Koalaland or The Great Koala Novel Volume III: The Midsummer Celebration

Copyright © 2013 by David Bolton

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Koalaland

or

The Great Koala Novel

Volume III: The Midsummer Celebration

by

David Bolton

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PUBLISHED BY:

David Bolton on Smashwords

Koalaland or The Great Koala Novel - Volume III: The Midsummer Celebration

Copyright © 2013 by David Bolton. All rights reserved.

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Smashwords Edition License Notes

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To Maki, and all the other koala lovers in the world

Table of Contents

Title Page and Dedication

Map of Southern Koalaland

A most impressive School ‒ An unexpected Talent ‒

The Council discusses important Issues ‒ Ruffy and Tuffy get a Day off ‒

The Great Celebration: Day One ‒ The Great Gimpy ‒ Invitations to a Dance ‒

The Great Celebration: Day Two ‒ Who gets the Money? ‒

The new Schoolteacher ‒ Made for Each Other ‒ Who’s the best Artist? ‒

The Pride of Koalatown

Coming in Volume IV of Koalaland

Author’s Bio

Map of Southern Koalaland

A most impressive School

Old Mr. Johnson visited Eucalyptus Grove later that month, driving up from the open land to the south of Koalaland right up to the southern tip of Eucalyptus Grove. Kashy, Gruffy and Judge Grandaddy were the only koalas there at the council table at the moment. All of them got up to welcome their human visitor.

Mr. Johnson! Grandaddy greeted him. How nice to see you! We didn’t expect you so early.

Hello, my friends, he returned the greetings. I thought I’d leave home early, since I received the cargo yesterday, and could hardly wait to bring it to you.

You mean the metals? Gruffy inquired.

Precisely! Come over and look, the human led them to the back of his Land Rover, unlocked its back, and lifted a cover off two open-topped wooden boxes. There it is. One hundred fifty pounds of silver, and the same amount of copper, all in convenient-to-carry bars.

My, I’ve never seen so much pure metal in one place! Kashy remarked, astonished. May I pick up one of the bars?

Why, of course you can, Mr. Johnson smiled. All of this belongs to your grove now. I’ve already paid for it. Here’s a copy of the receipt. He reached into his shirt pocket, took out the folded copy, and handed it to Grandaddy. You will want to give this to Yawny, so that he can file it away properly.

Yes, of course. Thank you, sir, Grandaddy accepted the receipt.

Imagine, all this silver and copper will only be about ten percent of the final alloy we are going to use for our coins. I do believe we are going to be able to make quite a few of them, Gruffy said. Grandaddy, wasn’t His Highness speaking of an initial batch of at least ten thousand coins?

Indeed he was, the Judge answered. One thousand of the largest denomination, and at least twenty thousand of the lesser ones. Most of the coins will be smaller denominations, of course, the fractions. They will have less gold, or none at all, and will be smaller in size, too.

Have you selected a name for the main unit of currency? Mr. Johnson was curious.

Yes, I’m happy to say that we have, Grandaddy responded. The main unit will be called the ‘Gimpy’, after the great legendary hero that saved the koalas of Southern Koalaland from extermination by the evil hyenas exactly two-hundred and fifty years ago. This year is the anniversary of that battle, so choosing the name ‘Gimpy’ for our coins, which we will be minting for the first time this year, has a very special significance.

I see, Mr. Johnson smiled. The Gimpy. That is a fine name. And what about the fractions?"

Well, since our King fondly remembers that trip he took with you to Human City, and the coins used there, he thought that your term ‘cent’ would be quite appropriate for the fractional parts of the gimpy. A hundred cents would be a whole gimpy, fifty cents a half gimpy, and so on, Kashy told him.

That is a very practical way of naming them, to be sure, the human remarked. So you’ll have the gimpy, and its fractional denominations. I like it, and I’m sure that the gimpy will soon be quite popular throughout Koalaland.

Well, it might take some time for all the koalas to get used to accepting coins in return for more practical goods, such as food, furniture, overalls, ceramics, and all the other things we have, up till now, traded. But the King is confident that once they see the great advantages the monetary system offers, they will soon love it.

By the way, where is the King? Mr. Johnson asked. I would like to say hello to him.

Oh, he isn’t here right now. He went up to inspect the new school building. It’s almost finished, you know, and the King wishes to present it to the public at the Midsummer Celebration. That will be just three weeks from now, Gruffy explained.

You’re quite welcome to walk up north and see it for yourself, if you’d like, Grandaddy offered. You can leave your vehicle right here; it’ll be safe.

Of course it will, Mr. Johnson chuckled. I can’t imagine a koala jumping into my Land Rover and driving off with it! They all laughed at the thought. Fine, I think I will do just that. The school is in the northeastern section, isn’t it?

Yes, near the edge of the grove, up near the intersection of the northern west-east path and the forest path. You should be able to find it, since there will be a group of carpenters still working on it, and of course, the King will be there, too.

Hmm, northern west-east path, huh? If you don’t mind a suggestion, perhaps you should consider giving your paths more colorful names. Like ‘Gimpy Lane’, or ‘Eucalyptus Road’. They would be easier to remember.

Why, I like that idea, Grandaddy replied, I’ll mention it to the King when I see him.

Okay, then I guess I’ll walk on up. Anybody want to come along? Mr. Johnson asked.

No, thank you, Grandaddy declined. The lawyers and I were talking about modifications that we must make to our Book of Laws. You can’t imagine how many things have to be changed simply because we’ve moved from one grove to another.

Yes, the law is a quagmire of bothersome details, it is true. But it’s important to have your laws up to date, so I suppose it’s worth the effort, the human commented.

