Читать книгу Koala Calamity - Surf’s Up! - Jonathan Meres - Страница 6

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ays rarely started with a bang at The Acacia Koala Sanctuary and today was no different. All was spookily quiet. The only thing rising was the sun. The sky in the east was gradually changing from inky black to pinky blue. Not that Dude, or Bro, or Squirt noticed. Dude, Bro and Squirt were still fast asleep, along with all the other koalas. Well, all the other koalas except one.

“Wakey, wakey!” squeaked Squeak. “Wakey, wakey!”

Dude, Bro and Squirt slept blissfully on. Not only were the koalas naturally very lazy and sleepy, they’d been up unusually late the night before, giggling and chomping eucalyptus branches high in the treetops. It was still quite a new experience for Squirt to be allowed to hang out with his big brother, Bro, and Bro’s best friend, Dude. It was something Squirt thought would never ever happen. But the adventure they’d had finding their way across the city to the big zoo had changed all that. Without Squirt, Dude and Bro would never have made it. Since then, Squirt had no longer irritated his brother and got on his nerves all the time. Just most of the time.

“Wakey, wakey!” squeaked Squeak again. “Wakey, wakey! Wakey, wakey!”

Bro let out a little snore. Dude yawned. Squirt scratched himself. But all three remained determinedly asleep.

Squeak wasn’t very happy. She was awake and couldn’t see why everyone else wasn’t awake too. Sleeping was boring. Especially when there were so many other things to do. Like bounce up and down on her big brother’s tummy, for instance.

“Uh? What?” grunted Bro, finally beginning to wake up. “What’s going on? Get off me, Squeak, ya big fat wombat!”

“Wakey, wakey!” squeaked Squeak. “Wakey, wakey, wakey!”


“All right, all right,” said Bro. “I heard you the first time.”

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude, despite still being half asleep.

“You can put a sock in it too, ya wallaby,” said Bro.“Sorry, mate,” said Dude, stifling a yawn.

Bro could be pretty grumpy at the best of times. And now wasn’t exactly the best of times. Not only had he been woken up by his little sister using his tummy as a trampoline, he’d been in the middle of a particularly nice dream in which he’d been chowing down the most delicious eucalyptus branch he’d ever tasted.

“Morning, sis,” said Squirt.

“Yeah! Squirty-wirty, Squirty-wirty!” squeaked Squeak, throwing herself at Squirt and very nearly knocking him off the branch. For a small koala, Squeak could be surprisingly strong at times.

“Careful!” said Squirt.

“Poo, poo!” replied Squeak.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude again, by now somewhere between half asleep and half awake.

“So that’s where you are!” said Mrs M, appearing in the treetop. “What are you doing up here? It’s much too high!”

“Sorry, Ma,” said Squirt.

“Not you, Squirt,” said Mrs M. “I meant your sister!”

“Oh, right!” said Squirt. Not only was he not used to hanging out with Dude and Bro high in the treetops, he still wasn’t used to not being the youngest. He didn’t mind not being the youngest – he loved it! It meant he was no longer constantly teased and treated like a baby.

“Morning, Mrs M,” said Dude, finally fully awake. Or as awake as Dude ever was, anyway.

“Morning, Dude,” said Mrs M. “Morning, dear.”

But Bro said nothing. Either he’d fallen asleep again, or he was cross because he hated it when his mum called him dear. Just like Squirt hated being called Squirty-wirty. By his mum, that is.

“Listen up,” announced Mrs M, “I’ve got something important to tell you.”

“What is it, Ma?” said Squirt.

“Your father and I have to go away.”

“Away?” said Squirt, suddenly anxious.

“Not for long,” laughed Mrs M. “I’ve just got to go and see Aunt Jemima for a while, that’s all.”

Aunt Jemima was Mrs M’s sister. She lived in another part of The Acacia Koala Sanctuary altogether.

“But…” began Squirt.

“But, what?” said Mrs M.

“Who’ll look after Squeak?”

“You will,” answered Mrs M.

“Me?” said Squirt.

“Yeah! Squirty-wirty! Squirty-wirty!” squeaked Squeak, bouncing up and down.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Bro.

“And you will too, dear,” said Mrs M.

That shut Bro up. “Me?”

“Yeah! Bro-bro! Bro-bro!” squeaked Squeak.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude.

“All three of you will,” said Mrs M.

“Yeah! Dudey-wudey! Dudey-wudey!” squeaked Squeak.

That shut Dude up too.

“Do we have to, Ma?” grunted Bro.

“Yes, you have to,” said Mrs M. “She’s your sister!”

“Exactly!” said Bro. He wasn’t happy. First he’d been woken from his slumbers, and now this? How much worse could things get?

