Koala Bear

Deep in the depths of the Australian outback, at the very top of the tallest eucalyptus tree, lived the cutest little koala bear. Now this koala bear was definitely cute but sometimes he was very bad tempered. For instance, he didn’t like rules and he sure didn’t like to follow them.

Now, everyday around noon, a large tour bus, filled with tourists from all over the world, stopped a few feet away from the koala bear’s tree. The koala bear was told over and over again to stay away from that bus. However, this one day the koala bear was determined that he was going for a ride on it.

Just about an hour before the bus was ready to leave the outback. The koala bear curled up in the back seat of the bus and and he was so comfortable the he fell right to sleep. All the passengers started boarding the bus and not one of them noticed the koala bear, curled up and fast asleep.

The koala bear had a good sleep. He slept for a few hours and when he woke up, he stood on his seat and looked out the window of the bus. He was very fascinated at what he saw. He had never been away from the outback before and had never seen houses or cars or big trucks.

A little girl noticed the koala bear standing on the seat.

“Look Mommy,” said the little girl. “Look, it’s a koala bear.”

“Yes dear,” said Mother, half-interestedly. “We saw lots of koala bears today.”

“But not one standing on the seat of the bus,” said the little girl.

The little girl’s mother looked over and saw the koala bear. She let out a scream so loudly that the bus driver slammed on his brakes and ran to the back of the bus to see what was happening.

“A koala bear,” laughed the bus driver. “Of all things.”

The bus driver took the koala bear in his arms and took him to the front of the bus with him. The only place he could put him was up on the dashboard. The koala bear loved sitting on the dashboard. He could see everything. Sometimes, pedestrians would walk in front of the bus and notice him and they would wave. Of course the koala bear waved back.

The bus driver took all the passengers to the airport and the koala bear got see an airplane close up for the first time in his life. He couldn’t believe the size of it.

The koala bear noticed the other passengers getting off the bus so he wanted to go with them. He jumped down from the dashboard and started heading out the door of the bus.

“Oh no you don’t,” said the bus driver. “You are coming with me. I’m taking you back home to the outback.”

After all the passengers were gone, the bus driver took out his digital camera and got a picture of himself and the koala bear.

“It is for my daughter,” said the bus driver.

The bus driver took the koala bear back home. Of course everyone in the outback missed him because they were so worried about what happened to him. The koala bear had a lot of interesting stories to tell them.