Diane stroked her new friend's hair. "Tell me how you got to be so pretty." she asked.
The two had come to light on top of a roof after an exciting swing through the treetops. The apegirl began her story.
"Once upon a time, there was a man who delivered the mail. He was a sad man, because he was old and nobody loved him. His mommy and daddy had died many years ago, and his brother and sisters had moved away and hardly ever spoke to him. His job was hard, and his feet and back were always sore."
"Oh." said Diane. "That poor man!"
The apegirl smiled. "Don't feel too sad. Things get better for him. One day he was walking his route, delivering people their mail. It had been a bad day--some mean dogs had tried to bite him, and his mail sack was heavy and his back was hurting worse than ever. Then as he was walking along the sidewalk, suddenly he saw the prettiest woman he had ever seen, and the prettiest little girl he had ever seen."
"Mommy and me!" Diane shouted.
"Yes, but that poor man was so ignorant, he had never seen a magical fairy princess before! He just stood there with an open mouth to see them fluttering their wings! Then your mommy noticed him! She asked him what he was looking at. You know how sometimes your mommy can sound like she's mad at someone, even if she isn't, really?"
"Mommy told me that sometimes she gets impatient with humans."
"Sometimes she does. It's hard for her, being a magical fairy among so many humans. Anyway, the man said that he couldn't believe how pretty she was. Does your mommy like to be told how pretty she is?"
"She sure does."
"Your mommy was so happy about what the man had said, and that he hadn't asked her a bunch of stupid questions about her wings and the way she dressed, that she told him she would grant him a wish. The man didn't believe that your mommy could actually do that, so he didn't think that much about what he was saying. Do you know what he said?"
"He said 'I wish I was pretty like you!'"
"He sure did. He didn't want to be a girl, or at least he didn't think that's what he wanted, but he didn't think your mommy could really grant wishes, either. So your mommy waved her wand, and before he knew it, the tired old man was a pretty girl like your mommy, except just a human, not a fairy princess."
"I bet he was surprised!"
"She sure was. She was so surprised that she didn't even say anything."
"But how did she turn into a monkey girl?"
"Your mommy was in a good mood that time, and so she said that she didn't want to leave the new girl as a mere human, as she put it. So she said she would do another transformation, and asked the new girl what things she didn't like about her old life. The new girl had recovered now, and she couldn't believe how much better she felt. She believed that your mommy was a magical fairy now!"
"So what did she tell her?"
"She said that she hated having the cold winds blow on her and the rain fall on her when she was delivering the mail, and that she had felt herself growing weaker over the years, and her joints hurt and it hurt when she bent over and all those things that happen to humans when they're old."
"Poor humans!"
"That's what your mommy thinks too. That's why she loves to change them. That's why she gave the new girl a wonderful new fur coat so she doesn't get her skin cold and wet, and wonderful new muscles so she can lift heavy objects without any strain, and wonderful new gracefulness so she can swing through the trees, even carrying a little girl like you. And so the poor old human man became a pretty young apegirl. It was the best thing that had ever happened to him!"
"Yay!" shouted Diane.