This story was submitted by Kasper Birch.
The woolen wallaby was part of a wallaby mob living on a desolate island. The mob was a group of cute little wallabies that escaped from a local zoo and jumped onto a ship carrying grain. It was only possible, as wallabies are known as skilled escape artists and friendly comrades when facing danger and distress. The ship, however, crashed and stranded near the shore on a chain of islands.
The woolen wallaby was friendly but also resilient to exposure, change and being controlled. Once, when a caretaker tried to sedate him, he managed to play drop dead even though the injection dart never penetrated his fur coat. As they opened the door, he was able to jump out, close the door behind the surprised but mostly amazed caretakers and free the remaining wallabies. They rushed to the exit from the zoo, passing baffled spectators with such agility and simultaneously in unity making the crowd so overwhelmed that they believed it was part of the show. A few even managed to bring some sweets and cones from the ice cream van.
The island was windy, but this was no concern for wallabies, even though they were not the woolen ones. Otherwise, it was a paradise for little mammals eating grass, berries and the occasional walnut and similar nuts. Some forests and high meadows flourished and provided excellent shade, comfort, and shelter for the growing mob. Eventually little wallaby offspring started to roam the fields and forest, playing and learning the ways of the island life from their bigger siblings.
One day however, a giant vessel approached the island in the distance. It was visible miles away and the wallaby mob looked with worry and frightening faces as the ship paved the waves towards the island. The wallabies hid in the tall grass looking at the humans transcending from the vessel, which seemed oddly small in comparison. The wallaby was now a worried wholly wallaby. They sneaked peaked at the human entourage and discovered that the perceived leader in charge gave directions and directives whereby the others started carrying heavy boxes and crates onto the beach. ‘Sadly, it surely looks like they are going to stay’ the woolen wallaby said.
They could see the humans talking and the smallest and most agile wallaby placed some grass and branches, with its tail, over its body and head and sneaked closer yet to hear the humans. They talked about building fences, houses and roads onto the fields, maybe even a real harbor on the other side of the island. They furthermore discussed using the coastline for summer residence and housing for the construction and vocational personnel. It was a lot of technical jargon for a small woolen wallaby, so it quietly moved back to hide in the forest.
The men started digging and making noise on the shore and soon after the mob realized that their old playing ground and dining chamber would never be as before. Big lorries and tractors drove across the island followed by men digging ditches and making fences. The mob soon started talking about a new plan, for the future, since they were afraid that fishing and birds would not be enough food for the workers. Also, they feared that the forest would disappear, as they searched for timber. As the humans brought some of their own farm animals they would, however, not look for mammals on the island immediately, the mob assumed. They agreed to wait for the nighttime when the men were tired, perhaps after a few days prolonged work. Meanwhile they could eat from their gathering of stocks, and the men would still have their supplies.
A part of the mob was cut off from the rest and they tried to get back at night. The chubby wallaby breached the fence by jumping onto it and mostly accidentally, by using its weight to bring it down. The mob could thereby easily pass without any obstacles.
The mob therefore reckoned that it could be an excellent plan to give the expressions that the planks made from the logs on the island were insufficient to contain the animals. They therefore only needed to destroy some planks sporadically and make them seem fragile. The cows and pigs, as the mob came to known were mostly in favor of the idea, as they hoped to be set free on the island.
The crew and workers soon became disturbed and in a bad mood. They faced the choice between using the wood from the ship or sailing to another island. Several small fishing boats were already constructed, but the men were afraid of using them for longer journeys.
With few travails but big creativity, the mob was able to hide and ruin the men’s ability to stay on the island for much longer. They finally succumbed to the wild nature of the island and without ever realizing that the mob was there, they left without their animals, to spare the weight and the efforts to catch them all again.
The smaller boat the men left behind were used by the wallaby mob to drift away and sail between the smaller islands, as their own little part of the country. The humans, that took off in a hurry, also left some shiny obstacles providing reflection. A curious little wallaby discovered that when placed correctly in relation to the sun, they could ignite fire in tall grass. It was the last time the wallabies were freezing when gathering under the stars a night.
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