Koala Calamity

Koala Calamity
Jonathan Meres

Neal Layton

The fifth animal in the hilarious AWESOME ANIMALS series – awesome adventures with the wildest wildlife.From the author of the hilarious WORLD OF NORM series comes the first of two crazy koala capers.You might think that koalas are boring, just because all they do is eat eucalyptus leaves and sleep. For 19 hours a day. But you’d be wrong. They’re not boring. They’re just LAZY. They’re chilling, basically, kicking back and catching some rays in the treetops, and staying out of trouble.At least, that’s what our cool koala buddies Dude and Bro, and little brother Squirt WERE doing, till one day they wake up to find they’ve missed their transfer from the koala sanctuary to the zoo across town, and will now have to find their own way there before Mum and Dad find out they’re missing.Can they make it across town in their stolen zoo buggy or will the day end in one great big koala calamity?

To Molly love from Johnny

Contents

Title Page (#uba0bb73f-76e7-5c84-aac7-9cd43afd8be1)

Dedication (#u6abdd550-a725-51e0-96f0-5ef3cbf716b1)

Chapter One (#ulink_210b8257-b68b-5fa3-999f-8207ba2de233)

Chapter Two (#ulink_4e520354-0649-5417-8b4c-1bde08c34a14)

Chapter Three (#ulink_ef45e22b-e2bd-55ed-9287-5694d69bcb1c)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Other Awesome Animal titles available: (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher

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t was the crack of dawn at The Acacia Koala Sanctuary. Things were beginning to stir. Wings were beginning to whir. But high in the treetops, Dude and Bro were still busy doing what Dude and Bro did best. Absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada.

Koalas are, by nature, extremely lazy. But best buddies Dude and Bro had taken this laziness to a whole new level. If sleeping had been an Olympic sport, Dude and Bro would have won hands down. Or paws down, anyway. If they could have been bothered. Which they probably couldn’t. But you get the picture. The fact that it was morning meant nothing to Dude and Bro. They didn’t know if it was the crack of dawn, or the crack of noon. And frankly, they didn’t care either.

“Pass me another eucy branch, Dude,” said Bro, stifling a yawn.

“What’s that, Bro?” said Dude, stifling an even bigger one.

“I said, pass me another eucy branch. I’m done with this one.”

“Are you kidding me?” said Dude. “Fetch it yourself.”

“Aw, Dude, c’mon,” said Bro.

“No way, Bro!” said Dude.

Bro sighed. It was by far the most energetic thing he’d done that day. “Final answer?”

“Final answer,” said Dude.

Bro was not happy. He was even less happy a moment later when the sun went behind a cloud, casting him in cool shadow. And it had been such a beautiful morning until then!

“G’day!” said a voice.

Bro just about managed to crank open one eye. It was the second most energetic thing he’d done that day. But at least he now knew that the sun hadn’t really gone behind a cloud. It was just his annoying little brother, Squirt, blocking it from view. And if Bro had anything to do with it, he wouldn’t be blocking it for much longer.

“Out the way, Squirt!” snarled Bro. “I’m colder than a penguin’s bum, here!”

“You could at least be a little bit grateful,” said Squirt.

“Oh, yeah?” said Bro. “And why’s that then?”

“Ta-da!” said Squirt, producing a particularly delicious-looking eucalyptus branch from behind his back, like a magician conjuring up a bunch of flowers.

In a shot, both of Bro’s eyes were wide open. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place, ya wallaby?”

“You’re welcome,” grinned Squirt, handing his big brother the branch.

“If that’s all you came here to do, you can clear off again,” said Bro.

“Aw, Bro,” said Dude, winking at Squirt. “The little feller’s only trying to be friendly.”

“Yeah, well, he can go and be friendly somewhere else,” said Bro. “I’m freezing here.”

“You know you could try shifting yourself, if you want to catch a few more rays?” said Dude.

Bro chuckled. “Very funny, Dude. Very funny.”

And with that, Bro began chowing down on the eucalyptus branch, gradually stripping it of its succulent green leaves. And boy, did those leaves taste good! There were over six hundred kinds of eucalyptus trees in Australia – and this one was a real beaut! One of Bro’s faves, in fact.

The more Bro chewed, the heavier his eyelids began to get. The heavier Bro’s eyelids got, the less he chewed. The next thing he knew – or rather, the next thing he didn’t know – Bro had fallen fast asleep.

“SQUAWK! SQUAWK! SQUAWK!” went the sulphur-crested cockatoo in the neighbouring tree.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!” screamed Bro, waking with a start and very nearly falling out of his tree.

Squirt laughed. It was the funniest thing he’d seen since the duck-billed platypus had got hiccups.