Sybil & Friends In Australia: Pool

This picture above is of 47 ScreamStrt Drive, in Gold Coast in Australia. And in this lovely house, there’s a pool. A pool, you say? You might be thinking, “Sybil, you don’t live in Australia! You live in the UK!” Well, here’s a fact: since Scream Street aired in Australia, I have a big imagination which means I can go and live wherever I want. And that’s where I live. I live with my big brothers Luke the werewolf and Resus the vampire, my big Egyptian mummy sister Cleo, my three uncles Mike, Alston and Niles, my two aunts Bella and Sue, my mum and our two pets Dig and Lulu in this warm, cosy tranquil house right here in the Gold Coast.

It all started during the February summer (don’t laugh, it really is Summer from December to February in Australia), when the sun was bright hot and it was the type of weather for frying an egg on the hot road. It was so hot the crocodiles in the zoo were swimming around the keep cool, and wherever there was a wizard or witch or fairy, they were too baked to do any magic, especially Luella, who lives a few doors down from us. In our house, it was so hot, Luke, Resus, Cleo and I were lying flaked out on the sofa, looking as if the sun had drained the life out of us. “Whew,” I sighed, waving a paperback book in front of my face, “I feel like I’ve been in an oven for 10 hours.” “Who thinks that a young boy with fur under his skin could become a cake baking in the oven?” asked Luke. “I might be too furry to put into a cake if I turn into a werewolf.” “Summer’s great fun, and I bet the other kids in our neighbourhood are having water fights right now.”

I shut my eyes and tried to imagine Bluey and her family having a water fight with water bombs and water soakers in their backyard, their squeals of laughter filling my head. But suddenly, I realised. “Look look look, guys, I think we remember that time when Bandit forgot to take all the boring stuff to the pool..” Suddenly, an idea popped into my head like a badger in a tight hole. “THE POOL!” At once my heat exhaustion quickly fell from my head, and Luke and his sister and brother sat up. “Pool?” asked Luke. “You mean, the one outside?” asked Cleo. “Yeah, baby!” I cried, “Come on, let’s go and get changed.” “Did someone say pool?” asked a joyous voice. It was Uncle Mike. “Hi, dad,” said Luke. “We’re going to get changed. It’s pool time!” “Woohoo!” I cried. “Count me in,” said Uncle Mike, “I’ll go and tell the others.”

While I was in the bathroom getting changed, it felt like I was changing into my swimming cozzie for a long time. I had to stand there by myself so my siblings won’t see my private areas. Here’s what I said, which is much like what an ABC Me or Kids star would say if he or she were in a dressing room.

“Can someone answer my agent? It feels like I had a slight wardrobe malfunction here. Mmmm…yes, that chocolate fountain’s waiting for me in the dining area. Hoo, I think my bum’s exposed. What’s that, Bandit? Yeah, you can let Unicorse eat the last remaining cheese sandwiches made by the best boy. My big shot is coming in April, I can’t miss it. It’s my chance to be a star, now I’m starring in a documentary for synchronised swimming in Sydney. And Felicie, will you be my backup synchronised swimmer?”

“Who’s Felicie?” asked Luke. “The star of the film Ballerina!” laughed Cleo. “Although we prefer non-CGI Angelina Ballerina.” “Yeah, that drama queen of a Nutcracker mouse who’s always hitting her hormones hard over her friends, family and teachers.” Just then, the door opened and out I came, posing like the cover model for InStyle. “Ta-Da!” I said. “Oh, who’s ready for the pool?” and “Looking good!” were the responses of my friends. Resus pretended to use an imaginary camera to take photos, then a fan wanting my autograph, and then a reporter for ABC News, with his best Aussie accent. “So, Sybil, are you looking forward to swimming outside?” he asked, holding a pretend microphone to my mouth. “Your unicorn cozzie’s trending really well.” “Actually, yes, I love going out into the pool, though we have to look out for unicorn-eating komodo dragons sometimes.” “Then let them eat this!” Resus pretended to shove his pretend microphone into my mouth, knocking me to the ground, then he started to tickle me. Luke and Cleo laughed. Resus was always the playful one, no matter how sarcastic he tried to be.

