The Last Laugh

Mother platypus had been busy all day digging her burrow deeper.

She placed sticks and stones to stop the water washing away her hole.

“What are you doing,” Turtle asked.

“Protecting my home. The water becomes less each day,” replied Mother Platypus.

“We need more rain,” suggested Turtle. “The heat is drying up the water. The leaves on the trees have turned brown. Dust where the grass should be. No clouds appear. My home has turned to muddy water. Why won't it rain?”

“Did you see the dust cloud. A funny dust cloud, it was. No wind blew at the time,”

said Mother Platypus. “Can't imagine what can cause so much dust.”

“We won't have to worry when the rain comes,” replied Turtle. “If the rain doesn't come soon I'll have to move to a new home.”

“I don't see why we should have to leave our homes,” grumbled Mother Platypus. “We've lived here all our lives.”

The hot rays of the sun scorched the dry land to dust.

Creek, and waterholes, became cracked, hard ground around the edges.

Less water each day for the animals to drink.

Lobbies burrowed deeper under the rocks to stay alive until the next rain fell to fill the creeks.

Fish gasped for oxygen in the water.

Some animals had moved away to find new home with water, and food.

The days passed.

No rain came.

Mother Platypus became more worried.

She decided she needed to act to save her home.

“Mister Kookaburra. Will you please come down out of the tree,” called Mother Platypus, from where she sat on a log.

Mister Kookaburra glided down to perch on a lower branch of a tree.

“What can I do for you, Mother Platypus?”

“We need to find out what has caused the water not to flow. There has to be a reason the water stopped so quick. We need to search the area.”

Mister Kookaburra flew up to perch high in the gum tree.

His call to arms echoed through the bush land.

He called all the animals to come to a meeting.

Mother Platypus slapped her tail on the tree branch near the drying creek.

“Oh, please,” she shouted, to have the animals quieted to begin the meeting.

“We need to know where the water is disappearing to. Water has not been a big problem for us in the past. The water had flowed no matter how hot the summer.”

“I agree,” interjected Old Man Kangaroo. “The creek has never been dry in all my years of living here. I have witnessed many long, hot, and very dry summers.”

“Yeah,” said other older members at the meeting.

“We need to search along the creek,” encouraged Mother Platypus. “The faster animals take the top end of the creek and work backward. The slower ones of us will work up from here. Who ever finds the problem will send a message to the other searches. Good luck.”

The animals scattered far, and wide, to search out the reason why their water had slowed to a trickle, threatening to dry up.

The birds flew high above the treetops searching for evidence.

Word echoed through the bush land reporting their find.

Ground animals scurried through the undergrowth.

Mother Turtle struggled through the muddy water to make her way up the creek.

The animals stopped their search when the sun dropped below the horizon.

The animals were exhausted.

They decided to spend the night where they were to keep watch.

To make plans to solve their problem.

The rumbling noise echoed through the bush early the next morning.

The earth vibrated beneath them.

Rising dust swirled through the air coating the animals.

Bulldozers crawled across the land like hungry monsters.

Large sections of ground had been ripped bare.

Trees had been bulldozed to lay discarded in heaps on the ground.

Birds had flown for their lives when each tree fell.

Small animals scurried down the trees to reach a safe place.

The animals watched in horror.

Their homes were being torn down.

The animals watched from a safe distance among what trees still stood.

During the time the machines stood silent the animals made their way to the water to quench their thirst.

To have a swim to keep their body cool.

When the men had left the site the animals were busy with their plans.

Each animal who were able to dig began to work on the dirt barricade which spanned the width of the creek.

“Old Man Kangaroo,” called Mother Platypus.

The huge kangaroo hopped over to where Mother Platypus sat on a log while she directed operations.

“I want you to visit our human friend. Bring him here. He may be able to help us.”

Old Man Kangaroo set off through the bush land to find the house of Peter Toss. Peter was walking toward his land-rover when Old Man Kangaroo arrived.

Peter stopped walking.

He waited for his friend.

“Hello, Old Man Kangaroo. Long time since I've seen you. Where have you been. What can I do for you,” Peter patted the back of the kangaroo.

Thick, dark clouds of smoke rose above the top of the trees.

Old Man Kangaroo guided Peter toward the construction site.

Red angry flames ate a wide path through the bush land.

The animals moved fast to reach safety.

Water animals plunged into the creek where the water had been dammed.

They prayed the fire didn't jump the creek to spread to the bush land on the other side.

Peter jammed his foot on the brake to bring the land-rover to a stop.

He needed help.

Reaching forward, peter grabbed the radio to call for back-up.

“Come in, sire service. We have a bad situation.”

“Fire service. What's up Peter?”

“Large fire north of Pine Creek Racing fast toward the creek. Need help to stop it.”

By the time Peter arrived to where the animals were hidden the helicopters had arrived.

The helicopters flew over head dropping water from big bucket to put out the flames.

To stop the fire before it reached the creek.

Fire trucks arrived.

People arrived to help put out the smoldering cinders to stop the spread of the fire.

Others used hoses to dampen the ground to slow the fire advancing.

The fire people hard for many hours to bring the fire under control.

The men were surprised when they returned to their work site.

A large welcoming committee of people, and animals waited for them.

Each stood guard to make sure no more damage was done to the bush land.

The first of the men to arrive stayed locked in their cars.

An urgent call was made to the boss.

The boss arrived to sort out the problem.

“What are you people doing on my construction site,” yelled the boss, moments after slamming the car door.

“To stop this destruction,” said Peter, moving toward the boss.

“What destruction. We have been given permission to build a golf resort here,” growled the boss, heading to the site office to find the proof of his words.

Peter and the crowd followed.

They waited for the boss to produce the draft plans.

“There.” The boss held up the map with the area marked for the gulf resort.

Peter took hold of the map.

He turned the map around.

“This is where you are,” Peter pointed to the spot on the map.

“Here is where you should be.”

“Oh, no,” cursed the red faced boss. He had made a very bad mistake.

“You are destroying National Park Land,” explained Peter.

“Right, officers. He's all yours.” Peter stepped aside for the police to put the handcuffs of the boss before taking him away.

The people, and the animals, showed their joy when the boss was placed in the police car to be driven away.

The workers of the construction site were ordered to dig away the barrage to let the water flow. Water which had been dammed to use at the construction site.

The flow began with a trickle when the backhoe dug into the dirt wall.

Mother Platypus led the cheer squad when the first big gush of water flowed down the drying creek.

The construction company had to plant trees to replace the ones which had been torn down.

The whole area was to be regenerated to cover the ground to stop the topsoil from washing away, with the coming of the next rain.

Peter was cheered by the animals for the help in saving their homes.

For restoring the water to the creek.

The animals went back to their homes ready to fight another day to save their homes from destruction.