Jonathan Meres - Koala Calamity

Dude and Bro immediately stopped chuckling.

“Go?” said Bro. “Go where?”

“The big zoo!” said Mrs M. “Remember?”

Bro looked at Dude, then at Mrs M. He clearly hadn’t remembered. Neither had Squirt.

“We’re all going to the big zoo on the other side of the city!” said Mrs M.

“All of us?” said Squirt.

“Just us koalas,” said Mrs M.

“How long for?” said Squirt.

“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.

’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.

“I was?” said Dude, stifling a yawn. “Oh, right, I was. I was having this really weird dream too.”

“Oh, yeah?” said Bro.

“Yeah,” said Dude. “Dreamt I was a trampoline.”

Bro was puzzled. “You mean, you were on a trampoline?”

“No,” said Dude. “I dreamt I was a trampoline.”

“That was me jumping up and down on your tummy!” said Squirt.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Bro.

Dude looked at Squirt. “What d’ya do that for?”

“To wake you up!” said Squirt. “We all fell asleep!”

Dude and Bro turned to each other and shrugged.

“What’s the problem?” said Bro.

“We weren’t supposed to!” said Squirt.

“We weren’t?” said Dude.

“They’ve all gone!” said Squirt, beginning to get more and more agitated.

Dude was beginning to get more and more puzzled. “Who’s gone?”

“Ma! Pa! Everyone!”

“Ohhhh!” said Bro. “You mean…”

Squirt nodded vigorously. “All the other koalas! We missed the truck to the big zoo! It’s nearly lunchtime!”

“Nearly lunchtime?” said Dude, suddenly perking up. “Excellent!”

“It’s not excellent!” said Squirt. “It’s… it’s… it’s… whatever the opposite of excellent is!”

“Unexcellent?” suggested Dude.

“Yes! Exactly. So what are we gonna do?” said Squirt, looking at his big brother.

Bro thought for a moment. But only a moment. “Chillax, Squirt. Let’s all just catch a few rays. Everything will be cool.”

“Chillax?” said Squirt, getting more and more agitated. “How am I supposed to chillax? We’ve missed the truck! We were supposed to be going to the big zoo! We’ve been left behind!”

“I totally hear what you’re saying, mini-dude,” said Dude, helping himself to a eucalyptus branch. “But d’ya reckon this can wait till after lunch?”

“No, it can not wait till after lunch!” squeaked Squirt. “We’ve got to do something! Now!”

“Do something?” said Bro, utterly horrified.

“Whoa,” said Dude.

“Are you serious?” said Bro.

“Of course I’m serious!” said Squirt. “Ma and Pa are going to be worried sick! And Ma’s having a baby, remember?”

“Aw, yeah,” said Dude. “The little feller’s right. Your ma’s having a joey any time now, Bro.”

“I know that!” snapped Bro.

“I know you know that, Bro,” said Dude. “I was just saying…”

“Well, don’t, Dude,” said Bro.

“Stop arguing, you two!” said Squirt, acting more like a big brother than a little one.

“Yeah, Dude,” said Bro. “Stop arguing.”

“No, you stop arguing, Bro,” said Dude.