IN A TINY MALAYSIAN VILLAGE, just outside Kuala Lumpar lived the Hills family. For four years, most of the Hills had lived happily in Seramban. Eight year old Sophie, on the other hand, had felt differently. She missed her old life back in the UK and she had found it hard to make new friends at her Seramban school. Her family didn’t understand her unhappiness and she would often wander off on her own to explore the magnificent rainforests.

Sophie loved to stare at the huge tualang trees, which were the giants of the rainforests and she adored the flowering plants, particularly the huge rafflesia. Walking amongst the trees, she was careful to avoid the massive cockroaches – Sophie didn’t like them. Sophie would often get into trouble for the hours she would be away from home. Her Dad, Greg was really harsh on her, pointing out all the dangers but her Mum, Holly was a big softie and just told her not to wander off on her own again. Manny, her younger brother, was too busy playing with his own toys to even notice that Sophie had gone and he teased her for wanting to go off on her own. “Off you go to play with the monkeys Sophie, you look like an orangutang with all your disgusting orange hair!” Sophie tried not to get upset but she would often cry on in her room for hours. She had no one to turn to.

Sophie decided to ignore her parents. It was night time and Sophie got woken abruptly by a sudden racket so she quickly ran downstairs, opened the door and ran into the garden to see what was going on. Without warning, there was a rustling in the bushes and then out jumped a little monkey. Sophie was shocked and whispered, ‘’Where did you come from you strange little thing?’’ The monkey just looked up at Sophie with its big brown eyes looking so adorable. She continued to stare at him and said ‘’I am going to called you Jamie’’. Jamie jumped into Sophie’s arms and he felt so soft – just like a teddy bear. Sophie wondered what to do. If she took him into the house then her family would probably take him away so she decided to take put him in the top of her backpack and sneak him into her room. Jamie wasn’t too keen on being squished in the backpack with all of Sophie’s school things. He squealed and squirmed until Sophie offered him the left-overs of her lunch – a banana! He sat perched in the top of the backpack munching the banana happily.

Sophie woke up and went downstairs to get some breakfast. When she had finished morning snack she went upstairs to get Jamie and went into the garden and hid in the shed but her dad Gregg saw her in there with Jamie and said ‘’What are you doing with that dangerous monkey you could a deziese, I telling your mother’’. ‘’Hes not dangerous hes sweet and lovely just let her keep him he wont do any harm ok then I’ll tell her if he messes up he will have to go’’. carried him in the house and went to her room. Sophie

So she ran inside the house but she had to be quite. Then her dad spotted her and said ‘’where have you been’’. ‘’I just went to the toilet ‘’ said Sophie. ‘’Ok but just go to bed’’ said Dad. Sophie had quickly got Jamie into the house and into her bedroom When Jamie got to Sophie’s bedroom he started going crazy and Sophie could not stop him,then she gave him a banana to calm him down. The next day when Sophie found a bit of Jamie’s banana on her bed. But she couldn’t find Jamie. ‘’Jamie where are you if you don’t come back you a pile of bananas’’. But Jamie did not come back.But when Sophie went downstairs she found Jamie on the sofa laying sweetly. Sophie pick Jamie up but when she was about to go upstairs her father caught her and shouted ‘’where did you get that monkey’’. Sophie felt so nervous but she told him the truth. Sophie Said ‘’I really want to keep the monkey because I have always wanted to have a monkey please’’. ‘’Ok’’ said her dad.

The that night her dad was talking to her mum and said ‘’ I think we should get rid of that monkey he gave Manny a fight and hert him I want him out’’ ‘’Ok I will shoot that monkey or whatever Sophie has called him’’. But when Gregg and Holly were talking Sophie was behind the door and whispered ‘’Oh no they are going to shoot Jamie I must realest him back into the wild, I will do it tomorrow when mum and dad are both at work’’. But when it was day light she could not find Jamie she looked out of her window and Jamie was in the garden so she ran downstairs and into the garden but her father was there with a gun and said ‘’If you don’t realest that monkey into the wild I will kill him’’. Sophie couldn’t make up her mind so Gregg shot Jamie and Sophie started to cry.

Thank you for watching By Oliver Trorey and Amie Brand !