Kaighla The Koala

• Jessica Robinson, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2018

Crunch! Crunch! My dad munched on a few fluoro green eucalyptus leaves before he went back to sleep. He does sleep a lot! I decided to gently wake him up after two minutes.
“What are you going to do today, Kaighla?” asked dad curiously.
“I’m not sure. I will find something fun,” I replied. I started to wonder about dad’s question.
“Well,” Mum got our attention. “You could ask Grilda the Sugar Glider’s mum for a playdate.”
“That sounds fun, fun, fun, fun,” I said joyfully.
“Okay then, we had better start heading Grilda’s tree,” suggested Mum.
“Yay!” I shouted.

Grilda lived a few trees away from me. She had a friend called Wilber the Wombat. Wilber greeted us at his burrow at the base of the tree. He showed us the way to Grilda from his burrow. Mum and I climbed up the long tree trunk to Grilda.
“Kaighla,” screamed Grilda in delight. She ran up to hug me but all of a sudden, her smile turned upside down.
“What’s wrong Grilda? I am so confused.” I said with my head slightly cocked.
“Kaligha, turn around.” I obeyed her commands and turned around. At first, I thought Grilda was going crazy, but then I saw something.
“It’s a feral dog!” I exclaimed.
“Wilber is not safe!” Grilda shouted.
“How are we going to save Wilber?” Grilda was getting worked up. Suddenly, Gilda’s mum glided down from the very top of the tree.
“I could glide down and grab Wilber but how are we supposed to teach a wombat to climb a tree?” Suddenly, I saw a long plank of wood and a vine.

“Maybe we don’t have to! Mum, go and get that that flat plank of wood. Grilda, go and get that vine. Big Grilda, go and punch some holes in that plank of wood. We’re running out of time, now go.” Everyone followed my commands. In just a few minutes, my plan was complete.
“A pulley. That was your big idea.” Grilda’s mum said, amazed.
“Yep.” I said confidently.
“Good idea love,” Mum said proudly.
“Just hurry up and save Wilber!” Grilda snapped ferociously. I hope this works. I thought.
Grilda’s mum glided down from the tree and reached out and grabbed Wilber and placed him on the pulley.
“Pull!” she yelled. The feral dog’s sharp white teeth just missed Wilber.