The little penguin named Pingoo had been living in the house in the forest for over a month now. Each day he would get up early in the morning, catch some fish for his food, and then go out into the forest to explore. He met many new animals and saw many new trees and plants. Each evening he would return to the house and go to sleep.
One fine day, Pingoo was out exploring the forest as usual. As midday approached, he came upon a small clearing and heard some voices. A high-pitched voice said “But I don’t want to eat only leaves! Why can’t I try to eat something else? Why do I have to eat leaves every time I am hungry?”
A heavier voice replied, “Because you are a koala bear and koala bears eat gum leaves and not anything else! Get that into your thick head and eat your leaves!”
Pingoo heard nothing more. He peeked around a bush and saw a baby koala bear picking at some leaves with a glum face. A little way away, was another koala, a fully grown one. Pingoo guessed that this was the little one’s mother. He felt sorry for the baby koala who looked very sad. So he decided to wait and try to make friends with him. But he did not want to face the mother koala who looked rather grim.
After a little while, the mother koala bear climbed up a tree and went to sleep. The baby koala looked this way and that, and then threw the remaining leaves away. Pingoo smiled to himself when he saw this. Stepping up, he said, “Hello there!” The koala almost jumped out of his skin. He had never seen a penguin before in his life. “Wwwhhoooo or what are you?” he stammered.
“Why, I am a penguin! My name is Pingoo..” replied Pingoo in surprise. “Bbut, penguins live in the South Pole..what are you doing here in the forest?” “Well..that’s a long story..” sighed Pingoo and then he told the koala about how he came to be in the forest.
“What an adventure!” exclaimed the koala bear a little enviously. “I have never gone out of this clearing even. And here you are, from the South Pole, been on a boat, and now living in a house all by yourself! You are like a grown up!”
Pingoo had been a little lonely in the house all by himself with no one to talk to. So he took his chance and asked, “Would you like to come and live with me?” The koala bear’s eyes grew round in surprise and excitement. He turned to look up at his sleeping mother and then back again at Pingoo. Finally he replied, “Can we do that?”
“I don’t see why not! I could not help but overhear that you want to eat something other than leaves. You can come with me each morning when I explore, and look for fruits and berries or anything else you want for food – maybe honey?” said Pingoo.
“Oh my! That would be great! But I would like to come and visit my mother sometimes. Otherwise she would be very sad.” replied the koala. “By the way, my name is Willoo, the koala bear!” he added and put forth his paw to shake.
Pingoo and Willoo shook hands, and then Willoo packed some of his stuff in a small sack and started off back to the home with Pingoo. He left his mother a note because Pingoo insisted so that she would not worry. Pingoo took Willoo back to the house and Willoo settled in there happily. He found a pillar which he would hug and go to sleep at night. Sometimes, he would sleep on a tree in the garden.
Each day, the penguin and the koala bear would go into the forest, where Pingoo explored and Willoo tried eating blackberries, honey, mushrooms – whatever took his fancy. The two became fast friends and Willoo’s mother, though a little shocked at first at Willoo’s leaving slowly came round to the fact that her son was a little different from other koala bears and even turned a blind eye to Willoo munching on berries while he visited her.
Friendship is a great gift and sometimes the most unlikely of people become fast friends…
Note: Image sourced from Google Images.