There once was a young monkey who had no idea who he was. He lived in a world where all the animals lived together and were not separated by vast oceans or swirling desert sands. This was a beautiful tropical jungle that was filled with plentiful food and lots of friends to play with.

The young monkey asked his mother, "Mama, can you tell me who I am?"

Mama monkey looked down at her son, Kenji and took him into her arms.

"Kenji, you are from a tribe of tree climbers who like to play in the jungle. We have many relatives who can teach you to climb to the highest branches and watch the world go by."

"But mama, I wish I could be like the other animals who play in the jungle. I’m not happy. I’m bored just sitting in the trees and chatting to our relatives. I want to ask other animals how I can be like them. They always seem to have more fun than I do. They know who they are."Mama monkey sat Kenji down, "Go and talk to the other animals. See if you can find out who you really are."

Kenji jumped up and down, "Oh thank you, mama. You won’t be disappointed. I’m going to be like some of my friends in the jungle. They always have fun. Bye mama."

Mother monkey smiled to herself, knowing her son would be in good hands. She waved to Kenji.

Kenji waved as he scampered down out of the tree where his family made their home. He liked to explore new places where he had never been before. Kenji wandered down a trail through the jungle. The sun shone brightly through the canopy of trees. The air was cool and ruffled his fur. Bird songs echoed through the treetops as he skipped upon the jungle path.

Kenji wasn’t watching where he was going. He tripped over a big rock or what he thought was a rock. It seemed to move very slowly down the trail. He looked down at the moving rock and stuck his face in front of its head.

"Hello Mister rock, where are you going so slowly."

The rock’s head pulled into itself. Kenji tapped on the surface of the rock. Tap...Tap...

"Hello is anyone home. I didn’t mean to scare you Mr. Rock," Kenji said, staring into the hole where the head had been.

The rock’s head popped back out, throwing Kenji off balance. Its head was green with brown stripes.

"Who are you calling a rock? I’ll have you know that I am a turtle," cried the turtle in an angry voice.

"Do you know who you are? Can you teach me to be like you?" asked Kenji impatiently.

"Of course, I know who I am. If you want to be like me, you have to carry your home on your back. First you must have a shell," said the wise, old turtle.

" Turtle, how do I get a shell?"

Turtle went back into his shell, rattled around inside his home and came out again. He put some large glasses on his head and looked around the jungle. Turtle’s foot scratched his head, "Hmm, let me see." Kenji moved closer to turtle. Turtle looked at the trees around them. He pointed to a nearby palm tree.

"You see that tree, up in the top branches you will find some coconuts. They are a hard fruit. You can use the outer part of the coconut shell as your new home," said turtle looking Kenji in the eyes.

"Thank you turtle. Will you wait here and show me how to make my new home?"

Turtle nodded. Kenji climbed the palm tree and knocked one of the coconuts loose. It fell to the ground with a thud... A soft, white liquid oozed out of the cracked and hairy surface of the coconut. Kenji climbed down and brought the oozing coconut

over to the turtle. The wind blew sending insects buzzing around the coconut Kenji held in his hands. He batted the insects away from his ears. They liked to buzz around monkey ears.

‘What do I do now turtle?" asked Kenji with flies buzzing around his face.

"Go over to those rocks and crack it in half. We can eat the white center."

Kenji took the coconut over to the rocks and banged the coconut against its surface. Bang... bang....... bang...... The coconut cracked open. The flies descended upon a ready meal. They sucked the juicy, white meat of the coconut with relish. Kenji swatted them away from the meal he and turtle were going to share. Turtle and Kenji ate the white meat of the coconut amid a cloud of buzzing flies and other insects. Kenji smacked his lips, after eating the coconut and a bug or two... "That sure was good. What do I do now?" The bugs lost interest when they saw their free meal devoured by a monkey and a turtle. Turtle swooshed his way through the fleeing bugs.

"Get a small sharp rock and cut four holes in the shell. Put two on one side and two on the other side," said turtle laughing to himself.

Kenji found a sharp rock and tried to cut four holes into the hard, sticky shell. He got sticky coconut goo all over his fur. "This is sure hard, turtle," Kenji said tiredly. Bang... bang... bang...went his rock. Turtle munched on a nearby leaf and laughed each time as he looked over at Kenji. Finally, Kenji ground four holes into the shell. He held the shell up in triumph. "See, I’m finished. Why do our homes have to be so hard?" asked Kenji thoughtfully.

Turtle wandered over to where Kenji was sitting with his coconut shell. Turtle replied, "We must have a hard shell to protect us from animals who would hurt us."

Kenji stood up, putting his long arms and legs into the four holes on the shell. His tail stuck out the back. He hunched over because it was hard to move within the shell. He tried to walk with the shell on, but he fell onto his back. His legs and arms going every which away. Kenji tried to flip himself over but he was stuck, rolling around on top of the shell. Turtle laughed so hard, he nearly fell over. Ha....ha... ha...

Kenji started to cry, "why are you laughing at me? I thought it would be fun to be a turtle carrying his home on his back."

"Now you see, you don’t have the body for it. You will have to be something else. Good-bye monkey. Hope you find out who you are?" Turtle waved to him as he moved slowly up the jungle path.

The wind grew stronger and the sky darkened as Kenji struggled inside the shell. He finally flipped over, when suddenly a large shadow swooped down over him. The jungle went silent around him. He trembled at the scraping sounds upon the shell. Two large claws picked up the shell with Kenji still attached to it. He felt air swirling below him and treetops snatching at his feet. He screamed in terror. Ahhhh... ahh.....

