With my new book “Alien Shenanigans,”due to be released next month, I wrote a short story with our reluctant hero David Bradberrie and his brothers, Brian and Simon. I put them camping in the bush one night just to see what might happen?
Below is the result. Hope you enjoy. :)
Beware the Drop-Bear!
David
yawned, reached for the roll of loo paper, the small shovel and torch,
turned from the campfire and headed towards the line of gum trees not
too far in the distance. He hadn’t walked far when his younger brother
Simon, called out.
“Beware the drop-bear!’
David stopped in his tracks. He really
needed to go. Was Simon teasing or should he ask what he meant? David
chewed a fingernail, inhaled a deep breath and shuffled back towards the
warmth and light of the fire. With a huff he sat back down beside his
brothers.
“Need some company?” Brian, his older brother sniggered.
“I’m ten Brian, I can go to the loo on my
own! I don’t intend to go too far into the bush. Just tell me about the
drop-bear before I go anywhere,” David glared at Simon. “Make it quick
though, I really need to go.” David squirmed on the log where he sat.
Brian handed him a stick with a toasted marshmallow and winked at Simon.
“Haven’t you heard of drop-bears? They’re
kind of like giant koalas but scary man eating ones that drop down from
the top of gum trees at night and attack when you least expect it.”
Simon’s eyes popped as he raised his hands to gnash at the air. “People
say they have really sharp fang-like teeth and razor sharp claws.”
“Best to spread some vegemite behind your ears before you go. Drop-bears don’t like vegemite.” Brian added.
Simon and Brian rolled on the ground
laughing as David took a deep breath and crept back towards the trees,
torchlight shining as wide as he could high into the treetops. He wasn’t
prepared to walk quite as far in amongst the gum trees as he would have
preferred, nor was he going to give them the satisfaction of needing
Brian to go with him. The further in David crept, the darker it became.
Privacy was optimal, but then again so was safety.
He chose a spot, left the torch shining
upwards against a tree so that he could see above into the branches and
began to dig his hole. He whistled a tune to try to calm his nerves.
When David reached to retrieve his torch it
was no longer where he had left it. Light still lit the area, so where
was the torch? He scanned the ground around the bottom of the tree but
then realised the light was coming from above him. The tree branches
swayed but there was no wind. He heard a scratching, clawing noise along
with a low growl.
David stepped back careful to watch where he trod and slowly raised his eyes to peer high into the branches. Sure enough a furry koala-like monster with pointed fang-like teeth sat huddled near the tree trunk and grasped within its jagged sharp claws was David’s torch.
The monsters beady eyes stared down at David
with a ferocious glare. They seemed to glow in the torchlight as the
monster shivered and made a loud groan that sounded to David like the
noise came from deep within the pit of the monsters stomach.
David reached for the shovel and went to run
but something made him stop and turn around for another look. The
monster cuddled the torch as it spread a glow around the bush. The growl
had changed to more like a hum.
David wasn’t sure, but he thought he could see a hint of a tear trickle out of the corner of one of the monsters eyes.
“You don’t look so scary.” David took a step
closer. “You do look a bit bigger than a normal koala and those claws
do look awful sharp, but you don’t look like you wanna hurt me. Do you?”
David reached out a hand to try to encourage the monster koala to climb
down.
There seemed to be an eternal pause while the monster stared at David. It refused to move.
There seemed to be an eternal pause while the monster stared at David. It refused to move.
David placed the shovel back on the ground
at his feet. “See, I’m not gonna hurt you. It’s ok to come down.” He
held his breath and glanced at the shovel to make sure he could grab it
if he needed to.
The drop-bear didn’t drop on David’s head, instead it simply climbed down the trunk of the gum tree and stood to stare at David.
“Can I have my torch back?” David asked as he tried to reach for the torch. The drop-bear shook its head and held the torch high and tight away from David.
“Are you afraid of the dark? Is that it?”
David crouched and tried to reach for the bears paw. It nodded and
cradled the torch close to its chest.“Would you like to come and sit by
our fire where there’s more light?” David continued to hold out his hand
and took another deep breath. The creature blinked but refused to move.
“You don’t want to hurt me,” David crossed his fingers behind his back.
“And I promise not to hurt you. We’re all afraid of the dark sometimes,
in fact I admit I don’t like it much myself. That’s why it’s good to
have family and friends to keep you company.” David gave the monster a
hesitant smile. He hoped the creature felt safe to join him. Again it
didn’t answer, or move.
“Ok then. “ David stretched and slowly
turned away. “Tell you what, I’m going to walk back to camp now. If you
like you can follow.” David took a few cautious steps forward.
He smiled as the torchlight began to follow all the way back behind him.
When David made it back to the campfire he sat on the log without a word. A little monster sat beside him and snuggled close.
Brian and Simon’s jaws both dropped. They jumped up and moved to the other side of the fire.
“Who’s afraid of drop-bears now? Have you
got your jar of vegemite?” David laughed. “He’s just a bit scared of the
dark that’s all.” David reached for the stick he had used earlier and
placed two marshmallows on the end of it. Happy to have made friends
with a creature just as scared of the dark as himself he leaned forward
to point the stick into the fire until they were both toasted nicely. He
smiled at the drop bear beside him and handed him a toasted
marshmallow.
