Kayla The Couragous Koala

• Zoe Connolly, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

One day in a sweltering hot and sandy desert there was a koala named Kayla and her friends Gill the goanna, Darrel the dingo and Korey the kangaroo. They were all playing until it was too hot to even move their arms and legs. Gill whispered “we need some water''. Unfortunately there were no fresh eucalyptus leaves which meant Kayla couldn't get any water either.

The roots of the eucalyptus trees usually draw moisture from the pond to help its leaves grow, but as the pond was bare and sandy the leaves of the trees were wilted and dry. This in turn meant nobody could get any water or food. “It's a disaster’’ yelled Korey. “Somebody's going to have to go look for some food, but that someone’s not me nor Darrel nor Gill so it has to be Kayla ''. “Why is it always me!’’ yelled Kayla in frustration. “You’re the one that has the skills. ‘’You went to Koala camp every summer,'' said Korey satirically. “Looks like I’m going to go exploring so, bye for now, but there's a problem. I don’t know where the never ending stream of fresh water is located. I've got an idea I could use my tracking skills from camp. Everybody hand me their water bottles so I can fill them up with never ending water.”

“ I can’t take much more of this blood red dust in my eyes. So I think it’s time to use a strategy. How about we try and locate some footprints. What can I see , nothing right now because there’s an outrageous storm but maybe later. My next strategy is to try walking forward till I sink into water. ’’SPLASH’’ what's that? It sounded a little bit like water.”

“Finally that the storm is over, I can now see. Wait a minute, is that a stream? It sure looks like it! Now I'll go fill up these water bottles and head home. This stream is captivating and the most invigorating water I've ever tasted. The magnificent colours are so vibrant it’s amazing. I need to show Korey this, and everyone else”. So Kayla went home and enjoyed their precious new-found water and every one lived happily ever after.