A Koalas Journey

I wake up in the middle of the bushes, it's dark. I'm covered in dust and mud. The smell of smoke fills the air. The wind blows, its hot, you can hear the screams and shouts of the local people. The pads on my feet are burnt and blistered and it hurts to walk. But I have to keep moving. My home has been burnt and destroyed. I can't stay in one place too long.
I carry on struggling, dragging my feet along the burning floor so I can be reunited with my kids and my wife.
I don't know what happened to them after our tree collapsed. But they're OK. They have to be.

As I battle through the blaze, I check each carcass to make sure it's not them. Each time I see that it isn't, it gives me a little bit more hope and gives me the urge to carry on.

I keep stopping for a drink, but there isn't anything here. The floor is unbelievably dry, so is my mouth. It's hard to breath, my lungs are full of smoke and my nose is full of sand.

A short walk feels like a marathon. I'm so tired. I wish that someone or something could help me. These fires have been burning for far too long and have damaged so many things.

I finally make it out of the bushes and lie down on the side of the road to rest my throbbing, inflamed feet. Leaves blow past me as the wind picks up. I look up and the sky is black with thick, foggy smoke. I close my dry eyes again.

I'm disturbed from my nap by a cooling feeling on my noise and the sound of friendly voices. I open my eyes to see a woman looking back at me. I look around and I'm in a off-road vehicle with people and other injured animals, the same species of me. I'm wrapped up in a soft blanket and there is ointment on my sore feet. I've been rescued. At last. The woman talks to me and comforts me, I feel safe.

After a long, bumpy journey, we arrive at a bulding. The sign reads "Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary". I'm taken indoors and I'm rushed into a room with more people, they have water in a bottle and fresh leaves ready for me. I suckle onto the bottle like it's my last drink and I tuck into the leaves. They give me a bath with a warm sponge and flannel. It feels nice that my fur is clean and the dirt is gone. They tend to my injuries and they take me outside. There is so much land here and there is other rescued Koalas, just like me.

I sit with the volunteer that rescued me. But suddenly, I'm slowly approached by 3 men, each holding a Koala. I look deeply into the eyes of each Koala.

The babies desperately reach out to me, this is when I see that I am eventually being re-united with my perfect little family. My beautiful soulmate and my 2 gorgeous, newborn babies were here all along being cared for.

I feel the rush of happiness running through my body as I realise that no matter how viscious the fires are, I am finally safe with my family and we will never be apart again.