Macca The Macropod

A few years ago, our mailman showed up with not only the mail, but a very frightened and helpless little Kangaroo or Macropus Giganteus, hence his name quickly became “Macca”. After Macca’s mother was hit by a car, our family raised him on Carnarvon Station. He lived in his own little backpack and we carried him around, just like his mum would have in her pouch. Macca was the cutest and most amazing friend.
As Macca got older, he started to venture out of his pouch and it was at this point that he started to get into trouble. Wedge-tailed Eagles began to take an interest in him once they knew he was happily roaming around the yard. These blood thirsty animals were fierce and wouldn’t give up, so my job was to protect him as best I could, as they came swooping in, I would cover him so they couldn’t see him. Every time we went away, I lived in fear of coming home to find Macca gone…taken by a Wedgy.
One afternoon, it wasn’t the birds I needed to fear, it was the wind. A wild storm was brewing up and we couldn’t find Macca anywhere. Jess, my older sister, eventually found him up on the hill wobbling around, with the wind nearly blowing him over. We managed to get him inside and warmed up just before the rain set in.
On another occasion, as we drove in, I saw a wedge-tail circling Macca ready to grab him, it was so scary. I raced back to the house calling him, as I did, the wedge-tail dived and thankfully grabbed a chook instead. Macca was shaking with fear and licking his little arms profusely. I raced to Macca and tried to comfort him, I don’t know whose heart was pumping faster, mine or Macca’s.
The wedge-tails eventually went away, well…so we thought. It had been several weeks since we’d seen one and as Macca got bigger, we thought it wasn’t going to be a problem again. Then, one afternoon I was watching Macca from our schoolroom and out of the corner of my eye, I saw two gigantic wedge-tailed eagles, piercing through the air in swift circles above Macca. I yelled his name “Macca!” and ran over to protect him, but as I raced towards him, he must have picked up on my fear and with such a fright, bounded off heading straight towards the eagles. My eyes went blurry, I was tearing up inside, this time, we were going to lose him.
Macca stopped at a big Blue Gum tree, suddenly I realised that he was protecting himself. I started to understand that Macca had grown up and didn’t need my protection. As Macca got older, he continued to travel further away. One day he joined a mob of Kangaroos permanently and that was the last I saw of him. Despite this, I know Macca will always be my best friend and I hope that one day his small rugged little hands might again touch mine.

FOLLOW US


25

Write4Fun.net was established in 1997, and since then we have successfully completed numerous short story and poetry competitions and publications.
We receive an overwhelming positive feedback each year from the teachers, parents and students who have involvement in these competitions and publications, and we will continue to strive to attain this level of excellence with each competition we hold.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Stay informed about the latest competitions, competition winners and latest news!