The Mysteries Of Corkuparipple Creek: Corkuparipple Creek Worlds Apart

by Susan Pease

  JO’S IMPORTANT UNSECRET

  Jo’s home had been in the family for generations and Aunt Pepper and her mother had grown up living in the house. The old house oozed with history. Around the rooms were pictures of family members, paintings and lots of old furniture. Jo never knew her father; he had died when she was only small. Nevertheless, she had his photo beside her bed. People would say how brave he was fighting for his country. He had been a soldier in the Australian Army and had been sent overseas to serve. Jo often wondered why there had to be wars. Couldn’t people just learn to get along?

  Her mother had worked very hard to keep the family happy and together. She never really had enough time to sit and talk, so Jo had never heard any stories of her mother’s childhood. Hopefully all the missing pieces about her mother’s life would be filled by Aunt Pepper’s tale of their younger days.

  The next morning was hot and muggy and to Jo’s surprise, her aunt had packed a picnic basket.

  ‘Come on girl, it’s a perfect day to be outside exploring. We need to get you out of this old house otherwise you’ll go crazy,’ said Aunt Pepper.

  The bad knee had healed and the stitches were now gone. Walking along the road, Jo felt her leg was a little sore but mustered on, interested to know where they were going. It wasn’t long before Aunt Pepper pointed to the familiar clearing towards the bush; she seemed to know exactly where to go.

  As they approached Corkuparipple Creek, Jo’s aunt skipped over the stepping stones like a small child, laid out the picnic blanket and crouched very low, actively looking through the bushes. Jo was curious to watch her aunt peeping across towards the creek.

  ‘When I was a little girl I had an adventure of a lifetime. I made friends with some strange creatures.’

  Jo stared at her aunt wondering if they had been the Gulp-a-Waters and Slurp-it-Downs.

  ‘You’ve seen them too! I thought I was the only person in the world to know about them!’ bellowed Jo.

  ‘Looks like we have more in common than we first thought! Just goes to show, it must be in the blood,’ laughed Aunt Pepper happily.

  Jo felt a huge burden lift from her shoulders but at the same time, she also felt a little cheated that she had not been the first to discover the mystery of Corkuparipple Creek. Jo explained to her aunt that she was going to tell her all about the secret she had been carrying over the last few months.

  ‘Looks like my secret is an “unsecret”,’ she exclaimed.

  They both laughed and shared their experiences with the strange creatures. The heat haze shimmered through the bush and the buzzing of the cicadas made their ears ring. Then without warning, familiar voices could be heard drifting through the trees.

  ‘Fish don’t like bread and butter, they like cream cakes,’ said the Slurp-it-Downs.

  ‘They love bread and butter, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you know anything? Just mind your own business!’ yelled the Gulp-a-Waters.

  ‘Mind your own business? You need all the help you can get!’ hissed the Slurp-it-Downs.

  The two creatures once again could not come to any agreement and the fighting continued until Jo could feel a headache coming on. Louder and louder, they yelled and screamed at each other.

  ‘Since when do bread and butter attract black fish?’ enquired the Slurp-it-Downs.

  ‘Blackfish love the taste of bread and butter. You just haven’t a clue. It’s a well-known fact that bread and butter fatten them up,’ replied the Gulp-a-Waters importantly.

  ‘But if you’re catching them to eat, how can they have time to fatten up, you uneducated blowfly?’ bellowed the Slurp-it-Downs.

  ‘Anyhow, if you don’t use cream cakes it should be bread and butter with Vegemite rolled into balls, if you really want to catch fish. They will bite at them with no worries,’ continued the Slurp-it-Downs.

  ‘No worries. You are a worry, what a stupid thing to say. Vegemite? Why would they want to eat that muck?’ scowled the other creature.

  ‘There is nothing wrong with the good Australian tradition of Vegemite. It’s supposed to be good for you, making your cheeks all rosy they say,’ yelled back the Slurp-it-Downs.

