Chapter 17: End of a Term, Beginning of a Break

The end of term was upon us and we all looked forward to having a break. The Stage 4 restrictions were still in place which meant there would be no camping, going away on a holiday or even going to visit friends. What will the class and the Hibiscus clan do over the holidays? “Camp in a tent in the backyard!” suggested Lincoln. “Ride my bike” suggested another student and after conferring with Dovic and the rest of her clan, Hibiscus came up with some holiday suggestions for her class.

First of all, congratulations to the class for walking, running and/or cycling their way to the Sydney Opera House. It took them six weeks to go over 950 kilometres and they went further than that. One by one, the students would upload their distances on to a form which was linked to an Excel document and include how they did the distance, which was mostly walking but also riding and running. Hibiscus added in the kilometres she walked. They went via Canberra and along the way, Hibiscus would share knowledge and pictures about the places they journeyed through. Dovic was very impressed with their trophy at the end, especially after he looked at a map and saw how far they had gone!

Keeping that in mind, it is important to walk, run and cycle during the upcoming holidays. Walk over logs, splash in puddles if it rains, and explore. Don’t go further than 5kms from your house but make sure you get to know your neighbourhood. Take time to smell the roses, observe a sunset, look at the moon and stars, and notice the little flower growing among the rocks. Dovic, Gazza and Harley love riding on the bike with Hibiscus. Harley says: "If you fall out of the basket on the bike, roll out of the way before the tyre runs over you."

If you see a tree and it’s safe to do so, climb a tree. Tumbarumba says to climb a lemon tree and pick lemons so you can make lemon meringue pie or a lemon tart. Climb a tree and look up at the sky. Climb a tree with a friend or sibling and make up stories together. Hibiscus used to climb a tree when she was in grade 5 and take a book with her, so she could sit and read without anyone interrupting her. Dovic’s advice about climbing a tree: “If you are scared about falling down, hold on tight but the more you practise, the higher you will be able to climb.”

As the days get longer and the sun shines warmly, go outside and get some Vitamin D from the sunshine. Have a picnic in the backyard, play footy with a friend, set up a car track and play hide and seek. Richo says: Don’t kick the footy at your friend who is setting up the car track because he might fall down and get hurt badly. Bruiser added, “Make sure the person who is counting while the others hide, knows how to count” and Dovic chimed in, “Make sure you have found everyone before you go inside otherwise the person who isn’t found, might fall asleep wrapped up in a hose.”

When it’s raining and you can’t, or don’t want to go outside, there are plenty of things to do inside. You can do some baking and experiment with different foods and flavours but make sure you clean up the mess. Play board games like snakes and ladders and memory match. Read a good book and write in your gratitude journal, making a list of all the things you have to be thankful for. Sing and make music, play an instrument. Lulu says: “Dance. You can dance anywhere to any music, even the Tiger’s theme song if you have to.” Ronnie added, “Lick the beaters. That’s the best part about making a cake!”

Lego is one of the most fun things to do say the Hibiscus clan and the Hibiscus class. Use your imagination and make machines, vehicles, buildings and furniture. Create a new invention. Make up an island or a ride for a Disney amusement park or even create a scene from your favourite story. Ronnie says: “If you hide in a bucket of Lego, make sure you get all the Lego out of your clothes because it’s very embarrassing when a white Lego piece falls down your pants onto the floor, when everyone’s watching you.”

When you are thankful, you can celebrate. People who love us, our family and friends, are there for us. We are thankful we get to spend time with them and have fun together and also thankful that when we are sad, they make the effort to cheer us up. Make a smoothie with them and celebrate together. Sing happy birthday to them, even if you have to do it by zoom or on Face time but when you can get together, have a party, then. Dovic adds, “Make sure you have red lollies” and Amelie adds, “And M&Ms” Everyone chorused together, “Mmmmmm, Yummm!”

It has been a challenging term but there are still things we can be thankful for. Hibiscus, Dovic and the rest of the Hibiscus clan, love to hear the students talk about all the things they are thankful for which includes; being able to zoom together when we can’t go to school to learn, we have a home and a bed, family and friends, and food to eat. We have technology to help us stay in touch. We have our class, which is the best class! HIbiscus encourages her class, "Have a great holiday and whether it be in zoom or in the classroom, we will see each other soon."

Rules Are Broken in the Middle of the Night

 The night was filled with the sounds of strong winds, shed doors opening and shutting, buckets flying across the back porch and the house creaked as though it wanted to fly away. Hibiscus found it hard to sleep as she was reminded of when she had survived Cyclone Debbie. They had lost power for two weeks, had no tap water for five days and could not leave the house for 3 days. It had been very scary. Her husband got up to check what was going on and reassured her that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. She finally fell asleep, looking forward to the fun day activities for school tomorrow.

