The Monkey Who Thought He Was Boy

Mike built the little monkey who we were now calling Monkey Boy, Chico, Wilbur and Willie Wonka, a large cage. We outfitted it with tree limbs and a large stuffed bear we named Big Mama. Monkey Boy liked to sleep on her head with his long tail wrapped around his face like a makeshift sleeping mask. Sometimes he would lie on Big Mama and suck his thumb and I would cry because he looked so vulnerable. It was simply amazing how closely he resembled a human baby. Slowly he grew and got more and more nimble in his tiny forest in the cage. He actually preferred clinging to Mike and me as he would his mother in the wild. We were advised not to handle him as this would cause him to get too attached to us. However, I found this advice heartless. He was too tiny to competely ignore and I felt the nurturing would be more beneficial than no contact at all.