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In a beautiful palace in a faraway kingdom lived Orko and his lion family - his uncle Kahawia and his four nursemaid sisters: Uzuri, Sukari, Mpenzi and Iaini. They lived a very happy life together, but Orko had a very special attachment to Uzuri, who had beautiful golden fur and acted like he was Orko’s mother, even though she was his sister. Orko lived a life full of plentiful food, a warm bed and a loving family, and he could’ve never asked for a better life.
One day, Kahawia came into Orko’s room while he was playing to remind him that the gods have blessed Uzuri, and that soon he was going to be a big brother. Orko was delighted for Uzuri, and supported her through her pregnancy. One night, Orko was asleep when he heard Uzuri screaming in pain from the throne room. Orko curiously floated into the room to investigate, and heard the screams of pain turn into sighs and coos of delight, with the cries of a newborn lioness babe. Kawahia went up to Orko and said, “Orko, would you like to come over and meet your new sister?”
Orko shyly floated up to Uzuri, and gazed at the beautiful newborn lioness cub in her arms. Uzuri let him hold his new baby sister, who felt a bit greasy from going out. It was Orko’s decision to name his sister Furaha, and everyone agreed that it was a perfect name for the new arrival. While Uzuri rested, he helped bathe Furaha amongst warm bubbles and clean water. The cheesy coating and bloody bits immediately came off, and with added irritant-free perfume, Furaha smelt fresh and clean. Now Orko had a new responsibility - taking care of his new baby sister, Furaha!
One morning, Bandit and Chilli woke up to the sound of Bluey crying. They ran into her room, where they found her gnawing at one of the ‘ribs’ of the cot. There, they discovered that she was teething, because her first tooth was coming. Chilli phoned my siblings Luke, Resus and Cleo to tell them the good news, and that made them curious about what would happen if their baby sister, who was me, started teething. Mrs Watson, Luke’s mum, said they could go and visit Horse for inspiration.
Once Mrs Watson dropped them off, Horse welcomed them inside and found the photo album on his bookshelf. Through the baby photos he showed my siblings, he mentioned that when Cowboy and Indian were teething, he bought lots of teething gel and toys so they don’t feel discomfort and pain. Whenever the pain came, he would apply the gel to their gums, and he watched as they bit through the toys - Cowboy innocently nibbled, while Indian’s chewing had power! Once his story was over, Horse took Cowboy, Indian and my siblings back to my house, where they found me playing with Bella Negative. Horse had taken his old giraffe chew toy and, as he watched Cowboy and Indian interact with me, he remembered the times when he was teething too. At the same time, Chilli had bought a new teething toy - a kangaroo, for Bluey, so she can chew in case of pain. Bluey was free from discomfort at last.
At dinner, Horse told everyone about how I would soon eat solid food should I teeth soon. Everyone was laughing over the conversation, but they laughed harder when I flung my bowl of porridge at Niles. He was covered in porridge!
At the beginning of time, God created Eden. He thought making Adam and Eve would be too much work, so using all he could, he created a Trollan wizard named Orko, and a lioness cub named Furaha. He placed them in this beautiful garden so they can live in harmony with nature and its beauty - they’ve come to appreciate it more than anyone else in this world, and they loved it very much.
Every day, they would play with their animal friends. They would slide down giraffe’s necks, ride on elephants’ backs, learn to climb trees like the monkeys and run free with the wild stallion. When they were hot, they swam in the lake, splashing each other and relaxing in its cool, inviting depths. The waters of Eden were pure and healing, and whenever our friends got hurt, they would go to the lake for a swim to heal scars or bruises. They would play games in this beautiful garden too - hide and seek and tag are their favourites. Sometimes they involved all the animals, who were more than happy to join them. They shared and ate any fruit they wanted from every tree, each supple and tender berry they ate was theirs to taste - except the Tree Of Knowledge Of Good & Evil. God put a fence around the tree to make sure Furaha and Orko don’t go anywhere near the tree, and they obeyed his words wisely. When the duo were tired, they would take long naps in the grass, snuggled together like two bears in a cave.
At night, they would go to their soft, perfumed bed of flowers and fall fast asleep amongst their colours, safe in the knowledge that God will always be there to protect them and their garden forever.
