“Mama, why do
kangaroo's hop? Why don't we run, or walk, or slide on our bellies?” Kip
bounced his tail up and down on the red dirt.
“We're
kangaroos. That's what we do. We leap through the air. I've never heard
of a kangaroo running, or walking, or sliding on their bellies. Snakes
do that,” Mama said
Kip hopped off.
“I'm going to the billabong, Mama. I want to play with my friends.” When
he got to the pond, he saw his friend Kimmy Koala. “Kimmy, do you hop?”
The Koala pulled
a eucalyptus leaf out of her mouth. “I don't hop. I don't even run. I
climb trees and sit here eating.”
Kip saw his
friend Cedric Crocodile swimming in the water. “Cedric, do you hop?”
The croc swam up
to the side of the billabong. “Of course not. I swim. I can walk, but I
don't run and I do not hop.”
“Why not?”
“Because that's
the way crocodiles are. We swim and eat fish.” Cedric slid back under
the water.
Danny Dingo ran
over to the edge of the billabong to have a drink.
“Danny, do you
hop?” Kip looked at his friend.
The dingo
barked. “No. I run and I walk. I can swim if I have to. I can't fly and
I don't hop.”
“Oh. Why not?”
“Because that's
the way dingo's are.” Danny ran off.
Kip looked at
his reflection in the water. He saw Kara Kookaburra and turned. “Hi
Kara. Do you hop?”
The bird laughed
her head off. “Of course I don't. I could, I suppose, but mostly I fly.
I'm a kookaburra and that's what I do.” She flew off, heading for the
sandstone rock in the distance.
Kip thought
about all his friends. “None of them hop. Only kangaroos can hop. That's
cool.” He jumped as high as he could. “None of them can do that. I'm
special.” He pushed with his legs and hopped all the way home. “Mama, I
can hop. Dingos can't hop. Crocodiles can't hop; neither can koalas and
kookaburras.”
“That's right,
Kip. Are you happy about that now?” His mama smiled at him.
“I'm happy that
I'm a kangaroo and can hop all over the place. I can hop as high as I
want. I'm glad.” Kip spent the rest of the day hopping about the bush,
enjoying being a simple kangaroo.
