Nimbi the Koala
It had been a long, very dry, hot summer. Dad said it was at least three months
since we had any real rains. The long grass on our land had long since turned brown and crisp, the gum trees drooped with longing for water and our creek was all but dry.
Dad had been worried for some time about bush fires that would start and burn ferociously out of control, taking with them all the grass and trees and sometimes
at their worst, the homesteads.
Dad had spoken with the local ranger about putting a firebreak across our land.
This would at least save some of the grass, trees and our home from nature's wrath. But the ranger had thousands of acres to worry about and many more farms beside ours; he said he would do what he could.
Me and my sister Sue would worry about the fate of the animals should the fires reach the homestead. Dad would move the sheep to the pastureland near the river.
It was damper there and gave some protection. What about the wild animals, we would ask? Dad would say that the kangaroos and wallabies were fast and would escape at speed at the first sign of danger. The wombats would go deep into their burrows and sleep. Snakes would search out caves and burrows in which they could take cover, and of course, the birds could simply fly away. We were happy with Dad's explanation.
Over the next days, we started smelling the burnt grasses. The sky grew darker with the smoke as the danger approached.
As the days went by, Mom and Dad were both getting worried. Smoke covered our land like a blanket. They decided that it was time to leave the homestead for our safety. Our truck had been loaded for several days just in case.
Just as we pulled away from the house, sister Sue and I remembered Nimbi the Koala bear that nestled in the gum tree next to our barn. Nimbi was slow and rarely left the safety of the tree. She stood no chance in a bush fire. We told Dad we had
to get her. Dad swung the truck by the barn and pulled up under the tree; he climbed into the back of the truck. Luckily Nimbi, sensing the danger, had climbed to a lower branch. Dad jumped and managed to grab the branch, pulling it down and gently pried Nimbi free. He then gave her to Mom to hold and finally we left for safety all
at ease that our family and the animals were ok.
When the fire danger had passed and rain had quenched the scorched earth, we again returned to the homestead. We were lucky; the fire had spared it. We placed Nimbi back in the gum tree and she again climbed back to her usual spot in amongst her feed of gum leaves. The wombats left their burrows, the snakes their caves, the kangaroos and wallabies again became a common sight at dusk and dawn, feeding on our land and the birds were flying in the sky.
Once again the bush had returned to normal.
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