by David Bolton
For the Young at Heart of all Ages
(though Parental Guidance is recommended)
Copyright © 2013-2015 by David Bolton
This is a special free promotional edition of Volume I of the “Koalaland” pentalogy.
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Koalaland
or
The Great Koala Novel
Volume I: The Making of a Kingdom
by
David Bolton
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PUBLISHED BY:
David Bolton
Koalaland or The Great Koala Novel - Volume I: The Making of a Kingdom
Copyright © 2013-2015 by David Bolton
* * * * *
Special! Click here to sign up for my Reader's Group, and get Volume II of "Koalaland" totally free. Secure your copy today!
Volume II
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To Maki, who inspired this work
Table of Contents
Cover - Title Page and Dedication
Volume I: The Making of a Kingdom - Preface
Part I: Eucalyptus Grove
The Dangers of Disobedience - At the Council Table - Maki Koala –
Description of Southern Koalaland - Map of Southern Koalaland
Part II - Prelude to Monarchy
How it all began - A Question of Numbers - The Golden Leaves –
A Visit to Humanland – Interlude: The other Side of the Grove - A Surprise Visit - Initial Plans – The Making of a Monarch
Part III: Planning the Migration
The Devil is in the Details - An honorable Commission –
Among the socially challenged: Bumpy and his pals –
Whoever said that scrills are stupid? –
Bashful - Preparing for the Party
“Leaves and Circuses”, or The Downsides of Democracy –
Map of Koalatown - Girls will be Girls - A minor Emergency –
The Great Spring Celebration – The Perils of impetuous Passion –
A most curious Interlude in Koalaville - The Tree of Justice
The Carpenters plan - The Great Escape - A little white Lie –
“Why me?” - Maki’s Prayer –
The Day After - Help Wanted - Legal Matters - An amicable Business Deal –
The softer Side of Justice - Feathered Friends - The Eve of the Migration
An important Message from His Majesty, the Prestigious Koala King
Author’s Biography: David Bolton
Volume I: The Making of a Kingdom
Preface
For the reflective reader, and most especially for those of the sceptical persuasion; providing definite, conclusive, and therefore indisputable proof that everything you will read in this book is without a doubt true.
Or, if you prefer…
A peculiar piece of scientific sophistry, being impossible to refute, and furnishing the koala-lover with information essential to the understanding of this work.
In 1957, an ingenious physicist by the distinguished-sounding name of Hugh Everett III introduced a theory that he called the "relative state formulation”, an insight that was, in the 1960s, popularized by another very erudite gentleman, the physicist Bryce Seligman DeWitt, who gave this idea a more catchy title: the "Many Worlds" theory. Also known as the "Parallel Universes" interpretation of quantum mechanics, it contends that there is in fact, an enormous, perhaps even infinite, number of different universes that exist simultaneously, though we, being trapped in one of them, are not aware of the vast multitude of others. According to this postulate, everything that could possibly happen in our world, but does not, does indeed occur in one of these myriad parallel worlds.
Why we usually cannot peek into these other universes and satisfy our curiosity as to what might be going on at this, or any other moment, is a question that only the most learned of scientists could answer; I, for my part, am unable to do so.
Nevertheless, I do not deny the validity of the theory, for I myself have envisaged a parallel world, one characterized by certain similarities to our dimension, yet that also reveals some striking differences. To give but a few examples:
In our world, koalas live only in Australia. They are about two feet high, walk using their hands as well as their feet, have a very limited mental capacity, possess no advanced language skills (let alone a high culture), and run around naked.
Yet in the realm we are about to explore, their situation is markedly different. There, the koalas are on average three feet tall*, and the trees that they inhabit are correspondingly larger than the ones with which we are acquainted. Those koalas ambulate upright, and think as well as any of us. They use complex language and converse incessantly, occasionally with conspicuous eloquence. They have, in the astoundingly short time of about three hundred years, developed a burgeoning culture, and they would never dream of running around naked. Well, they might in their dreams, but certainly not in everyday life.
On the earth we know, hyenas live in Africa. None has, to our knowledge, ever eaten a koala, alive or dead, since the two animals live on continents that are very far from each other. In the parallel reality we will explore, spotted hyenas live within a day’s journey of the koalas, much to the latter’s chagrin.
On our planet, those cute little bright-eyed, bushy-tailed creatures that live in trees and eat nuts are called “squirrels,” not “scrills”. In our world, hawks carry off rabbits, and other small animals. Yet in this other universe, these evil birds are so big that they can easily carry off a full-grown koala.
In the reality we know, humans do all they can to completely control, dominate and even tyrannize those species they consider mere “animals,” all-too often going to the extreme of killing them: for food, in the name of scientific research, or just for fun. That humans would respect another type of being, and simply leave it alone in its own territory, without interfering in any way – this is almost inconceivable to us, and is perhaps the most amazing distinction between our actuality and the one you will soon discover.
Recalling that one common version of the “parallel universe” theory asserts that there is an infinity of worlds in existence, and that everything that could happen does in fact occur in one or another of these worlds, it follows logically that everything you are about to read in this narrative is factual, and therefore eminently true.
Yet logic is not always the best persuader. Often, one’s own intuition and imagination are more trustworthy guides in our quest to recognize reality. Relax, therefore; breathe deeply, open your mind, and prepare yourself emotionally to encounter one of those zillions of universes that exist as surely as does our own.
You are about to enter Koalaland.
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*Our scientists tell us that during the Pleistocene period (1.8 million to 10 million years ago), there existed on earth the so-called “Giant Koala,” who was indeed three feet tall. Is it thinkable that it was this species that chose to continue its evolution in a probable reality that diverged from our own, perhaps about 50,000 years ago, when this type of koala became extinct in our world?