The Joey Rescue

• Maggie Allen, Grade 3, St Joseph's School
• Short Story
• 2020

Finalist in the 'The Inside Story 2020' competition

As the red, golden sun rose the light reflected on the rippling river. Gently the birds started to ruffle their feathers and fly off. Close by, a koala was sleeping up a eucalyptus tree with a little joey clinging to her soft fur. Suddenly the joey lost it’s grip and fell onto the ground and into a green bushy bush.

The joey was startled. Determined to climb back up the tree and get to her mum the joey pushed herself up and waddled towards the tree, stumbling she put her sharp claws onto the hard bark and she started to slowly climb. She was too injured and tumbled down again. She laid there helpless and alone. Tears ran down her face.

Nearby there was a camp. Slowly the people started to stir and move around getting ready to start their day. One small girl called Bindi rolled off her possum fur and stretched her arms while yawning. She had been woken by the sound of the crackling warm fire. She stood up and walked over to her mother who was cooking. “What's for morning meal?” “We are having berries Bindi. Could you get some more?”
“Sure,” Bindi replied in a happy voice. Bindi stepped outside her stone hut and strolled towards the berries she felt the forest floor beneath her, suddenly she heard the rustling from a bush close by. Curious to see what it was she strode quietly over towards the sound, pushed away the branches and saw the koala joey. Bindi scooped up the joey and started talking to it, "You must have fallen off your mother's back and you won’t be able to survive on your own as you are too young to eat the eucalyptus leaves, well little one you are going back to your mother no matter what”. Bindi was confident she could get this koala back to her mother. She kept talking to the joey, “Now this must have been the tree you fell from so let's see what's up there.”
Carefully she put the joey on her hip like she would do with the babies back at camp and pulled herself up on the closet branch. Aware of what she was doing Bindi started climbing higher and higher checking on the joey every ten seconds. Until finally Bindi saw a grey back fur just above her she climbed up a bit higher. Carefully Bindi held onto the joey's claws and attached the joey to her mum.
“Well it's been a big morning” Bindi said as she jumped down from the tree. As Bindi was just about to walk back to camp her mama yelled “where are those berries Bindi?”
“Coming mama got them right here” Bindi replied as she quickly grabbed at the berries.