Mudpoo and the Magic Tree Stump (2 page)

HARRY
is a rugged and reliable little dog who is fiercely loyal to Mudpoo, Captain Pete and Gus. He loves adventures and is never afraid to get his feet dirty, much to Captain Pete's dismay when he brings mud into the house. He is one of only two talking dogs in the world. If you know about more send us a message! (www.mudpoo.com.au)

LIZ
is a family friend who lives in Nambour in Queensland. She sometimes goes adventuring with all of our Mudpoo friends. She'll never miss an adventure if it involves watching humpback whales, or sitting around a campfire and eating Pavlova.

ROD
is an old friend of Captain Pete who writes amazing bush poetry. Shhhh, I'll tell you a secret . . . he makes a great damper. Maybe I can ask him to share the recipe with you and me? He lives with Jess and loves blueberry pie.

JESS
is Rod's dog and has saved Rod's life twice (but that's another story . . . or two). Jess can talk and do amazing tricks. She is very clever and a loyal friend to all boys and girls and animals who try to do their best (a bit like you).

GRUMBLEGOO
is . . . err . . . well . . . oh . . . ??? Maybe I'll just let you read the story and discover who she is for yourself.

N
obody was really certain where Grumblegoo, the smartest, scariest creature in the rainforest had come from, nor how she got there. It seemed she had lived there for as long as anyone could remember. Some say that she hid and lurked around the riverbeds, emerging only at nightfall to emit terrifying, bloodcurdling yowls that made your hair stand up straight on the back of your neck. If you ventured too near to her home you would be gobbled up as a tasty snack. Mind you, no-one I spoke to said that they'd actually seen her, just that, well . . . she did exist and that here is a story to prove it. Despite all of her fearsome ways, the animals of the rainforest loved and respected Grumblegoo. After all, she really did care for their forest. Grumblegoo wasn't that ugly, nor could you say she was handsome, she just looked . . . well . . . kind of scary.

On her head she had three sharp, pointy spikes, two bulging, bloodshot eyes and two powerful, curly horns. Her mouth and nose looked like a huge beak and contained sharp, ferocious, pointy teeth. She had a long, colourful, stripy tail that swished as she walked along on her powerful claw-like feet.

Her whole body was covered in a kind of leathery-feathery material and she had sharp and dangerous claw-like hands. Her voice kind of frothed and garbled when she talked (a bit like what you sound like when you try to talk while brushing your teeth) and when she screamed and shrieked, it sounded worse than what mum, or dad sound like when they scream and shriek that you've put mud on their best, clean carpet!

Okay . . . now back to the story.
It was a long, long time ago when a magical Karri seed flew through the air from the far away Western Australian coast.

It twisted, swirled and danced through air, high above the clouds, never resting. It flew high over the Simpson Desert and the Macdonnell Ranges, higher still over Uluru, until finally it descended, ever so gently, to land right at the feet of Grumblegoo; the guardian of the rainforest.

‘My, my,' thought Grumblegoo, ‘this is something grand . . . a Karri seed, so far away from home, this can only mean one thing . . . it must be magical!'

It might have been sheer luck, or it might have been something magical, but it just so happened to arrive on Grumblegoo's birthday.

“What a jolly good present,”
said Grumblegoo to herself,
“I'll plant this seed and watch it grow into a tall and proud Karri tree, right in the middle of my favourite forest.”

Grumblegoo lived in an amazing rainforest that she shared with many other forest creatures, which is now called the ‘Iluka Nature Reserve', but at the time that this part of the story took place (over 500 years ago), Grumblegoo simply called it ‘Iluka', which means: ‘my home near the sea'.“Grow well my friend,” whispered Grumblegoo, as she very carefully planted the seed.

Every evening, curious koalas, slithering snakes, small, google-eyed goannas, and perky, prancing possums would sit and watch Grumblegoo as she watered and chatted to her ‘magical birthday seed.' Her seed grew into a little tree, then the tree grew a little more and a little more, until it grew into the biggest, strongest Karri tree that anyone had ever seen.

I've never seen it myself, but a friend of mine told me that it became humungous! 

Grumblegoo was proud of her magical tree and would sit quietly under it each evening and think about her world. She loved her world, the rainforest where she lived, the nearby ocean, the humpback whales that swam by each spring, the forest animals and the local Yaegl people.

They all lived harmoniously together. She even loved the screeching sulfur-crested cockatoos and the noisy scrub turkeys. Her best friend was a bright-eyed green tree frog, called ‘Foggerty', who would sit with her each evening, listening to the birds and the rustling of the lizards through the leaves, with the sound of the sea gently humming in the distance. 

Then it happened. 

Some say it was a long time ago, too long to be certain, but it was most probably more than fifty years ago. Suddenly, there was a horrible screeching, screaming sound in the forest. The poor bush creatures were running in all directions, white with fear and crashing into each other trying to find places to hide. Grumblegoo heard the sound too. She was fishing near the Clarence River. She leapt to her feet and ran straight towards the sound. 

A thunderous crashing and crunching sound came from within the forest. Grumblegoo ran as fast as her feet could carry her. When she saw the destruction, her eyes bulged twice the size of her head, her nostrils in her beak flared, her claws glistened, her feathery chest puffed out to twice the size of her body (she was as fearsome as any creature you'd ever wish not to see).

“YOOOWLOOORRFFF, FROOOWLOOORRFFF”
screamed Gumblegoo (louder than ten jumbo jets taking off together). As she got closer to the sound she could see what had happened; some misguided humans with a noisy machine had cut down her magnificent, magical, Karri tree.