by David Bolton
***
That evening, Doctor Koala, Judge Grandaddy and Sticky were sitting at the base of a tree, carefully studying the numbers on the papers they were holding.
“Let’s see,” Grandaddy glanced down his list, “three koalas chose the number 33. That could be a good sign. I also have three votes for 9, but no other number occurs more than twice on my list.”
“I have four votes for the number 5,” added Sticky. “Do you think that’s significant? Maybe 5 should be one of the numbers we play.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t put too much faith in that,” answered Doctor Koala. “They probably said 5 just because everyone has five fingers on his hand. Oh, but wait… I have three votes for 5. Who knows, maybe we should play it. And you, Grandaddy?”
“I have two votes for 5. Should that be one of the numbers we play, then?”
“Might as well be,” replied Doctor Koala, “since it looks to me as if this whole thing will end up being a guessing game anyway. Not a single koala seemed to intuit anything special. Not even Claire, and if she can’t peek into the future, nobody can.”
“True,” said Grandaddy, “if Claire didn’t pick up any vibes, it doesn’t seem as if our chances of getting those numbers are very great. And the truth is, I’m getting tired of writing down numbers and studying them. Why don’t we just pick out some that seem good to us, and decide to play them?”
“No objection to that. I’m pretty bored with this myself,” Sticky remarked.
“That makes three of us,” Doctor Koala agreed. “So, let’s say 5 will be one number…. 33 another…”
“...and then 9, and how about 21?” Grandaddy asked.
“Okay, 5, 33, 9, 21,” Sticky jotted down, “…and we’ll add 3 and 27. Sound good to you two?”
“Fine, whatever,” Grandaddy said.
“Okay then, we’ve got them,” Doctor Koala concluded. “5, 33, 9, 21, 3 and 27. Six numbers. Mission accomplished.”
“As long as they win,” Sticky said.
“Only time will tell that. And now, the best part of the day: time to get some sleep!” Grandaddy said with a yawn.
“All right then,” Sticky responded, “I’ll keep these numbers till Mr. Johnson comes on Friday, and we’ll play them. Oooohhh,” he too yawned, “I’m pretty tired myself. I’m off to my tree. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”
“Bye, Sticky!” the Judge and Doctor Koala called.
“Well then, get some ‘koalaty’ rest, Grandaddy.”
“I surely will, Doc. And you sleep well, too,” Grandaddy answered.
With that, each of them walked off to his tree. They had had a very active day, and now wanted nothing more than to drift off into Dreamland.
The Golden Leaves
“Doctor Koala! Doctor Koala!” Claire cried as she hurried over to his tree just as he was about to leave to make his daily rounds.
“Claire, what are you doing here? I said I’d visit you today. Oh no, are those pains worse again?”
“No, no, they’re almost gone. I just had to tell you about a dream I had,” Claire said excitedly.
“Nightmares, huh? Well, alcohol can have that effect, you know.”
“No, no, Doc. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was about those numbers for that game.”
“Oh yes, the lottery numbers. Well, we already have the numbers we’re going to play. 5, 33, 9, and three more. They’re on this paper,” he said, reaching into his pocket and taking it out, “21, 3 and 27. That’s the six of them.”
“33, yes, but not the other five.” Claire corrected him.
“What are you talking about, Claire?” Doctor Koala asked, puzzled.
“Well, let me tell you about my dream. I was sitting on the ground, leaning up against my tree, and dozing…”
“Claire! You know you shouldn’t sleep on the ground! Those pains might come back!” Doctor Koala scolded her.
“No, no, Doctor. I was sleeping on my branch, as always, but in my dream, I was dozing, sitting on the ground,” she explained.
“Oh, I see,” her physician muttered in a calmer tone.
“As I was saying, in my dream, I was sitting there, my back against the tree-trunk, dozing, then I opened my eyes – in the dream, I opened my eyes – and saw a golden leaf gently falling to the ground.”
“And...?” Doctor Koala inquired.
“…And there was a number on that leaf. The number 47.” Claire continued. “Then, as soon as it reached the ground, another leaf began to fall from a branch. It was also golden, and the number on it was 4. Then another fell, and it had 33 on it. That’s why I said that 33 was a good number for us.”
“Go on,” said Doctor Koala, now visibly intrigued.
“Well, three more leaves fell, all were golden, each had a number. One had number 7, the next, 41, and the last was 25. I wrote them all down as soon as I woke up. Here they are.” She pulled a small piece of paper out of the bib pocket of her overalls, and handed it to him.
“Mmm. 47, 4, 33, 41, 25, 7. Six numbers in all. Quite interesting, to be sure,” Doctor Koala murmured. “Claire, I’m going to confer with the Judge and Sticky. I’m pretty sure they will agree with me. That dream of yours has all the hallmarks of something magical. I think it won’t be hard to convince them that these are the numbers we should play!”
“Well, I don’t know, but that was the dream, and it was so beautiful… those golden leaves falling right down in front of me! I had the feeling that the dream was magical, just as you said!”
“I thank you very much for coming over, Claire. I’ve got a better feeling about this lottery now. Let’s hope that the magic becomes reality!”
“Yes, wouldn’t that be nice?” Claire added.
“Well, as long as you’re feeling better today, I guess I won’t have to visit you. But I’ve been thinking about what we can do about that problem of yours,” said the doctor, lowering his voice discreetly so that no passersby could hear. “I’ll get back to you in a few days. I’ve got an idea, but have to give it some more thought.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Doctor. I’ll be awaiting your visit. And I promise I’ll only drink water till then,” she said with a smile.
“Good girl!” Doctor Koala chuckled. “I’ll see you in a couple of days, then. Got to be off for my rounds now. Have a good day. And thanks so much for telling me that dream!”