  ‘Where did you hear that rubbish? I suppose you heard it on the grapevine, did you?’

  ‘Well, to tell you the truth, it was the bush telegraph you argumentative tadpole.’

  ‘You’re the slimy tadpole because you tell long tales and can’t get a grip on things, so that’s that!’

  Jo and Aunt Pepper laughed at the discussion about bread and butter.

  ‘Bread and butter, what a lot of rubbish, but don’t forget the Vegemite,’ laughed Jo as she pulled disagreeable faces, pretending to be one of the creatures.

  ‘What are you, a Gulp-a-Waters or a Slurp-it-Downs?’ whispered Aunt Pepper. She was delighted to see her old friends again. ‘It’s just as I remember, right down to the angry tones, fighting and all the fuss. You wait, soon they’ll be the best of friends,’ giggled the elated aunt.

  Sure enough, after much arguing, they turned to each other and started hugging. Then a strange thing happened. The Gulp-a-Waters turned to the Slurp-it-Downs and asked, ‘How does the ocean greet a boat full of people?’

  The Slurp-it-Downs looked puzzled and answered, ‘Who cares?’

  This made the Gulp-a-Waters even more agitated and he asked, ‘Don’t you want to know the end of the joke, you silly, skinny goodfor-nothing?’

  With that, the other creature (obviously wanting to upset his friend) replied in a sarcastic voice, ‘Oh, it’s a joke is it? You fat-looking blob of kangaroo poo?’

  This was all too much for the Gulp-a-Waters and he picked up his gear and started to walk away, mumbling the answer under his breath.

  ‘With a wave you goose!’

  Jo laughed so much that tears were falling down her cheeks.

  ‘Where do they get the jokes from? You know Aunt Pepper, I think that’s very clever, I must remember that one to tell Geoffrey.’

  ‘They seem to be in a reasonable mood today,’ said Aunt Pepper gleefully.

  The two creatures packed up their fishing rods and began their trip home without any fish. This gave Jo the feeling that another adventure was about to start. Quickly they packed up their picnic so they could follow the pair. At least that was what Jo thought they were about to do.

  IT’S SNOT FAIR

  Aunt Pepper did something rather strange. Instead of following the two creatures; she sat and started to chant a travelling song. Jo began to feel peculiar and felt a pulling feeling in her head so she shut her eyes. When her eyes opened, she was standing right outside the village. Staring at her aunt in disbelief, Jo gasped, ‘How did you do that?’

  ‘There are many things you don’t know about me. One is that I am an honorary member of the village council. Many years ago I would walk through the bush. I was a lot like you are now; hated going to school and often disappeared into the bush just to chill. I could not understand why people killed animals and trashed our environment.’

  Jo watched her aunt and braced herself for whatever next she would be told.

  ‘I wanted something magical to happen so the world would be safe. Remember, I was young and had a colourful imagination. I have always wanted to save the planet; something told me even when I was young that it would be my job. All at once, these creatures appeared and embraced me as one of their own. Years went by and they taught me all about the magic of the bush. For example, when you look at the trees, what do you see?’

  Jo was now more confused than she had ever been; she stared at the trees just to please her aunt.

  ‘Nothing but trees,’ she answered and groaned.

  ‘Jo, take the time to really look at the trees. Just look and you will be surprised at what you see.’

  By this time Jo was becoming anxious as she could not imagine what her aunt was getting at. Staring at the trees, wondering what she was supposed to discover made her quite giddy.

  Unexpectedly, Jo’s fac
e beamed and her eyes sparkled.

  ‘Colours. I see colours dancing around the trees changing from green, gold, red and violet!’

  Aunt Pepper clapped her hands with delight.

  ‘That’s my girl, see what happens when you take the time to be still and really look. They are auras and all living things have this energy force. Once you have mastered the signs you can tell the health of anything. If a tree is sick we know that it needs healing, if the tree is well then it will show us with a healthy colour. Trust what you can see.’