“When was the last time I asked you to do something?” said Mrs M. “Actually do something?”

Bro thought for a moment. He couldn’t remember the last time his mum had asked him to do something, but that wasn’t the point. The point was he’d got better things to do today than look after his pesky little sister. Like sleep. And chow down a few juicy eucy branches. And catch a few rays.

“Well?” insisted Mrs M.

“Erm…” said Bro.

“Precisely,” said Mrs M. “It’s high time you boys started to help out a bit and show some responsibility!”

Squirt wasn’t entirely sure what responsibility was, but whatever it was, it sounded very grown-up and important. “I don’t mind, Mum.”

“Creep,” muttered Bro, glaring at Squirt.

“You’re a good boy, Squirty-wirty,” said Mrs M.

“Please don’t call me that, Mum,” said Squirt through gritted teeth.

“You coming or what, Mrs M?” called Mr M from somewhere down below.

Mrs M smiled. “I’d better go before he falls asleep again!”

“I know how he feels,” muttered Bro.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude.

“Coming, Mr M!” called Mrs M.

“Mummy, bye-bye! Mummy, bye-bye!” squeaked Squeak, flinging herself at Mrs M.


“Bye-bye, Squeaky-weaky,” laughed Mrs M. “You be a good girl, now. And you boys behave yourselves!”

“We will!” said Squirt. “Won’t we, guys?”

“What?” said Bro. “Oh, yeah.”

“Totally, mate,” said Dude. “Totally.”

“Good,” said Mrs M, disentangling herself from Squeak’s clutches. “We’ll be back by nightfall.”

And with that, Mrs M was gone, leaving Squirt, Dude, Bro and Squeak alone in the treetop once more.

“Talking of nightfall,” said Bro, stretching and yawning.

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude, doing exactly the same.

Squirt couldn’t believe his eyes. “You’re not going back to sleep, are you?”

“Too right I am, mate,” said Bro. “Unless you’ve got any better ideas?”

“But…” began Squirt.

“But, what?” said Bro.

“We’re supposed to be looking after Squeak!” said Squirt.

“Oi, less of the we,” said Bro, wedging himself firmly between a couple of branches and closing his eyes.

“What do you mean?” asked Squirt.

“Well, you’re the one who said you didn’t mind,” said Bro.

“So?” said Squirt.

“So you look after her!” replied Bro.

“Me?” said Squirt.

“Yeah!” said Squeak, launching herself at Squirt and bouncing up and down on him. “Squirty-wirty! Squirty-wirty!”

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Dude.

“Yeah!” said Squeak, turning her attention to Dude and bouncing up and down on him instead. “Dudey-wudey! Dudey-wudey!”

“Heh-heh-heh,” chuckled Bro, before stopping suddenly and glaring at his baby sister. “Don’t even think about bouncing on me!”

Squeak stopped bouncing. “What are we doing?”

“Well, I dunno about you guys, but I know what I’m doing,” said Bro, wedging himself even more firmly between the branches and closing his eyes even more tightly.

“Poo, poo!” said Squeak indignantly.

Bro sighed. It didn’t look like he was going to get much kip as long as Squeak was around. He needed to think of something for her to do. Something to keep her busy for as long as possible. But what?

“Poo, poo!” squeaked Squeak again, bouncing up and down. “Poo, poo! Poo, poo!”

Bro cranked open an eye and looked at his sister. Where on earth did she get all that energy from? Had he been like that when he was a baby? Surely not! And then suddenly it hit him – the perfect way to tire Squeak out!


“Hey, Squeak,” said Bro. “Wanna have some fun?”

“Yeah!” squeaked Squeak. “Fun, fun, funny fun!”

“OK,” said Bro. “Find the tallest tree you can.”

“And then?” said Squeak.

“Climb as high as you can,” said Bro.

“And then?” said Squeak.

“Get a leaf,” said Bro.

“And then?” said Squeak.

“Bring it back,” said Bro.

“And then?” said Squeak.

Bro thought for a moment. “And then I’ll think of something else.”

“Erm…” said Squirt.

“What?” grunted Bro, getting grumpier and grumpier.

“I’m not sure that’s a very good idea,” said Squirt.

“Oh, yeah?” replied Bro. “Well, I think it’s a great idea. What do you think, mate?”

Dude didn’t reply straightaway. In fact, Dude didn’t reply at all. Not because he couldn’t think what to say, but because he’d fallen asleep again, which only made Bro even grumpier. It was his idea. It was him who should have fallen asleep again first!

“Squeak?” said Squirt, looking round. “Where are you?”

But it was too late. Squeak had already gone.

Koala Calamity - Surf’s Up!

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