The winner of our vote for #EucaliStories is Petrie the possum! Please enjoy this short story and let us know what you and your little ones think with the tag #EucaliStories on Instagram. We'll do more of these in the future, depending on the feedback.
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Petrie the Possum
in the Spotlight!
By Morgan Sutherland
Petrie lives in Brisbane, which is a city on the eastern side of Australia, about halfway down the coastline. Petrie's nest, which is where they sleep during the day, is in a paperbark tree, next to a house in a Brisbane suburb called Norman Park.
From the nest, Petrie can peek through the paperbark's branches and see all the way from the front fence (and sometimes, the tops of taller passing cars), down to the river that rumbles with ferries and laps gently at the mangroves along its edge. Twice a day, every morning and evening when the sun isn't shining, Petrie runs along the houses, leaping from roof to roof and fence to fence when there isn't a tree stretching its limbs between them.
Mostly, Petrie eats eucalyptus leaves, but sometimes, something special will catch their eye. Maybe a mulberry here, dangling from this branch, or maybe a paw-paw, up in this tree over here. But Petrie's most favourite treat is apple.
Now, Petrie doesn't know that apples grow on trees, only that humans eat apples which come from a fruit bowl. The humans living in the house next to Petrie's nest have a shiny wooden fruit bowl (far shinier than any tree Petrie has ever climbed) that is sometimes filled with bright pink apples.
Once or twice or more in the past, Petrie has been known to climb out along the paperbark tree, gently leap onto the white painted fence and creep along it, in order to steal one or two or more of those apples.
This evening, when Petrie first pops their head out of the paperbark tree, they notice a full bowl of fresh, crisp, juicy-looking apples.
Tail balancing carefully above the fence like the pole of a tightrope walker, Petrie is within leaping distance of the humans' house. All of a sudden, white light glares onto the fence, making it look like midday in the yard, instead of night-time.
It is so bright that it stuns Petrie. All Petrie hears is the pitter-patter pitter-patter pitter-patter of their racing heartbeat.
The apples are forgotten, invisible in the bright, blinding light. Petrie hangs onto the fence tightly, holding on until the yard goes dark again.
What just happened? Petrie wonders, barely remembering how they got back to the nest. That light has never happened before.
Then it happens again. And again.
Every time Petrie leaves the paperbark tree and gets close to the house, the light comes on and petrifies Petrie with its brightness until they can scurry away in the dark again.
Those apples, though. Petrie really wants those apples. The light is bright, but so what? It hasn't done anything but shine bright in Petrie's big eyes. It isn't scary, so why can't Petrie get those apples?
Petrie needs a hat. Maybe a hat made from paperbark.
This time, the plan will work.
Step one: Put on the hat.
Step two: Leave the paperbark tree.
Step three: Walk along the fence...
The light comes on, but Petrie barely notices this time, with the hat's brim blocking out most of the beam.
Petrie is almost to the bowl, reaching out a paw to the closest, most perfect apple.
The back door of the house slides open and one of the humans walks out.
"Hey, look! Hello, possum! You're a ringtail possum, aren't you, mate?"
Another human walks out, joining the first one.
"It's wearing glasses! And a hat!"
"It's what was eating my apples!"
Petrie doesn't even wait for the light to turn off before running away, an apple in their paws. This is the last one that Petrie will have for a long time, unless someone decides to plant an apple tree.