  This was fantastic! Jo was excited that she was learning such cool stuff. Her aunt really was the most extraordinary person she had ever met. With that, the old Slurp-it-Downs arrived with open arms.

  ‘Come back to visit did you? Long time no see. Are you here to stay, will you help the village do our healing work?’

  Aunt Pepper hugged her old friend and together they walked into the village. Gulp-a-Waters and Slurp-it-Downs came running up to Aunt Pepper yelling out, ‘Pepi, Pepi, you’ve come back. Time to celebrate and have lots of fun, welcome Pepi back!’

  Jo was left to walk herself into the village. Huh, seems every time the old Slurp-it-Downs is around she is forgotten. Nobody took any notice of her, the creatures were all too pleased to see their old friend Pepi and this made Jo cranky.

  Damn and blast, it’s not fair; they were starting to get to know me and now all they want is my aunt.

  Jo was grumpy but of course that was normal behaviour for the creatures so she just blended in. One thing was for sure, she was not going to budge until all of her questions had been answered. It was getting too much, every time there was a chance to find out the answers somebody or something mucked it up. The shadows moved across the bush, daylight was disappearing. Jo knew about the time warp but still it worried her about what the real time was. It had never become this dark before; maybe they had stayed longer than they should. All she needed was a search party looking for her and Aunt Pepper.

  Boy, would Mum crack it if they can’t find us. She’s already peeved that her sister invited herself to stay longer. I guess fireworks would fly if we were too late.

  Aunt Pepper was busy catching up with her old friends, and time was marching on. The old Slurp-it-Downs sat down next to Jo and grabbed her hand. Seems he had heard her thoughts and came to comfort her.

  ‘Don’t worry, get home you will. Pepi can travel you home very quick, she can.’

  They want to travel me home quickly, what about travel her too. I don’t want to leave without her. Mum would crack the wobblies, thought Jo.

  The old creature laughed at her worries, he was amused that Jo was worrying about nothing.

  ‘Please tell me about the glue! I can’t sleep without dreaming about it.’

  The Slurp-it-Downs looked at Jo and said that now Pepi was home, it was up to her to tell her about the mysteries of Corkuparipple Creek. It wasn’t fair, stopped yet again by circumstances beyond her control. This had been a very unpleasant day for Jo.

  Wish I could go home; I’ve had enough of here for one day.

  GOING HOME ALONE

  It was obvious to Jo that her Aunt Pepper did not intend to go home. As far as she could see, this roving hippy aunt felt that she had ‘come home’ in the village. After what seemed hours, Aunt Pepper came up to her niece and said, ‘Time to travel you home Jo my girl.’

  Typical, I always thought I would get dumped if anything better came up, thought Jo.

  ‘That’s not true Jo, I’m just going to stay for a while then I’ll come back to your home. I’ve arranged that your Mother thinks I’ve gone away on a trip for a while.’

  How did she manage to do that? She’s been with me all day on a picnic. Mum knew we were going; this was just too strange for words. Hang on; I never said anything, looks like she can also read my thoughts, better watch what I think.

  Aunt Pepper roared with laughter when she heard Jo’s last thought. With a clap of her hands and a very quick chant, Jo found herself in her bedroom. The next thing was her mother calling her to come down for dinner.

  Dinnertime, I must be home very late in the day, I just can’t work out all the time differences.

  Jo ran down the stairs quickly to look at the kitchen clock.

  It’s so strange that it’s in the evening, I’ve always managed to have an adventure and arrive back still at the beginning of the day.

  Jo’s mother was in the kitchen and looked up.

  ‘How was your day with your aunt? Hope she didn’t wear your sore leg out.’

  ‘Just dandy Mum, today was a pain in the bum.’

  Jo’s mother looked at her with shock; the thought of her daughter talking in such rude tones really shook her up.

  ‘Jo, I just don’t know what’s happening to you lately, seems you are cross with everybody you come into contact with.’

  Geoffrey smiled with impish glee, as he loved it when his sister got into trouble.

  ‘Don’t look at me like that you snivelling brat, and mind your own business, you smell like dog’s breath!’