Kenji held on for dear life. "Hey, let me go.......!" They rose higher and higher above the jungle canopy.

They landed in an old, dead tree, high above the jungle waterhole. Kenji cringed in fear. He seemed to be in a nest of some kind. It was filled with feathers and sticks woven together. Two large, golden eyes peered at him under the coconut shell.

"Well, what do we have here," said the hawk, taking the shell off Kenji. "What kind of new creature are you?"

"I’m not a new creature. Please don’t eat me!" cried Kenji.

"I’m not going to hurt you, little one. I was just curious about you," Hawk said with a giggle.

Kenji stood boldly up, trying to rub the coconut goo off himself. He said, "Will you teach me to fly? I want to be just like you. I don’t know who I am. I want to have fun flying around the world like you."

"Well, let’s see what we can do for you."

Hawk looked at the feathers that were scattered around her nest. Her children had grown up and left her nest, leaving lots of feathers behind. Kenji picked up a feather and put it on his nose. He blew it into the air. His eyes lit up with great excitement, he couldn’t wait to fly.

"Oh this is fun," he sighed to himself. Hawk’s golden eyes sparkled as a great idea had come into her head.

"Kenji, my child. I have an idea how you can fly."

"What, tell me, tell me," he said jumping up and down. The feather that he had been blowing settled gently on top of Kenji’s head. Hawk smiled, enjoying Kenji’s natural enthusiasm.

"Hold on a minute, maybe once you learn to fly, you will learn what it feels like to be a hawk. We have such a different perspective on things. We are able to rise above any problem and see it from a different point of view. Perhaps this will help you to find out who you truly are," said Hawk with glittering eyes.

"Yes, yes, flying will help me to see who I really am. It will be a wonderful adventure to travel around the world."

Hawk gently picked up Kenji in her talons and leaped out of the nest taking flight. The wind lifted them as the soared above the treetops. Kenji watched their flight through squinted eyes. He wouldn’t let hawk know that he was afraid. They circled lower and lower, gliding across the waves of the waterhole. Kenji’s feet got a little wet as they came in for a landing. Hawk landed by the edge of the waterhole. The water lapped against the reeds along the shore. The sun was brighter here over the waterhole. There weren’t as many trees as there had been in the jungle near Kenji’s home. Kenji looked puzzled. He wasn’t sure how he was going to fly sitting in the mud next to the waterhole.

"Hawk, what are we doing here," Kenji said scratching his head.

"We are going to put mud on your arms and then attach the feathers to them."

Kenji scooped up the mud he was sitting in and applied it to his arms and chest. The mud made squelching noises as he piled the mud all over. He even got some in his mouth. He spit it out and made the funniest face you ever saw. Hawk just laughed and laughed. Hawk flew up to her nest and retrieved lots of feathers for Kenji’s arms. She landed right next to him, but by now he was completely covered in wet and dry mud.

"Kenji, child, it was not necessary to cover your whole body. Come here, its time to make some wings," she chided gently. Kenji and hawk attached all sizes of feathers to his small arms. The feathers had hardened into place. Hawk flapped her wings up and down.

"Child, this is how you take off. You land on your feet. Are you ready for your first flight?" Kenji practiced flapping his arms up and down while running circles around hawk.

"Yes, I think so," Kenji said with a little hesitation, yet excitement in his voice.

"I’ll take you to a high spot so you can get a running start ."

Hawk picked Kenji up and took him to an overhanging cliff that looked over the waterhole. She landed softly, high above the waterhole. Kenji walked over to the very edge. A sudden breeze blew against his body, knocking him off balance. He got up slowly and looked over the cliff edge once more. Some animals had come to drink at the waterhole. They looked like little ants. Kenji gulped. His arms started to shake.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, mam I think so." Kenji backed away from the cliff edge.

He stopped, then started flapping his arms. He ran with all his might, jumping off the cliff edge with his eyes slightly closed. His little arms flapped and flapped, carrying his body into the air. Kenji seemed to float for a brief moment. He started tumbling towards the earth. He lost his breath. His heart was racing and his little arms grew so tired. The ground was coming up fast. He screamed in terror......."ahhhh....ahhhh!"

Suddenly something sharp caught his little shoulders. Hawk’s talons caught him as he tumbled to the earth below. Hawk gently landed, issuing a great sigh of relief. She let Kenji go on solid ground. The young monkey threw his little feathered arms around hawk. Hawk nestled him close to her breast.

"Its alright little one. I would never let you fall. You are quite an adventurer."

She tilted his head up with one of her claws. She looked down into his tear filled eyes. Hawk kissed him on the head. Kenji looked up into her large, golden eyes, shoving the tears away from his face.

He sniffled, "I wanted to be like you and soar through the skies." He felt his heart stirring with wondrous love. It seemed to engulf his body inside and out. A shiny, bright light glowed all about his body. He heard his inside voice say, "you know who you are." Kenji listened to the voice inside telling him, he was a beautiful monkey who could scamper among the treetops. Kenji had heard this voice before, telling him not to do things or telling him he did wonderful things.

"I know who and what I am. I should have listened to the voice inside my own heart. I’ve heard it before, but I always wanted my friends to tell me who I was and give me the love I needed," Kenji said, with a shy smile on his face.

Hawk looked down at Kenji, stroking his face with her talon, "Yes, you’ve learned a great lesson, my brave little soul. I"m going to take you home now."

"How do you know where I live?"

"Oh, I’ve always known about the tree dwellers, especially one mother in particular," Hawk said with sparkling eyes.

She picked Kenji up and carried him over the treetops to the waiting arms of his mother.