly, help!' she cried as she fell and started tumbling down the tree, all the way down to the jungle floor.

'Oh Millie!' cried Molly, 'This is all my fault.' And she started climbing down the tree to find her lost sister.

***

Meanwhile, on the jungle floor, Millie sat up, holding her head. 'Ow, that hurt,' she said to herself. She looked around. 'Where am I?' She had never been this far into the forest before and was lost. 'I know,' she said to herself, 'I'll climb back up this tree until I get high enough to see where I am and which way home is.' But as she went to climb, she saw that the tree trunk was too tall and slippery. She couldn't climb up.

'Oh no, how am I going to find my way home?'

'Are you lost?' Millie turned at the sound of the voice just in time to see a snake slithering out of the bushes. Millie had never seen a snake before but Mummy Monkey had told her they could be dangerous.

'Oh please don't eat me mister snake,' pleaded Millie, sobbing. 'I'm just a little monkey, lost all this way from home.'

The slithery snake slithered up to Millie. 'Don't cry,' he said, 'I'm not going to eat you. My name is Sam, what's your name?'

'M-Millie,' the little monkey replied between sobs.

'Well Millie, let's see if we can find your way back home.'

'But I don't know where I am,' cried Millie. 'I was following my sister and got lost.'

'It's okay,' said Sam. 'We'll go and ask my friend Harry the Hippo, he'll know what to do. And so Millie and Sam set off deeper into the jungle to find Harry the Hippo.

Meanwhile, Molly had managed to climb all the way down the tree. She slid down the long trunk. 'Millie, Millie!' she called. But Millie wasn't there. 'Oh Millie, where are you? If anything has happened to you it will be all my fault. I should have listened to Mummy.'

Just then, she heard a rustling through the bushes. Turning with a start, she saw a head poke its way through the bushes. Its mouth opened and it let out a fearsome roar. It was a lion!

'Oh mister lion, please don't eat me, I'm just a little monkey!' cried Molly.

'Roar! I'm not going to eat you,' said the lion. 'My name is Lemmy the Lion. You must be a long way from home. Are you lost?'

'Yes,' sobbed Molly. 'My name is Molly. I was playing with my sister Millie and she fell from the big tree. Now I don't know where she is and we're both lost. Oh won't you please help me mister lion?'

Lemmy the Lion roared and shook his mane. 'Of course I'll help you,' he said. 'Now, let's see if we can find where she went.' And Lemmy started looking around the floor and sniffing for a trace of Millie. 'This way!' he declared, taking off through the bushes, Molly sprinting behind trying to keep up.

They walked for hours and Molly was starting to get tired. She wasn't used to doing this much walking, she preferred swinging and climbing. And they seemed to be going deeper and deeper into the jungle. 'Are we nearly there?' she asked Lemmy.

'Not far now,' replied Lemmy.

But Molly was starting to get worried. She thought that Lemmy might have been leading her into a trap, ready to eat her. She got ready to turn and run when Lemmy suddenly announced, 'There they are!'

Millie looked up and saw that they had reached a big lagoon. All around the lagoon were big, muddy Hippos. And there, right in the middle, was Millie!

'Millie, oh Millie,' shouted Molly as she sprinted towards her sister.

Millie looked up and smiled, giving her sister a great big hug as she ran up to her. 'I'm so sorry,' said Molly. I never should have made you come all the way into the jungle and I never should have made you climb that big tree. I should have listened to Mummy. '

'It's okay,' said Millie. 'Harry the Hippo knows the way back home. Molly looked up and saw a big grey face looking at her.

'Hello,' said the grey face. 'You must be Molly. My name is Harry the Hippo, nice to meet you.'

Molly was a little scared but Millie assured her that Harry was going to help them.

'I have explored every inch of this jungle looking for the best bath,' said Harry. I know just the way back to your home. Come on, follow me.'

And Millie and Molly set off with Harry the Hippo, Sam the Snake and Lemmy the Lion. They went through great big thick bushes and past great big trees, past squawking birds and tall giraffe, past gorillas and leopards, elephants and tigers.

Finally, Millie and Molly found that they had come all the way back home. Mummy Monkey and Daddy Monkey were hopping mad. 'Millie! Molly! Where have you been? What are you doing with these dangerous animals?' said Mummy Monkey.

'It's all my fault,' said Molly. 'I made Millie go deep into the jungle and climb the biggest tree we could find. Then she fell and got lost and I had to try and find her. Sam, Lemmy and Harry helped us all the way back home.’

Mummy Monkey looked at Sam, Lemmy and Harry, who bowed. 'It was our pleasure,' said Harry, and they turned and walked back into the jungle.

'You were very lucky that you weren't eaten!' said Mummy Monkey.

'I know mummy, we promise that we will always listen to you in future.' And Millie and Molly gave their mummy and daddy a cuddle, had their tea and went to bed.

***

The next morning, Millie and Molly went outside to play.

'Remember, don't wander too far,' shouted Mummy Monkey.

'We won't,' replied Millie and Molly together.

When they had climbed one of the trees close to home, Millie said to Molly, 'So, where shall we go today.'

'Well,' said Molly with a mischievous look in her eye,' Lemmy told me about this really big tree on the other side of the forest...