It was a warm sunset-lit evening in Australia, and over in toddler Furaha and Orko’s house, which they shared with their parents Kiburi and Ua and their puppy Rocky, it was time to wind down after a long day of playing and having fun outside. Orko thought so when he saw the sky change from its afternoon hues of blue to a beautiful pink and yellow, as if it were rubbing its eyes and saying goodnight.
Orko and toddler Furaha settled on the sofa in their cosy house with no TV on (it’s what Orko recommended for that night) and a warm unicorn nightlight on. Orko got out a selection of yummy crisps and chocolates from the cupboard and shared them with his little sister. The crisps tasted very crunchy and cheesy, while the chocolate had just the right amount of caramel and were shaped like koalas. Orko liked to make the little koalas talk in high pitched Australian voices, and then make them scream in pain whenever Furaha ate them. It was just for fun. After they’ve finished their crunchy, caramelly meal, Orko got out his two snake puppets and entertained his sister by making them friendly and making them speak in hissy, sly voices. They told Furaha they were deadly and came from the Outback, but they didn’t mean any harm actually. They kissed and hugged Furaha, and Orko made them slither round her body, tickling her and making her wiggle with delight.
Instantly, Furaha felt a bit tired. Orko looked out of the window. The sun was slowly setting over their neighbourhood, so he decided to take her upstairs to bed. He switched off the unicorn light and carried her upstairs, settling her in bed and snuggling with her. Soon, they were both asleep.
One day, Furaha and her brother Orko met up with their cousin Lanka, her little brother Stanny and her friend Override in town. Lanka wanted to take them to her favourite restaurant, the Blissful Swan, so Override took them there in vehicle mode. When they stepped inside the Blissful Swan, everything was all calm and quiet. Swan boats transported you to your table, and classical music quietly played on the loudspeakers. The building was even shaped like a pristine white swan! Lanka had her favourite veggie and steak meal, and Stanny had a nice healthy strawberry yogurt. Furaha and Orko had the same, and the other customers were quiet and well behaved, with good manners. Even the children visiting seemed quiet.
Inspired by their visit, Furaha and Orko wanted to take Lanka to their own favourite restaurants. First, Furaha asked Override to take them to the DuckNBarn. Have you ever been to Brewer’s Fayre before? Well, it’s like that, except it’s shaped like a giant yellow rubber duck. When Furaha and her three friends sat at the table, they were greeted by a gaggle of waiters in duck costumes who asked for their order. Furaha ordered a cheeseburger and fries with a slice of chocolate cake for dessert. Everyone else ordered the same, but Lanka preferred the vegan burger since she’s kind to animals. On the other side of the restaurant was a soft play area, with slides and swings and rope nets and ride on cars, and even a ball pit. After they’ve eaten, Furaha and her friends burnt off their food by going to the area for a bit of exercise. The area was in a lot of bright purples, yellows and greens, and were decorated with images of yellow bananas and purple monkeys.
The other day, my friends Luke, Resus, Cleo, Bluey, Bingo, Mackenzie, Honey, Coco and I were going to the countryside to visit our good friends Horse, Indian and Cowboy. Postman was already there, delivering a letter from their Aunt Rachel. However, as Cowboy and Indian were too focused on their game, Postman told us that they were ‘torn’, meaning they had to play ping pong to focus on the decision between helping Horse and playing with us. Inside, Cowboy and Indian’s game got a bit out of control, as the ball hit many walls and knocked Horse’s sleep medication off the cupboard in the kitchen and into their chicken noodle soup. So when Horse called them in to dinner, Cowboy and Indian didn’t notice and were delighted to have dinner at last. Horse raised his spoon. “To us - a perfect family, and a perfect bountiful of meals to keep us going.” “‘Waaaaaay!” the trio cheered as they clinked their spoons. But no sooner had they taken a sip then they felt their eyes grow heavy. Suddenly they collapsed onto the table and fell asleep.
Two months later, it was Winter. Postman had delivered lots of letters from Aunt Rachel recently, and Horse was the first to wake up. The first thing he saw was some CGI soup spurting into the air like a fountain. “Indian! Cowboy! Wake up! Everything’s CGI!” Cowboy and Indian woke up screaming, but when Indian realised what was happening, he slapped Cowboy round the face. “Only the soup is CGI now, can’t you see?” “Oh. Then what’s the weather?” Cowboy and the others went outside, and looked outside to see a huge blanket of snow covering the countryside. “Hooray, snow!” Cowboy and Indian shouted together.
Cheese and Orko go on a best friend's road trip in their shiny new campervan.
