A monkey found a sailboat abandoned on the shore. “I can use this to get to the other side of the bay,” he said to himself. “Hey,” he called to a goat who was grazing nearby. “Give me a hand to launch this boat, will you?”

“Where are you going?” the goat asked. “The other side,” said the monkey pointing across the wide bay. “Most people go by road,” the goat replied. “But the road goes in the other direction,” the monkey protested. “It would take ages. You’d probably die before you got there.”

“And besides,” the monkey continued. “They’d have gone by boat if they had a boat.” The goat couldn’t argue with that. “That’s your boat then?” he asked. “Yes. If I can get it launched, it is.” “You’ll need some supplies,” the goat advised. “It’s further away than you think.”

The monkey hurried off to gather supplies on the goat’s advice and soon returned with a barrel of water and a sack of bananas. “Hope you like bananas,” he said as he loaded the boat. The goat looked puzzled. “You’re coming too, no?” said the monkey. “I can’t do it alone.”

The goat hesitated. He hadn’t thought about it. He usually just followed his nose to the next clump of grass “It’s not just orchards and fruit trees over there,” the monkey elaborated. “It’s sweet, luscious pasture too. Come on, let’s get going.”

The goat and monkey set off on their voyage to the other side of the bay. The waves glinted as the prow of the little boat carved their futures into the water. The sun smiled from behind a flotilla of scudding clouds, the white sail plump with a fair wind.

Finally, the other side of the bay came into sight, but here they met the current as it surged from the river’s mouth towards the open sea. The little boat picked up speed. The monkey got excited, thinking they’d soon reach land, but they were being pushed in the wrong direction.

“Trim the sail, do something,” cried the goat. “We’re heading in the wrong direction.” The monkey trimmed the sail and the little boat caught the wind again to angle across the current. The hull bumped in the water. “It’s too rough,” the monkey howled. “I can’t hold it.”

The unfortunate pair could do nothing but watch as the thin trace of promised land slipped from their grasp and the current dragged them out to the open sea. Then the wind dropped and the little boat began to drift.

“We’re done for,” the monkey wailed. “What was I thinking? We were never going to make it in boat like this. Why didn’t you stop me?” he complained. “If it hadn’t been for your encouragement, I would never have embarked on this foolish enterprise.”

“What about me?” the goat countered. “If it hadn’t been for your wild enthusiasm, I would still be on dry land. I told you to go by road.” “Nobody gets there by road,” the monkey snapped. “They just end up somewhere else.”

“Well, all we can do now is hope for a fresh wind,” said the Goat. “And then we’ll see where our future lies.”

© Richard Parkin, 2023