Chee Chee, the vervet monkey featured in the Caribbean Adventure Series and Chee Chee’s Adventures, was due to arrive in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands last week (in his book form, of course). It was just a stopping point, he was intransit to bigger things, but of course, being Chee Chee, he could not travel without drama.
You know how when you try to save a buck you always end up spending a mint? Well, I decided to send the books by the US post. I chose a method that promised 4-6 days and I wanted to believe it was possible. Four days passed, Chee Chee had not arrived. Six days passed, Chee Chee had not arrived. Ten days passed and panic ensued on both sides of the Atlantic. We waited one more day, then just one more before I threw in the towel and did what I should have done in the first place, used a courier service.
You all know what happens next, right? No twists in this story. The very next day, the first package of books arrived in Tortola. I still wonder if they would have arrived if I had not sent the second package, because it feels like it was meant to be. This story has a happy ending because one set of books will travel on to their final destination and the other package of books will be included among books that the BVI Reading Council will use in their reading programmes at the Public Library and community centres. Some will be read by volunteer dads who meet and read with children 4 to 12 years old on select Saturdays.
I can almost see Chee Chee beaming and saying “This is what I’m talking about!”