Luke and Resus got changed next, while Cleo and I waited outside. Here’s what they said. They might be relevant to what they would say if they had a trailer for ABC Me:

“Don’t walk in on me, directors, getting changed here! When was the last time you used the toilet, Yoohoo? Gosh, it stinks of pink adorable lemur pee in here. What’s that? Your pee makes…lemonade?! Eeeeewww! And that must be you, Pear. Tell Orange to keep quiet until our pool break is up. Muffy, I can’t believe you have a pool at home! You must really be the star of the Crosswires for some good reason. If you grew up then and there, you’d be a movie star!”

That’s Luke. Here’s Resus.

“I’m so happy you called Luella. WHAT?! I’m embarrassed because you were caught posing for InStyle magazine, with a pair of unicorn goggles and pink zinc? Cool! All I need is my swimming trunks and then I’m ready to hit the pool. It’s not every day Chilli was last since wearing yellow zinc suncream with a pair of green and red crab goggles while filming the Bluey episode ‘Stickbird’. Speaking of, want to know what my predictions for the forthcoming season of Bluey would be? Relax and Stickbird would be a two-parter in disguise. It’ll proceed other episodes that came before it - Early Baby and Mums & Dads, Duck Cake and Handstand…anything, really.”

Outside in the backyard, Cleo and I were applying suncream zinc. Cleo applied blue zinc to her face, while I applied yellow and pink zinc, stripes down my arms and legs - yellow on the left, pink on the right - and pink and yellow zinc all over my face like I was supporting the Maroons or Blues during the State Of Origin game. “ROOOOOAAAARRR!” I yelled, pretending to be a lion watching a football game. Cleo jumped, and fell backwards into the pool. SPLASH! Her zinc washed off. “At least you turned the pool blue,” I laughed. “Well, the water is blue after all.” Cleo and I laughed and laughed. At last, all the grownups came out wearing coloured zinc and their swimgear, and Luke and Resus charged out wearing their swimming trunks. Luke’s was orange, while Resus’ was black with red stripes. They too were wearing coloured zinc - Luke had orange zinc, while Resus had green.

“Cleo’s already in, that’s great!” cried Luke. “I’ll dive in first!” I cried, “I’m a good jumper.” With one big leap I dived into the pool, splashing Cleo. I emerged, shaking my head as water sprayed everywhere. “And that’s why Aussie homes come equipped with pools.” I said. Luke came next. “CANNONBALL!” he shouted, and he leapt into the pool, splashing me and Cleo. We screamed as Luke emerged from underwater, much like a model in a perfume advert. “What’ya think?” he asked. “Hot!” I said, clapping my hands excitedly. “There are better boys I’ve fallen for.” said Cleo. Just then, we heard a frightened scream, and saw Resus falling into the pool. Niles had done it! Resus emerged coughing and spluttering as Luke and I giggled. “Daaaad,” said Cleo, “You know you shouldn’t be nasty to Resus.” Niles blushed. “Sorry, princess. I thought it was more fun. Plus, I got the dragon and unicorn floaties.” “Yaaaaaaay!” I cried, but then I stopped. “But we can’t divide the pool, or else we’ll go to war. Each of us will have to share the dragon and the unicorn together.”

“Still, what are we waiting for? Let’s kick back Aussie style!” cheered Luke, and we started splashing each other, laughing as we did. While the grownups sat on the comfy seats and talked, Niles blew up the unicorn floatie, while Luke, Resus, Cleo and I relaxed in the pool. “Aaaaaaahhh. What a lovely day to play in the pool.” I sighed, sipping an imaginary orange cocktail. “Want one?” “Sure, if that’s what a star mummy does.” Cleo took a sip of my imaginary cocktail and imagined that sun turning into a giant orange slice. Cleo suddenly remembered words she learnt from her friend Orange:

“Remember, don’t you DARE think of me cut in half!”

“Oh! Sorry, Sybil, I was just drifting into a dream where everything was as fruity as a reality show.” smirked Cleo. “Maybe something was sprinkled into your cocktail. Could it be…unicorn juice?” I looked over the side of the pool and called to Niles. “Uncle Niles! Is the unicorn floatie ready yet?” “Not yet, sweetie!” called Niles. I sank back into the water, my eyes drooping with disappointment. “Don’t worry, Sybil,” reassured Cleo, “I think this time we really do smell of blueberries.” “And I smell like popcorn and candyfloss at a hippy market!” I added, feeling quite happy again. Just then, I saw Luke partially transform his nose and mouth into a werewolf snout, and sniff the air. “Is that…” And then he turned towards me. “Mmmmmmm…popcorn!” he drooled.