Kai's Adventure It was Kai's grandmother's birthday.
Kai loved her so and wanted to let her know in a way she would always remember.
But Kai wasn't big enough to surround grandmother with the kind of hug she gave.
A hug that buried you in thick woolly koala fur.
Kai wasn't old enough to have a pouch to tuck grandmother in.
And how could she possibly fit?
Kai couldn't find food for her.
Kai was a little over a year old and while that's old for a koala,
Like being a teenager,
Kai had only just stopped holding on to mama's back to get around.
What could Kai's gift be?
Kai sat in the fork of the eucalyptus tree,
Looking out below the branches and leaves.
Kai had never left the trees.
Never walked on the earth.
Had any koala ever gone outside the safety of the trees?
There were no stories told about leaving the tree.
What was out there?
Could Kai just say thank you to grandmother?
Well that would be enough for her,
But saying thank you was not enough for Kai.
So Kai climbed down the tree and began to explore.
Surely before too long the perfect gift would present itself.
And grandmother would know Kai had tried,
Even if Kai came back with nothing but the story of an adventure.
At the bottom of the tree,
Kai found some tall thick grass.
Now here was an idea.
Kai could weave together one grass basket for grandmother.
Once the basket had been woven,
Kai took only a few steps and spotted another perfect gift.
There were two long,
Curly,
Deep indigo blue emu feathers.
Oh this was fine.
They were beautiful and grandmother could use them to tickle the small koalas.
Kai tucked the two feathers in the one pouch.
Kai paused.
Was it time to go back?
No.
Kai felt so excited to have found such excellent gifts that exploring outside the glade of trees was not so frightening anymore.
Just one step.
Two steps.
Then three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Now seven steps away from the eucalyptus tree that was home.
Kai looked up to see the bluest sky,
So clear,
Without the pattern of leaves to shape the picture of beyond.
Across the blue sky were full complete clouds with curves and valleys that Kai could follow,
Making shapes and stories.
This was so different from what was known.
Kai then looked down and saw something never seen before from the crook of the eucalyptus tree.
Stones.
There were three stones at Kai's feet.
Stones.
Now Kai had never heard of stones before.
In fact,
There was no name for them.
But they were shiny,
Smooth,
And for koalas,
They were so beautiful.
They were like jewels from a treasure chest.
Kai's basket was a treasure chest.
One basket.
Two curly feathers.
Three stones.
Could anything be better than these beautiful things?
Kai felt something that had been felt before.
It was a feeling.
It was,
Although Kai did not know how to know how to know,
Kai did not know how to name it,
The feeling of great courage,
Born of great love.
And Kai felt this also.
What had been done was enough.
Kai knew it was time to go back to the tree.
And Kai knew somewhere inside that not only was this enough,
More than enough,
Kai was sleepy.
Koalas are only awake for three hours a day.
Now that seems funny to us.
Three hours is like from breakfast to lunch.
And then we have the whole afternoon and evening for play,
Creating,
And being with friends and family.
Kai looked back to the tree that had been the beginning of the adventure.
Just seven steps and look at the beauty found on the path.
Kai looked ahead to see a different tree in the glade only five steps away.
Kai walked one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
And then began to climb.
The basket was not so heavy.
There was nothing that could be more beautiful to see and give to grandmother.
What a glorious adventure.
What a story Kai could tell to the other koalas as grandmother shared her gifts.
It could not get any better,
Could it?
And then something extraordinary happened.
Right there in the first crook of the eucalyptus tree,
Kai saw something in the tree that had nurtured all the koalas in the community that had never been seen before.
At least not by Kai.
A eucalyptus blossom.
Not one eucalyptus blossom,
But four.
Three knobby white buds with the fourth like a round puff of feathery blossoms.
Kai had to tell everyone about this and the only way was to show them.
Kai broke off the twig with the three buds and the one blossom to put in the basket.
Now our story must end.
But I wonder what Kai's grandmother thought of the treasures in her birthday basket.
Can you remember them?
I wonder what the other koalas thought of them too,
Particularly of the strange and lovely blossom that blooms in the eucalyptus tree which is their home and the source of their food.
I wonder what treasures we find when we look for something to give to someone we love.
