by Helen Milroy
‘Of course,’ said Platypus. ‘I think I know exactly what the problem is!’
Platypus went looking for Little Stream. He was hard to find as he kept changing course and disappearing. After much searching, finally Platypus found Little Stream trying to go up the side of a mountain.
‘What are you doing?’ said Platypus to Little Stream.
‘Oh, not you as well. I am trying to find my own way,’ said Little Stream. ‘I want to be an important big river.’
‘But you are important,’ said Platypus. ‘In fact you are one of the most important streams in our landscape.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Little Stream. ‘I am just a trickle of water, I am not important to anyone.’
‘Follow me and I will show you just how important you are,’ said Platypus.
Platypus and Little Stream journeyed back across country together and along the way, Platypus explained to Little Stream how all of the waterways worked together, from the smallest trickle to the largest river.
‘You are part of a very big family,’ explained Platypus, ‘and without you, we will all perish.’
‘I had no idea. I thought I was all on my own,’ said Little Stream.
When they arrived at Lake, Little Stream became scared.
‘What is this place?’ he asked, trying to hide behind Platypus.
‘It is the spirit lake of one of our serpent ancestors,’ said Platypus. ‘The lake is sick because the fresh water has stopped coming and the serpent will soon have to wake from his slumber to find out what is wrong. The serpent needs his sleep, as the earth needs his dreaming to survive. The lake can only be replenished by a stream of water small enough but strong enough to find its way through the rocks deep in the earth. None of the rivers can do this, so it needs to be a little stream who is very determined.’
‘That sounds just like me!’ said Little Stream.
‘If you had followed the right path, you would have found your way to the spirit lake,’ said Platypus. ‘Instead of seeing whales, you would have seen the largest and most beautiful ancestor serpent of all time. You can be headstrong, but you must also learn to listen and understand. You may only be a little stream, but you have the most precious water of all.’
Little Stream took a big breath and with all his might forged a path deep into the rocks, allowing the precious water to replenish the lake and the serpent to continue his slumber. Little Stream felt very proud.
‘I would never have known what to do without you, Platypus,’ said Little Stream.
All the animals and waterways rejoiced and thanked Platypus for his patience and wisdom. Platypus often visited Little Stream and bathed in the spirit lake only they had seen.
FRILLNECK LIZARD & TREE
Some children are just like the frillneck lizard in this story. They have a natural ability to make us laugh and bring light relief to dark times. They are astounding children who can challenge us to see things differently and bring joy and colour into the world.
Frilly was a young frillneck lizard. Frilly was always mucking about and trying to entertain everyone. He loved to play jokes on his friends then run off into the trees laughing. Whenever anyone ran after him, they could never find him. He was very good at hiding and could stay hidden for a long time. The animals were all getting a bit fed up with Frilly.
‘Silly Frilly. You never take anything seriously, do you?’ the animals chastised him.
‘Sometimes you need to have a good laugh,’ said Frilly, ‘it can help you see things differently and bring back the colour in life.’
‘Maybe, but you need to be more responsible,’ the animals said grumpily.
One day Frilly was playing with a fire-stick, when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and Frilly was covered in smoke. When the smoke cleared, he realised he had burnt his lovely frill. He was so embarrassed he ran away under a big old gum tree to hide. Tree looked down at the little lizard whimpering under his branches.
‘What is wrong?’ asked Tree.
‘I was being silly and burnt myself,’ said Frilly.
‘Let me see,’ said Tree. Tree reached down and gently scooped Frilly up onto a big branch. He made a soothing balm with his eucalyptus oil and red-gum to help heal Frilly’s wounds. Frilly was very grateful. From that time on, Tree and Frilly were great friends.
Frilly always went to Tree for help. Tree laughed at Frilly’s silly pranks and loved watching him run for cover. Tree always gave him a place to hide and soothe his wounds. They would talk and tell stories for hours together.
Frilly was sitting in Tree one day making up a new song when he noticed the sky was turning grey.
‘Must be a storm coming,’ he said to Tree.
There was no reply.
‘Tree?’ said Frilly. Tree look frightened and his leaves were shaking. All of the trees around him were trembling and the rustling sound of the leaves grew louder and louder.
‘It’s more than a storm,’ said Tree.
The greyness quickly spread across the landscape. This marked the beginning of a very dark time for the earth. The landscape was being destroyed and everyone was frozen with fear. Frilly started showing the animals how to hide away from the grey. Tree was one of his greatest allies, as he was able to use his branches and leaves to cover the animals and stood tall to watch out for danger. He would rustle his leaves loudly to warn Frilly and the others when to hide and when it was safe. Frilly often snuck out at night to find food and check on everyone. He told funny stories to help the children settle and sang songs to the animals to keep up their hopes.
One morning, Tree rustled his leaves to let Frilly know it was alright to come out.
‘The greyness is disappearing,’ said Tree.
‘So it is,’ replied Frilly. Slowly all of the animals emerged from their hiding places to have a look around. The landscape was not the same anymore. There were large holes in the ground, many of the rocks were broken and a lot of the trees had been burnt. Even though the greyness had gone, there was still a sadness over the land. Frilly knew he had to do something. He worked and worked, and then when he was ready he invited all of the animals to watch his new play.
Tree created a lovely green curtain with his leaves and as he drew the curtain back, Frilly appeared. The play showed the animals how things used to be, as well as everything they had been through. At times everybody laughed and laughed, at other times they shed many tears. Everybody watched every moment. At the end, there was loud applause and cheering. Never before had the animals understood just how important Frilly was. Frilly had never given up, but invented new ways to survive. He had looked after them in their darkest hour, kept them safe and comforted the little ones. But, most importantly, Frilly had lifted the sadness and brought back joy to the world.
Frilly had helped everyone to see things differently. He had helped the animals to come together with an open heart to share their grief and joy, and hope was restored.
The animals never chastised Frilly again but they did still get fed up sometimes with his jokes. Tree always stood watch just in case Frilly still needed a place to hide.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, but was born and educated in Perth. Helen has always had a passionate interest in health and wellbeing, especially for children. Helen studied medicine at the University of Western Australia and specialised in child and adolescent psychiatry. Helen is currently a Professor at UWA, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, and Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission. Helen was recently appointed as the AFL’s first Indigenous Commissioner. This is her first book for children.
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First published 2019 by
FREMANTLE PRESS
25 Quarry Street, Fremantle WA 6160
www.fremantlepress.com.au
Copyright text and illustrations © Helen Milroy, 2019.
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Cover designed by Rebecca Mills.
Printed by McPherson’s Printing, Victoria, Australia.
Wombat, Mudlark and other stories
ISBN: 9781925815955 (epub).
Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.