Koala Calamity

“A month,” said Mrs M. “Think of it as a holiday!”

Squirt thought for a moment. A holiday? That sounded like fun! A lot of the folk that came to the sanctuary came because they were on holiday. But he’d never had one before. He’d never been anywhere else before. He’d lived his whole life here. There was a big world out there waiting to be discovered – and Squirt couldn’t wait to discover it.

“Cool!” said Squirt.

“Not cool,” said Bro.

“What?” said Squirt.

“Not cool at all,” said Bro. “Most uncool. Isn’t that right, Dude?”

“What’s that, Bro?” said Dude.

“Why can’t we just stay here?” said Bro, stifling a massive yawn. “We’ve got trees to chill in… All the eucy branches we can eat… There’s no need to go anywhere else!”

“Well, we’re going, whether you like it or not,” said Mrs M. “Now hurry up or we’ll miss the truck.”

“Whoa! A truck?” said Squirt excitedly. “Cool!”

Bro shot Squirt a glance. “Not cool.”

Squirt thought for a moment. “Erm. Guess you’re right. It’s not that cool.”

“Come on,” said Mrs M.

“In a minute, Ma,” said Bro. “There’s something me and Dude need to do first.”

Dude did his best to furrow his brow again. “There is?”

“We need to see a man about a dingo,” said Bro.

“We do?” said Dude.

Bro glared at Dude and nodded furiously. “Yeah, we do!”

“Ohhhhh. Yeah, we do,” said Dude. “We definitely do need to see a man about a dingo.”

“Well, don’t be long,” said Mrs M. “The truck’s leaving soon. You don’t want to miss it.”

“Wanna bet?” muttered Bro.

“Come on, Squirty-Wirty!” said Mrs M, beginning to climb back down the tree.

Squirt didn’t even notice his mum calling him Squirty-Wirty. He was busy thinking. Going on holiday to the big zoo sounded cool. But seeing a man about a dingo with his big brother and his big brother’s friend sounded pretty cool too.

“I’ll just be a minute, Ma!” called Squirt as Mrs M disappeared from view.

Bro stared at Squirt. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m coming with you!” grinned Squirt.

“Where to?” said Bro.

“To see a man about a dingo!”

Dude and Bro turned to each other.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Bro.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude.

“Why are you laughing?” said Squirt.

“We’re not really going to see a man about a dingo, ya dingo!” said Bro.

“You’re not?” said Squirt, sounding disappointed.

“It’s just an expression!”

“But…” began Squirt.

“But nothing,” said Bro. “We’re just going to grab a quick forty winks before the truck goes. Isn’t that right, mate?”

“Totally, mate,” said Dude, stifling a yawn.

Yawns are very catching and before he knew it, Squirt was yawning too. He didn’t want to feel sleepy. There was far too much happening. There was much too much excitement in the air! But, well – it wouldn’t hurt if he closed his eyes for just a few minutes, would it? No, thought Squirt. It wouldn’t. And that’s exactly what he did.

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’day, mate,” said Bro, yawning and rubbing his eyes. “Reckon we must’ve dropped off for a minute there.” There was no reply from Dude. Dude was still fast asleep.

Bro stretched his arms. After eating eucalyptus leaves, catching rays and sleeping, stretching was one of Bro’s favourite things in the whole wide world. Well – in The Acacia Koala Sanctuary anyway.

“Aw, yeah, that’s truly magnificent, mate,” said Bro. “You know something? I could stretch for miles if I didn’t have to come back afterwards.”

There was still no reply from Dude. Dude was still fast asleep.

Bro cranked open an eye. The sun was high in the sky. Much higher than it had been the last time he’d looked. Maybe they’d dropped off for a bit longer than a minute.

“Wake up! Wake up!” squeaked Squirt, suddenly appearing in the treetop.

“Whoa, calm down, ya wallaby,” said Bro. “I’m already awake!”

“Dude’s not!” said Squirt, jumping up and down on Dude’s tummy and tugging his ears. “Wake up, Dude! Wake up!”

“Uh? What?” said Dude, finally beginning to stir.

“You were sleeping!” said Squirt.