It was a bright and sunny afternoon when Monkey LYLY noticed her mother carrying a large colorful package into the house. Curious as always, LYLY quickly ran over to investigate.
“What is it? Is it for me?” she asked excitedly, jumping up and down.
Her mother smiled and opened the package to reveal a beautiful new lifebuoy decorated with tiny fish, seashells, and cheerful yellow ducks.
“It’s for your swimming lessons,” Mommy said. “Now you’ll be safer and have more fun in the water.”
Most little monkeys would have been thrilled to receive such a gift, but LYLY’s reaction surprised everyone.
Instead of smiling, she stared at the lifebuoy with wide eyes and slowly stepped backward.
“No… no… I don’t want it!” she cried.
Her mother looked confused.
“Why not? Isn’t it pretty?”
LYLY crossed her arms and shook her head firmly.
“It looks too happy,” she whispered.
Too happy?
The family couldn’t understand what she meant.
After a few moments, LYLY finally explained the strange reason behind her behavior.
“The ducks on the lifebuoy are smiling so much that they’ll laugh at me if I fall into the water,” she said seriously.
Her father couldn’t help but laugh.
“The ducks are there to cheer you on, not laugh at you.”
But LYLY was not convinced. She turned the lifebuoy around, trying to hide the smiling ducks from view before carefully putting it on.
Later that day, the family visited the swimming pool. At first, LYLY kept checking the lifebuoy every few minutes to make sure the ducks weren’t “watching” her.
However, once she started splashing in the water and floating safely around the pool, she forgot all about her worries.
Soon, she was happily paddling in circles and showing off her swimming skills.
By the end of the day, LYLY hugged her new lifebuoy tightly.
“The ducks aren’t laughing,” she announced proudly. “They’re my swimming team!”
Everyone burst into laughter at LYLY’s wonderfully strange imagination.
