One morning in Eternia, Furaha and her family were settling down with Prince Adam and his friends for breakfast when a scroll magically appeared. Orko, who was sitting at the table, knew how scrolls appear this way. “It’s from Trolla!” he cried, “Ah, Trolla, my home planet. Hadn’t been here since Lord Mufasa knows when.” “Let’s see…” said Man At Arms, unrolling the scroll. “Oh! It’s from your father, Orko. Looks like you haven’t seen him in a long time.” “I didn’t know Orko had a dad!” said Furaha. “His parents live a long way away, so this is a very special scroll.” He read it out loud:
Dear everyone,
Just a reminder that my wife Erna announced she was pregnant the other day. She’ll be giving birth to a brand new baby. Orko would be pleased to have a baby brother to play with, we can’t wait to visit and tell him the good news.
Love,
Orno
Orko’s tummy filled with butterflies. He knew that when a new baby arrived on the scene, it would mean ignorance. He got up off his chair and floated away to his room. “Wait! Orko!” cried Furaha, but Prince Adam grabbed her by the tail and stopped her. “And just where do you think you’re going?” “Nowhere, nowhere.” giggled Furaha, trying to soften Adam’s mood. “Ah, I see you want to comfort Orko.” “Mmmm,” agreed Furaha, “I think he’s not feeling right.” “Then you go and see to him then.” agreed her father Kiburi, “We’ll clean up the breakfast things.” “We’ll help!” called out Lanka. “Me too!” said Maziwa, “Shame Furaha’s not helping.”
Furaha raced up the stairs and ran to the door to Orko’s room. She knocked loudly. “ORKO!” she cried. “Haven’t you heard?” “Go away,” said Orko from the other side of the door. “But Orko, this has to be thrilling news, and I dealt with it before.” Furaha burst through the door into Orko’s room and called out, “A baby is arriving, and it’s straight from Trolla!” Orko screamed and hid under his duvet. “What’s the matter, Orko?” asked Furaha, comforting Orko and sounding a lot quieter. “I heard it all,” wailed Orko. “You’re going to have a little brother.” “But Prince Adam hasn’t seen a baby Trollan in ages!” sighed Orko. “Yeah, weird right? You’re a big brother, I’m going to be a big sister to this new baby. I’m already a big sister to Wing, I can already hear him downstairs playing with his wooden aeroplane.” From downstairs came the sound of Wing making plane noises as he crawled across the floor. “And I was already learning about sisterhood when a baby called Dil was born. I remember it like it was yesterday.” “But I don’t want to have a baby brother!” whimpered Orko, “I’ll become ignored and get kicked out of the palace. Then Skeletor will really take over Eternia and turn He-Man into soup for his tea!” Orko began to cry, but Furaha was always a comforting cub, and gave him a warm hug.
“You’ll always be like a little brother to me, in fact, every single friend I’ve made is like a little or big brother or sister to me. I’ve embraced siblinghood so much that I’ve come to consider the world as my family. As for Skeletor, don’t you remember you used your magic and the power of the sword to turn back time and make Skeletor and his men reformed?” Orko looked puzzled. Then, he instantly remembered. “Yes! I know! I was made a hero!” He clapped his bony blue hands with excitement. “Then you will cope with a new baby in the palace, I just know it.” In the next few days, Prince Adam told Furaha that Orko’s mother will come to Eternia with the baby soon, and both got very excited.
On the day of the arrival of Erna and her new baby, Orko and Furaha waited excitedly for the spaceship to arrive. “I can’t believe it! I’m going to be a big brother!” smiled Orko, “I’ll do everything with my new brother!” “Everything you will do,” laughed Furaha. Also waiting for the spaceship are all of Furaha’s family, Prince Adam, Teela, Man At Arms, Man-E-Faces, Buzz-Off and Ram Man. They all waiting with anticipation for Erna’s spaceship to arrive. Ram Man, who had a soft heart for little ones, was carrying a bouquet for flowers for Erna. Buzz Off had made some honey. Even Man At Arms was excited for the new baby’s arrival. Suddenly, Upendi called “Look!” and everyone looked up to see the spaceship land. “Oh there it is! There it is!” they all shouted. Furaha and Orko took hold of each others’ hands and danced about, singing “New baby brother! New baby brother!” while Furaha sang in Swahili, “Kaka mtoto mpaya! Kaka mtoto mpaya!”
