The Adventures of Koala Kid

It has been roughly 2 years now since the world found out that I, a Koala, could talk.

For those initial 6 months, I had the eyes of the world fixated on me. Sadly though, I didn’t have any time to myself, whether it be from being thrown into toy deals, photoshoots and or even a few commercials. My mere existence created an environment that wasn’t conducive to my desire to explore, discover myself and grow.

Over time I learned that I had…people feelings. Feelings I wanted to explore and fortunately over time, the worlds’ fascination with me died down, and society returned to how it was. Mundane.

As 2 years have passed since my “discovery”, I currently reside in a small cabin specially designed for me on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia.

I have access to a small beach, where I can relax and enjoy a drink without much disturbance. But I do get one visitor, someone who has grown on me as a friend this past year. Her name is Aya, and she’s from the Ivory Coast. A few years ago she decided to move here to teach French and fell in love with the place.

We met one day when I got stuck in a storm and she was kind enough to walk me home.

She’s a sweetheart, one of the few.

But lately, Aya has noticed I haven’t been feeling the same as before.

So on her current visit, we sip on some iced tea overlooking the Pacific Ocean on my balcony. Enjoying the strong rays of the Australian sun, Aya breaks the silence.

“What’s been on your mind?”

Initially, there’s a silence as I mull over her question, hesitating even though I knew that question was to come at some point.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I’ve been in a loop these past few weeks. Aimless, not sure what I want to do with my life or even what purpose I have in living it.”

Slowly, I feel her body shift towards me, encouraging me to go on.

“It’s just that, all this time people have tried to influence my life for me. But now that I finally have this new found ‘freedom’, I don’t exactly know what to do with myself.”

Looking over to my right I can see that she’s being fully attentive, with her body completely in my direction and staring purposefully into my eyes.

“Sounds like you need an adventure” she blurts out.

“An adventure?” I curiously responded.

“Yup, an adventure. Something to get your blood pumping. To give you a new lease on life and learn more about yourself.”

I gaze at her in bewilderment.

“What the hell can a koala do? Y’all can step on me at any moment and eat me.” I enquire as I shift my body in her direction, testing her.

“Now why would we eat something with chlamydia?” Aya snaps back at me, while pinching my cheeks to reaffirm that she’s only messing with me. While also making me feel small and adorable.

“I’ve had my antibiotics” I retorted with a smirk.

We shift back to face towards the ocean. There’s a short silence as I mull over her words, contemplating it over in my head until I suddenly burst out.

“Fine… fuck it, what do you have in mind?”

“Road trip!” Aya blurted out.

“Road trip?” I regurgitate back to her with a confused look on my face.

“Yea silly, think about it. Ever since people discovered you all you’ve seen are cameras and this cabin. But how much of Australia have you truly seen?”

Looking back over my sentient existence, I noticed that she was right. My face and voice has been plastered all over a world I haven’t seen. Besides, even if I declined I knew her annoying ass was gonna buy a rental and drag me along anyway.

“I’ve got 2 weeks off starting Monday, we’re going!” Just as I predicted, Aya confidently made the decision before I could even give her a response.

“So… I don’t get a say in this? At all huh?”

“Nope” she quipped, as she swiftly moved out of her chair. Grabbed both our glasses and bounced to the kitchen sink to give them a quick clean.

On her way back to the balcony, she starts blurting out.

“Ok I’m off to get a car, I’ll pick you up in the morning at 8, you better be packed.”

Before I knew it I heard her motorcycle start and she rode off. Just at that point I noticed the sun was beginning to set, and on this particular night it gave off a different feeling than it had on any other.

The aura I felt and the timing of it, it was as though nature had heard our conversation and it was signifying the end of a chapter in my life.

A chapter of complacency and doubt.

It was time to act.

Soon, the darkness of night began to creep in as I was reflecting and it was at that point I felt my stomach begin to growl. It wasn’t until now I realised I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

A drinking session with Aya can do that.

In an effort to figure out what to eat, I peered into my fridge and noticed all I had in it was beer and leftover pizza.

Yup, I’m officially a fat ass.

Aya is right, it’s time to explore. Besides, even if I had any doubts there wouldn’t be much choice.

Because, as I looked into my fridge I heard my phone vibrate to see that she had sent a message saying.

“Oh yea, if you bitch out I’m breaking your knee caps *smiley face* hee hee”

Well… I do enjoy having functioning knee caps. So after eating those last few slices of pepperoni I packed my bags, set them by the front door and shut down for the night.

Reminiscing on the journey I’ve lived so far, but also in the complete dark of what was to come.