Boggle the Gymboot Bird

Boggle carefully put on his beautiful new gymboots. Using his beak, he tied their shoelaces, just as his mother had shown him that morning.

His Aunt Mirandah had suggested the shoes because Boggle couldn’t fly. His wings were too small and walking on the ground was very, very difficult, as it is for all kookaburras.

He put one foot forward to see how the gymboots looked, decided they were just fine, took a cautious step…and fell on his face. His beak sank into the soft earth and there he lay, stranded.

Several minutes went by and still Boggle lay there, wondering what to do. A large ant came to investigate. Tilting his head to the side, he peered into one of Boggle’s huge eyes.

‘You’re stuck,’ said the ant, an amused look on his face.

Boggle couldn’t reply, of course, so fluttered his long eyelashes instead.

‘Lift one leg and try to roll over,’ suggested the ant, folding his front two arms.

Boggle tried, but the gymboot on his foot was too heavy for him to lift his leg high enough.

‘I’m too small to help,’ said the ant. ‘I’ll try to find someone who can.’ He hurried off and soon returned with his friend the spiny anteater. She was an unusual echidna who didn’t like the taste of ants and ate millipedes instead.

The echidna stared at Boggle’s shoes, then slowly made her way to the other side of the fallen bird to see if there was any way to help. ‘You’re stuck,’ she said.

Boggle rolled his eyes and raised his head feathers, as it was too difficult for him to nod.

‘I’m too spiky,’ said the echidna. ‘I might hurt you if I come too close. I’ll try to find someone else to help. You stay here, Ant, to look after Boggle.’

Before too long, Echidna returned with a large blue-tongued lizard, who, when he saw the ant, flicked out his tongue. ‘Tasty!’ he said to himself, but his better nature won, and he stood up on his hind legs and tried to push Boggle onto his side. Sadly, Boggle remained where he was.

The lizard scratched his head in thought. ‘I know,’ he said after a while, ‘Mister Possum can help! He’s strong, but might not like being woken up.’

Boggle frantically flapped his little wings, making it clear to everyone there was no choice but to wake Mister Possum.

While Ant and Echidna stayed with Boggle, Lizard ran off to find Mister Possum, who was sleeping in a cosy hollow inside an old river redgum.

The lizard had no trouble climbing the tree trunk, but hesitated before waking his friend, knowing that the possum sometimes had a bad temper, and could hiss and snarl in anger when he wanted to. His claws were sharp as well. Still, Boggle must be getting very tired and upset by now, thought Lizard, so he tickled the possum’s ear.

Mister Possum rubbed his ear with one paw, then opened his big eyes and looked around to see who had disturbed him. ‘What do you mean by waking me during the day?’ he growled. ‘It’s not time for me to get up!’

The lizard said he was sorry, but was still determined to get his friend out of bed. ‘There’s a youngster in trouble, Mister Possum, and you’re the only one who can help. We need someone with strong hands, like yours. Please come and see.’

‘Can’t the wallabies help? They’re big and strong, and they don’t mind being awake during the day,’ grumbled the possum.

‘Yes, I’m sure they could,’ answered Lizard, ‘but they’ve gone off to find water and might not be back for a while. Please help us.’ He bobbed his head a few times to show Mister Possum how important it was.

Mister Possum scratched the back of his neck and mumbled something about the sun being too bright, then climbed out of his nest.

‘Right,’ he said, yawning, ‘lead the way.’

When the two friends arrived and Mister Possum saw Boggle, he burst out laughing. He laughed so loudly and for so long that the others couldn’t help but join in. Embarrassed, poor Boggle closed his eyes and jiggled his tail feathers.

Eventually, Mister Possum braced himself with his big bushy tail and lifted Boggle until his beak was free of the soil, then gently rolled him over and helped him stand.

Boggle nearly fell over again, but Lizard quickly held him upright and kept a firm grip on one of his wings.

Ant giggled and Echidna turned away for a moment to hide a smile. ‘It’s the boots,’ she said. ‘We’ve never seen a bird wear shoes before.’

Boggle spat out some soil and said, ‘My Aunt Mirandah thought they’d help me walk better. Maybe I just need a bit more practice.’

Mister Possum rubbed a paw over his face. ‘Well, if you can’t fly, and you can’t walk properly without shoes,’ he said, ‘then maybe she’s right, and perhaps you do just need some practice. Do you want to try taking a few steps while I’m still here? You know, just in case,’ and the possum burst out laughing again.

Boggle sat down, refusing to budge when Lizard took hold of his wing and tried to get him to stand. “No!’ said Boggle. ‘I don’t want to look silly.’

‘You’ll look even sillier if you can’t walk and have to be carried everywhere by one of the wallabies,’ said Ant. ‘Come on, we’ll stop laughing, I promise.’

Boggle sat a little while longer, then sighed and stood up. He put one foot in front of the other, wobbled a bit, then lifted the other foot and took a step forward.

‘That’s better!’ cried Lizard, clapping his hands. Pleased, Boggle chuckled softly and took another careful step, raising his little wings to help balance himself.

Then, as they all watched, Boggle managed to walk over to Mister Possum. He was standing a short way off searching for a juicy mushroom in amongst the toadstools.

‘Well done, young Boggle!’ said Mister Possum, after licking his paws clean. ‘Tell your mother that we’re all proud of you, and that if she ever wants to invite me to dinner, I’ll be pleased to come.’

‘Yes, and so would we!’ cried the others, excited at the idea of a free meal.

Happy now with his new boots, Boggle laughed, long and loud, just as a kookaburra should, and then, side by side, they all walked home to his family…just to make sure he didn’t get himself into any more trouble.

Boggle’s mother was so grateful for the help his new friends had given him that she invited them to dinner the very next day.

Boggle proudly wore his new shoes, and he was already so good at walking that he could do a little dance.

Ant, Echidna, Lizard and Mister Possum cheered and joined in, while Boggle’s mother laughed with pleasure.

Aunt Mirandah soon came in to see what all the noise was about. ‘Well, young Boggle,’ she said, ‘I can see you’ll be a fine kookaburra, even if you can’t fly!’

Now that Boggle could walk properly, he sometimes left the forest where his family lived and had all sorts of adventures.

 Boggle liked having adventures, but was still happy to go home to his family at sunset. His mother would tuck him into his little bed and then sing until he fell soundly asleep.