Once Upon A Time, but not very long ago, deep in the Australian bush lived two possums. Their names were Huss and Grandma Poss.
Grandma Poss make bush magic. She made wombats blue and kookaburras pink.
She made dingoes smile and emus shrink. But the best thing of all was the magic that made Huss INVISIBLE.
What adventures Huss had! Because she couldn't be seen, she could be squashed by koalas and slide down kangaroos back because she couldn't be seen she was also safe from snakes, which is why Grandma Poss had made her invisible in the first place.
But one day, quite unexpectedly, Huss said "Grandma, I want to know what I look like. "Please could you make me visible again?"
"Of course I can," said Grandma Poss, and Huss began looking through Grandma Poss's magic books. She looked into this book and that book. There was magic for thin, fat, tall or short but the magic she was looking for wasn't there at all.
Grandma Poss looked miserable.
"Don't worry, Grandma," said Huss sadly.
"I don't mind."
But in her heart she did.
All night long Grandma Poss thought and thought.
The next morning, just before breakfast, she shouted, "It's something to do with food!
People food - not possum food. But I can't remember what. We'll just have to try everything and find out
So later that day,
They left the bush to find what it was that would make Hush visible again.
They ate Anzac biscuits in Adelaide, mornay and minties in Melbourne, steak and salad in Sydney and pumpkin scones in Brisbane.
Hush remained invisible.
"Don't lose heart!" Said Grandma Poss.
"Let's go see what we can find in Darwin."
It was there, in the far north of Australia, that they foundation Vegemite sandwich.
Grandma Poss crossed her claws and crossed her feet.
Hush breathed deeply and began to nibble.
"A tail! A tail!" Shouted both possums at once. For there it was. A brand new, visible tail!
Later, on a beach in Perth, they ate a piece of pavlova.
Hush's legs appeared. So did her body.
"You look wonderful, you precious possum!" said Grandma Poss
"Next stop - Tasmania. "
And over the sea they went.
In Hobart, late one night, in the kitchens of the casino , they saw a lamington on a plate.
Huss closed her eyes and stared eating.
From that time onwards, Hush was visible.
But once a year, on her birthday, she and Grandma Poss ate a Vegemite sandwich,
A piece of pavlova and half a lamington,
Just to make sure that Hush stayed visible forever.
And she did.
The End
Written by Mem Fox
Illustrated by Julie Vivas
