The clown opened the car door. Out leaped Manny the monkey!

Mr. Krankowitz was on his way back from the fish store. Mr. Krankowitz believed nothing beat grilled fish!

He tapped along with his cane, carefully carrying the fish. The fish store had triple-wrapped it for him. Mr. Krankowitz felt rather pleased. Of course he didn’t actually smile. His face looked grim as ever. But every now and then, he gave his hat a slight twirl.

It was when he walked up his path that disaster struck. A strong gust of wind came out of nowhere. It whipped his hat right off his head! Up into the air it went. The old man shouted and waved his cane frantically. But the hat sailed all the way up to his chimney. There it sat, neatly on top. It looked as though it belonged there.

Hearing Mr. Krankowitz’s yells, the neighbors ran out of their houses. The old man pointed furiously at the offending hat. Then the trouble got worse. Everybody had a different idea for how to get it down.

Mr. Morris thought the best thing would be to get a long ladder. But nobody in Sunny Lane had such a ladder.

Mr. Faigelbaum knew a man with a crane. He had once hired him to rescue a bird stuck in a tall tree. But the man with a crane lived far away. It would take hours for him to arrive.

Fishel and Faivish were sure they could climb up Mr. Krankowitz’s drainpipe. Mrs. Friedman vetoed the idea immediately.

Next the Rabinowitz boys from across the road had a brainstorm. They would shoot the hat down with a bow and arrow. Unfortunately, they’d lost their bows and arrows after Lag B’omer.

In all of the hullabaloo, nobody heard Miriam Morris trying to say something. Eventually, though, the little girl’s voice came through.

“Let’s call Jolly Solly!” she squeaked.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Why hadn’t they thought of it themselves? Maybe because the clown’s car was nowhere to be seen. His house also looked dark. Still, Mr. Morris took out his phone and called Jolly Solly.

“He says he’ll sort it out in a few minutes,” Mr. Morris reported. “I wonder how on earth he’s going to do it?”

Nobody had the least idea.

“I bet he’ll send up a drone,” Fishel guessed.

“Nah, a helicopter.” Faivish tried to outdo his brother.

“Drone!”

“Helicopter!”

“Quiet!” roared Mr. Friedman.

Fortunately, a distraction arrived just then — Jolly Solly’s car. The clown opened the car door. Out leaped Manny the monkey! Jolly Solly gave him some quick instructions. In a flash the monkey scampered up to Mr. Krankowitz’s roof. He plucked the hat off the chimney, and scampered down again.

What clapping and cheering there was! Manny got a bit overexcited. Instead of handing the hat back to its owner, he put it on Jolly Solly’s head instead. Since Jolly Solly was wearing his clown’s hat, it did look strange. Everyone laughed.

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 796)