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Zecora and I went out for the most tiring yet exhilarating day of my life! She brought me a lunch of sandwiches, sausage rolls and cookies which I stuffed into my mouth in double quick time.
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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.
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What would happen if we combined Bottle Top Bill and Barbie all in one place? Well, now’s your chance to find out!
It was an always-magical day in Fairyland. The pink sky shone like a dazzling jewel in Rumble the dragon’s cave, and the smell of candyfloss and bubblegum filled the air. Dandy, the fairy, was going on a picnic with her friends Rumble and Tricky the troll. At first, Tricky was having a difficult time finding where the picnic blanket goes, but Dandy showed him how to do it by laying it neatly on the ground. The food was such a delicious affair. There were candyfloss sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate muffins, cheese and some lovely pink strawberry lemonade, complete with cocktails of little animals like leopards and elephants.
“Tuck in, everyone!” announced Dandy as she put her pink starry napkin on. Everyone ate hungrily and heartily. Wow, wasn’t the food good to eat? If you live in Australia, you’d rather fancy some fairy bread. Your mum would say, if you’re a Bottle Top Bill fan, “Look! Dandy the fairy made this magical fairy bread in her little kitchen just for you!” and your eyes would light up. You’d imagine the ABC Kids website would do a Bottle Top Bill cocktail craft where you can cut out images of Bill and his friends and stick them to cocktail sticks, ready to put in drinks. Ooooh, what am I saying? The paper would soak into the water. But it’s not Bottle Top Bill we’re talking about in this story, we’re talking about Dandy, the little fairy with a dear little white face and blue dress. As in any Aussie childhood, since Bottle Top Bill comes from Australia, you have to understand that fairies are a vital part of being a kid. You go around hunting for them, there are fairy rings, and there’s even a TV show called The Fairies. But for Dandy, she’s about to experience something which will change her life forever.
While in the middle of her slice of cheese, Dandy felt something fluffy and tickly land on her nose. It was a sparkling purple puffball about as small as the tip of her finger. It made little giggling noise which sounded like something a hyena would make, then ruffled itself on Dandy’s nose before flying off. Dandy wrinkled her nose for a bit, then sneezed.
“Aaaaa…aaaa….AAAAATCHOO!!”
“Bless you,” said Rumble, “You know, purple puffballs can give a fairy a serious allergy.” “This one didn’t give me an allergy,” said Dandy, rubbing purple hairs off her nose, “I think it wants me to follow it. Hey, come back!” “Wait!” shouted Tricky, “We haven’t finished the picnic yet! Come back yourself!” Just as Tricky was about to give chase, Rumble stopped him. “It’s no use, Tricky. We just had to let her follow this purple puffball.”
Dandy raced across Fairyland, chasing after the purple puffball and flying with all her might, until the purple puffball went through something in the middle of a cliff. Dandy knew what it was right away. It was a door. A magical purple door that leads to somewhere, just like in the books she reads at night. Alice In Wonderland, for instance. Dandy knocked on the door, and it answered by opening with a loud CRRRREEEEAAAAK. Dandy looked through, and saw a pink backdrop with magical sparkles all over it. She looked down and saw a slide leading down, down, down. She sat on the slide and happily decided to plummet down into the pink, glittery abyss below. “Okay, here we go!” she said, and down, down, down she slid, past images of rainbows and teddy bears and butterflies as her squeals of joy echoed through the pink wonderland.
At last, she was thrown off a ramp, and towards a huge pink lotus flower. Dandy covered her eyes, because pollen always stings a little fairy’s eyes and causes them to bulge into a pulp, but not this one. Dandy dived head first into the flower, which gulped it up and sent her sliding deep into its stem. The stem was full of sticky, gooey sap that smelt of cucumbers, and Dandy was helpless covered with sap as she slid towards a silver light, her wings forming into a little cocoon which surrounded her as the light drew nearer and nearer, and…
Dandy awoke feeling dizzy and nauseous. Where was she? This wasn’t Fairyland. Everything smelled of perfume, rich and sweet and fragrant, and there were fairies everywhere dressed in pink, yellow and blue. She held her head. It still hurt a little from going through that flower, and bits of her cocoon lay everywhere on the green grass. But the best part was when she looked at her wings. They spread out, sparkling in bright rainbow colours. “Wow!” cried Dandy, “Am I dreaming?” “No you’re not!” said a squeaky voice. Dandy looked to where the voice was coming from. It was the purple puffball she followed earlier, turned into a small, rabbit-like creature with big buckteeth, a ladybug broach and long, floppy ears. “My name is Lady Bird, and you must be in Fairytopia!” “I’ve never been to a place like this before,” said Dandy, “Never in my life.”
One peaceful day in the jungle, Luke, Resus, Cleo and I joined our friends Timon and Pumbaa for some bug hunting. It was a nice, warm day, and us explorers had everything we needed. Timon and Pumbaa had their safari hats and plastic TubOGrubs with them.
“Right, everyone, here are the main rules of bug hunting.” I announced to my friends at base camp, “Rule No.1 - make sure you applied lots of bug repellent suncream onto your skin. Some of the bugs you’re about to encounter will sting or bite you.” “We have!” said Cleo, taking out a squeezy tube of bug repellent suncream from her backpack. She opened the cap and sniffed it. “Mmmmm…smells of ginger biscuits and vanilla.” “I was expecting it to smell of aloe vera and warthog gas.” said Timon, “No offence, Pumbaa.” “Some taken.” Pumbaa accepted. We all laughed at that fact, and then I continued, “Rule No.2 - bring lots of food with you.” “We brought our TubOGrubs.” said Timon, bringing out his lunch tub, which was shaped like a red beetle whose wings are coloured black with yellow African patterns, “They were the last ones in the store! We got grub sandwiches, grub lemonade, grub biscuits…” “Are you sure they’re made of dirt?” asked Resus. “Freshly made!” said Pumbaa, “With not a single artificial colour or flavour.”
“Finally, rule no.3 - don’t, and I mean don’t, come too close to any bugs or insects we encounter on this journey. They may sting or bite you, or give you an infectious disease.” Timon literally felt a chill down his spine. “Aaaaah! No! I don’t want any insects to eat me!” “Well you know what they say, Timon, eat or be eaten.” advised Pumbaa, who was almost as wise as Rafiki. “Thank you, Timon, any insect around here who has stingers or venom does not deserve to eat another’s species.”