  Geoffrey was not used to getting his own medicine back, so he grabbed the last piece of bread from the table and took off out of the kitchen. He still found time to turn around and poke his tongue out at his sister. This of course made the situation even worse and Jo ran after him swearing. Just as their mother was about to chase after them, the phone rang so the children had an easy escape. Geoffrey dashed over the back fence and Jo found herself slumped at the bottom of the gumtree in the dark.

  It’s not right everything is going wrong all because of that aunt of mine.

  All of a sudden, there was a chuckling coming from the other side of the tree. Then there was a giggle followed by a little voice commenting on Jo’s dilemma.

  ‘Suck eggs, you very smelly girl thing, stop whining and get over it.’

  The voice was unnervingly familiar.

  ‘Surprised you I did. Want to know why I’m here you smelly girl thing?’

  Jo did not know whether to be happy or shocked. Eiki had been a pain in the butt and she was the reason that the secret of the Corkuparipple Creek still hadn’t been revealed to her.

  ‘What do you want now Eiki and why are you here?’

  ‘Come to tell you the secret you want to know, go home if you don’t.’

  Jo started to calm down and wondered if she was hearing at all straight. Had she really come to tell her the secret or was she just going to be a teasing pain. Eiki seemed more relaxed than when she last visited Jo’s home, in fact she lay down on the grass and started looking at all the stars.

  ‘This star is the goose star and this star is the water pig star and this is the star of the twin Gulp-a-Waters and Slurp-it-Downs.’

  Looks like the names of the stars were very different in their world but it was fascinating to listen to the small Slurp-it-Downs. Eiki was being very pleasant for a Slurp-it-Downs and even though Jo had her suspicions, she actually enjoyed her company. Maybe Eiki was her guardian angel, not the old fellow. It had been another long, confusing day and the thought of sleeping was appealing as she was exhausted.

  BLUE LOO MAGIC

  Since Eiki had dangled the carrot in front of Jo, there was no way she was going to upset her. Jo asked if she would like to have a sleepover and so the two unusual friends went into the house to get ready for bed. After sneaking her up the stairs into her room, Jo needed to go to the bathroom. This was all too unusual for the small Slurp-it-Downs and quite confronting to say the least. Eiki followed, wondering what Jo was about to do. Jo filled the bathroom sink so she could wash her face. Eiki watched in fascination as Jo got out the soap and cloth.

  ‘What do you want that small rag for, and why do you need to use so much water?’

  Jo looked at the little creature puzzled. She had only filled up the basin not a bath; was Eiki accusing her of wasting water?

  ‘I’m not using much water, why are you worried about our water?’

  ‘Water r
unning out you know, just need a drop you do.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, I’m hardly using any water, what am I supposed to do? I need to wash my face and teeth. I’ve turned the tap off and the water is not running down the sink.’

  ‘Don’t need basin of water, just need to wet the rag you do, water will run out it will.’

  Jo was becoming vexed and decided to use the same water to clean her teeth but she didn’t feel at all clean. Then when she turned around, she found Eiki with her head down the toilet! Any minute now and there will be a disaster. Sure enough, Eiki managed to push the button and splash and gurgle, the toilet bowl filled up with bluecoloured water. Eiki screamed and coughed as blue water spurted from her mouth.

  ‘What magic is this? The water is a bright blue colour and it tastes horrible, not like the water from the Corkuparipple Creek!’

  The sight of a very wet, furry Slurp-it-Downs covered in a blue tinge made Jo laugh and she held her stomach as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  ‘Karma I think, serves you right for being a nosey parker,’ said Jo rolling on the floor.

  ‘Karma, I will tell you about karma, you silly, smelly girl thing. Don’t you know we invented the word? It means get what you deserve and I don’t deserve turning a shade of blue.’

  ‘It means what goes around comes back around.’

  ‘Whatever, you smelly girl thing, let’s just go to bed before something else goes wrong,’ sobbed Eiki.