Indeed it is. The work we are doing now will save us a lot of trouble later. The clearer the laws, the easier it is to settle the cases in the future, Kashy told him. Shall we get back to work, gentlekoalas?

Yes, let’s do that, Grandaddy responded. We’ll see you later, Mr. Johnson. Enjoy your walk!

It was a lovely day. Although hot, the shade of the trees and a soft breeze made strolling through the grove quite pleasant. Mr. Johnson saw the progress that was being made. At the top part of the clearing where the council table was placed, the King’s tree house was well on its way to being completed. In a tree across from it, another structure had been begun, one that was going to house the archives of the grove. As he walked along northwards, up Main Path, many koalas, sitting on their branches, waved to him. He didn’t know most of them personally – or should we say, koalaly? – but they all certainly knew who he was: the human whose brilliant suggestion of buying a lottery ticket had led to the purchase of Eucalyptus Grove. Thanks to this human, the quality of their lives had improved considerably, and they were looking forward to a most prosperous future.

Walking from the base of a tree near the path, a little koala child came right up to him, and said, Excuse me, sir.

Well, hello, little fellow! Mr. Johnson said, crouching down to talk to him. How are you today?

Fine, sir, the koala child replied. Though shy, he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet this large creature whom everyone in the grove talked about. What’s more, he had a question. May I ask you something, sir?

Why, of course you may. What is it?

Well, sir, as you know, we koalas aren’t very big, and the large trees we live in are just the right size for us. They give us all the space we need. You humans are much bigger than we are. So my question is, where do you find trees big enough for you to live in, ones that you can move around comfortably in? Those trees must be really huge!

Oh, that is an interesting question, Mr. Johnson laughed, but the truth is, we don’t live in trees at all. We have houses.

Not tree houses? the little one was curious.

No, buildings on the ground, like Doctor Koala’s hospital shack, only much bigger, or like the new school building that I’m going to visit now.

My, that is amazing! the little koala exclaimed. But don’t you feel sad, living on the ground all the time? Trees are so beautiful!

Yes, they are. We often have them next to our houses, so that we can look out the window and see them.

Do you go outside to the trees to pick your breakfast leaves? the koala child wanted to know.

Well, no, not exactly. We eat other types of food. We do have fruit trees, though. I myself have a couple of apple trees, and some pear trees, among others. I love fruit, especially at breakfast.

I like fruit, too, the small koala said. My mother often gives me half a pear for breakfast, along with my leaves, of course. I like the pears that are really soft and watery. They are easier to chew.

Yes, that’s the kind I have, too, the human told him. I guess you are looking forward to going to the new school, aren’t you?

Oh, the school. To tell you the truth, sir, I don’t know why we little koalas have to go, but the adults say that come the middle of the last month of summer, we’ll have to. I think I’d rather just stay at home instead of going to a school every day.

Well, you’re not alone. Many human children say exactly the same thing, Mr. Johnson told him.

They do? Then I guess koalas and humans aren’t so different after all, the koala responded.

You may have a point there. Any more questions?

Oh, no sir, that’s all I wanted to know. Have a nice day. Good bye! the little koala said, then turned and scurried away.

What a polite little chap, and so curious, Mr. Johnson thought to himself as he smiled. With little ones like that, Eucalyptus Grove is sure to have a promising future!

When he got to the northern section, he looked down a path to his left, and could see, in the distance, a rather sizable tree house that seemed to have been completed, though he couldn’t be sure from where he was. He thought it must be Nory’s and Maki’s abode. He had heard that they had been making just such a large house in that sector. He was tempted to walk down and have a closer look, but figured that they probably wouldn’t be home anyway, since the carpenters were all supposedly concentrating on completing the school. He could always view it later. He then turned eastwards, and walked down another path, thinking that the school must be in that direction. After a short while, he came to the edge of the grove and looked around, but did not see the school.

Excuse me, sir. May I help you? he heard a female voice say. He looked down and saw a koala dressed in a pair of very fine green overalls, with golden-yellow trim.

Good morning to you. My, that is a fine pair of overalls! Quite elegant, if I may say.

Oh, thank you sir, they’re really nothing special, I wear them almost every day, she replied. I made them myself. Do you really think they are pretty?

I most certainly do! You have quite a talent, to be able to sew like that, Mr. Johnson complimented her.

Oh, I have to be able to sew well. It’s my job. You see, I am a seamstress, and a tailoress. My name is Muffy. I work with two friends of mine, Beppeen and Puffy. We work next to that tree over there...

He looked and saw a tree about two down from where they were. It had a large table in front of it, with several chairs, and a curtain hanging around the back. There were a couple of big wooden boxes to the right of the tree.

Glad to meet you, Muffy. My name is Johnson.

Yes, sir, we all know who you are, of course. As a matter of fact, you’re the only human most of us have ever seen. Except for our King, of course. I heard that he went with you when he bought that lottery ticket. He must have seen many humans in that big city!

He sure did, Mr. Johnson replied. Then, looking once again over to the tree where Muffy worked, I see a curtain hanging there. That’s not something I’ve ever seen before, he remarked.

Oh, we need that so that the koalas can go behind it to change clothes. And we use the boxes to put all the clothes and cloth in when we finish our work every day. They are waterproof, but still, we cover them up with a waterproof cloth as well. You never know when it might rain during the night, and that might make all the material wet, Muffy explained.

Yes, I see what you mean. You must do a good business, since everybody wears overalls here.

Oh yes, we do. We have more work than we can handle sometimes. Occasionally, we’ll hire some extra workers to do some of the sewing, but they work in their trees. I take the material to them, and the pattern. They cut it, and sew the main parts together. I’m just coming from the tree of one of our helpers now. She works very neatly. Her name is Kiko. She lives about ten trees to the south of here.

"Don’t any males