Out of the spaceship emerged Erna, who looked a lot like Orko, but taller and feminine. She was holding a cloaked, hooded little Trollan in her arms, and it was gurgling and cooing in happiness. “Mum!” cried Orko, and he screeched to a halt, because there was a new baby in her arms. “Hello, Orko, my darling magician, I haven’t seen you in quite a long time. Now’s the time you’re gonna meet someone very special. This is your brother Squange. Squange, this is Orko.” Orko gasped softly. “Wow,” he sighed, and kissed his little brother on the forehead. “Woah,” everyone gasped. “See,” said Man-At-Arms, “They already love each other.” “I think Orko’s getting to be a real good big brother,” smiled Furaha, and memories came flooding back of Dil’s birth: Didi screaming in pain as Dil emerged, Tommy meeting Dil, and Stu giving Tommy his watch.
In the coming days, Adam and the other castle residents were asked to look after Erna because she was really tired and needed plenty of rest. Ram Man had a soft heart for the baby, and all the other men showed their softer side to the baby as well. Everyone felt like family to the new baby, especially Furaha’s own family, and Furaha felt like a big sister, keeping very quiet and looking after Erna. However, as these days passed, Orko suddenly felt ignored. Adam was always busy cleaning up dirty dinner plates from feeding Squange, when he wanted to do all the magic to help him. “No, Orko,” he said, “Your reckless plate smashing will wake up Erna and Squange.”
Then when he saw Teela change Squange, he asked if he could use his magic to change him. “No thank you, Orko, such a job like this stinks.” groaned Teela sarcastically. Sadly, Orko floated off. When it was teatime, Adam, Teela and Erna fed the baby some mushy food and would never serve Orko his own tea, so Kiburi had to do it for him. He was so upset that he couldn’t be bothered to talk and laugh with his friends, and even was put off his food. Later, in his room, Orko sat on his bed and grumbled to himself. “It’s not fair,” he moaned, “Babies are like kings and queens of the world. All the attention they get is the attention they give me. I think being a big brother is a really stupid idea.” “Stupid? Why do you want to call your new responsibility stupid?” asked Furaha. “Because I was right about being ignored, no one would want to be my friend now, and it’s all because Squange is getting more attention than me.”
“Well, don’t tell anyone around here, but you know what? According to my good friend Angelica Pickles, a baby is messy, and…” She took a deep breath, and gave a great lion roar. “LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDDD!!!” Orko sat upright, puzzled. Then both friends began to laugh. Furaha leapt onto the bed and fell onto her back, laughing with Orko. The two friends felt a sense of relief, and Orko suddenly had an idea. “Wait! We can give one of my toys to the baby! That’s much better than using magic to solve any kind of problem.” “Good idea, you’re certainly getting into the swing of things now.” So Orko got out his pink stuffed animal and both took it downstairs into the palace courtyard, where Buzz Off was playing with the baby.
“Hey, you two, what you got there?” asked Buzz Off. “A present, just for the best little brother in the world.” smiled Orko, and he gave his brother a pink soft toy. He then looked at Orko with gleaming eyes, and said his first word: “Baba.” “Aaaaaaawww, he called you a brother,” smiled Buzz Off. “I think you two are finally getting along. You’re the one who has the power now, not Prince Adam.” “Oi!” It was Prince Adam. “Who says I don’t have the power? We all have a power inside our hearts. Orko, you’ve learned that with great power, comes great responsibility, and with great responsibility comes a true act of kindness. Furaha, you’ve learnt that too. You two are the best big brothers and sisters ever.” The two friends hugged, and Orko picked up Squange and hugged him between them both.
From this day on, Orko helped care for his baby brother whenever he came to Eternia - even without his magic. He helped Adam wash up, he helped Teela change his nappy, and he even chatted and laughed with his friends at dinner, offering to help feed little Squange - and getting a bit messy sometimes. Furaha too learned that having a little brother was a comforting thing to have, but when a little brother has a little brother of his own…it’s an even bigger responsibility.
And Orko loved it.
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