One peaceful afternoon, Mom was busy cleaning the house while waiting for little monkey Lyly to return from playing outside. Usually, Lyly came home looking neat and cheerful, but today the yard had become strangely quiet. Mom called her name several times, but there was no answer.
A few minutes later, she suddenly heard tiny footsteps approaching the front door.
When Mom turned around, she froze in complete shock.
Standing there was Lyly — but she looked so disheveled that Mom could barely recognize her. Her fur was covered in mud from head to toe, leaves were stuck all over her body, and her face had strange black marks on both cheeks. One side of her hair stood straight up while the other side was flattened with dirt. Even worse, her clothes were torn and covered with grass stains.
Mom blinked several times and asked in disbelief, “Lyly… what happened to you?!”
For a moment, Lyly just stood there nervously, avoiding eye contact. Then puppy Kun ran into the house carrying a broken basket handle in his mouth. Instantly, Mom realized something funny must have happened.
Slowly, Lyly explained everything.
Earlier that afternoon, she had tried helping Dad collect vegetables from the garden using a large basket. At first, everything went well. But while carrying the basket near the pond, puppy Kun suddenly chased a butterfly and accidentally bumped into Lyly’s legs.
WHOOSH!
Lyly slipped down the muddy slope beside the pond and rolled straight into a pile of wet leaves. The basket flew into the air, vegetables scattered everywhere, and muddy water splashed all over her body. Trying to stand up only made things worse because she slipped again and landed face-first into the grass.
Dad had laughed so hard that he could barely help her up.
As Lyly finished telling the story, Mom tried hard to stay serious, but one look at Lyly’s messy face made her burst into laughter. Soon, Lyly started laughing too, even though she still looked like a tiny mud monster.
Mom gently cleaned the leaves from Lyly’s fur and hugged her tightly. “Next time, be more careful,” she said while smiling warmly.
That evening, the family could not stop laughing whenever they remembered Lyly’s hilarious appearance. Even Lyly admitted she had never looked so messy in her entire life.
