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“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…”
