Monkey Lyly was having a perfectly normal day in the jungle house she shared with her animal friends. She swung from vines, nibbled on bananas, and played hide and seek with Parrot Polly and Turtle Tim. But suddenly, Lyly stopped in her tracks. Her belly rumbled. Uh-oh! It was time to poop.
Lyly hurried to the jungle bathroom hut, a little wooden structure with a shiny green door. She reached for the handle, but—clink!—the door wouldn’t budge. She pulled. She pushed. She even tried hopping on one foot while turning the knob, like she’d seen the zookeeper do once. Still nothing.
“Why won’t this door open?” Lyly muttered, scratching her head. “I really need to go!”
She ran to find help.
First, she asked Elephant Ella. “Ella, can you help me open the bathroom door? It won’t move!”
Ella tried to twist the knob with her trunk, but it was too small. “Sorry, Lyly! My trunk is too big!”
Next, she asked Parrot Polly, who tried pecking at the lock. “Maybe it’s a secret code?” Polly guessed. “Try saying ‘open sesame banana!’”
“Open sesame banana!” Lyly shouted.
Nothing.
Finally, Turtle Tim slowly ambled over and inspected the door. “Lyly,” he said kindly, “you’re trying to open the wrong side. The door opens inward, not outward.”
Lyly blinked. “Wait… what?”
She gently pushed instead of pulling—and the door swung open with ease.
“Oh bananas,” Lyly groaned, giggling and running inside. “I was pulling the whole time!”
After she finally did her business, Lyly came back out, feeling much better and a bit wiser.
From that day on, Lyly never forgot how the door worked—and she made a little sign for everyone else: “PUSH, don’t PULL!”
And if you ever visit the jungle and see a confused monkey outside the bathroom, you’ll know just what to do.