As she slept, Grug got out of the box that he’d been in for more than a year and decided to look for his home. Grug had begun his life at the top of a Burrawang tree that had fallen to the ground. When he was given to Hibiscus, she thought he looked quirky and fun. She read the books written about him and learned that he liked solving every day problems and was fascinated by the world around him. He had even been to school when no one else was there. When she had moved to a new house, she didn’t unpack all the boxes and Grug had remained in a box with an octopus, games and hats for the last twelve months. Earlier that day, Hibiscus had gone looking for a hat and found him again. As they were all in lock-down, she had left him there so that he could be safe and sound.

Grug wandered through the dark house looking for his home on a green hill. He passed Milly sleeping on her mat near the back door and she opened an eye, looked at him, then went back to sleep. Suddenly he bumped into someone else walking through the night and heard, “Grug!!!” He stepped back and looked at Ronnie. They both said, “What are you doing here? It’s been so long!” at the same time. Grug explained he was looking for his home and Ronnie said he was breaking free from iso and trying to find an adventure in the dark. He explained what iso was and that they weren’t allowed to see anyone for about a week, except Hibiscus and their one friend. “Bruiser wanted to stay asleep. I woke him up, but he told me to go away,” explained Ronnie.

Grug looked sad at first but then cheered up when Ronnie told him he’d help him find his home. They walked past the kitchen where the lemon tart was and Ronnie had to try a slice. The lemons used were the same ones Dovic and Gazza had picked on Gazza’s birthday. It was delicious but Grug wanted to go home. They found his home and they played with the race cars for a while until Grug yawned. “I’d better go” said Ronnie hesitantly, and Grug fell asleep standing on the top of his hill.

On the way back to his room, Ronnie noticed the Lego in the corner. He decided he’d play with it and began to build. The wind was still loud and strong but he concentrated on the pieces and what he was making. When he thought he heard Hibiscus, he dived into the Lego bucket and stayed very still. He did not want her to find him breaking the rules. He waited and waited until finally, he fell asleep.

The next morning Hibiscus, Dovic and Gazza headed to school on zoom. The day had been set aside for fun activities and Hibiscus had two periods of different students writing stories and learning about Flash Fiction. Their challenge was to write a story using only 50 words. Although there were other students, Hibiscus was happy to see seven of her students come. During one period, she got to help out at the Escape room with Miss Emma and she heard about students learning to make lemon cheesecake while other students were doing colouring in sheets and some were doing Karaoke. It was a fun day for everyone.

After school, Dovic opened the letter addressed to him. It was from Timy, who belonged to one of the boys in Hibiscus’ class. Dovic opened his eyes wide when he looked at the picture of Timy. “Wow!” he exclaimed, and Gazza said, “Oh boy, oh boy. He’s so good at drawing!” and they read the letter carefully. 

Just then, Hibiscus came in and laughed. She was standing in the corner and reached down and pulled Ronnie out of the Lego box. Pieces of Lego dropped off him and scattered around the bucket and she even found one that had got tucked up in his shirt. Ronnie groggily opened his eyes and when he saw Hibiscus, his face fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… I wasn’t… I just wanted to… um… where is Grug?” and when he was wide awake, he told Hibiscus the whole story. She frowned at him and told him there would have to be consequences for doing the wrong thing and he nodded his head and replied he understood. She took him back to Bruiser who promptly scolded him for leaving him alone for the day. “I’ve been so bored! Where have you been? That’s not fair” and would have turned his back on him except he had really wanted someone to play with so forgave him straight away.

Dovic asked Hibiscus, “How much longer will we be in lock-down? Is Ronnie in big trouble now? What will happen?” Hibiscus smiled and said, “We’ll see” and played a game of Racing Car Drop with them. They measured how far the cars went across the floor and each of them won the distance race.

Chapter 15: Gazza's Birthday

Dovic and Gazza woke up early and sat in front of the window watching the magpies peck in the dirt looking for worms or seeds. “Oh boy, oh boy,” sighed Gazza, “It’s my birthday today and it’s just us. Everyone else is in iso, and can’t come and celebrate with me. Oh boy, oh boy” and with that, Gazza put his head down, his trunk drooped to the floor and his ears fell flat as a big tear rolled down his face.

Dovic sat quietly beside him and wished The Old Wise One was with him. He always knew what to say in times like these. Dovic put a paw on Gazza’s shoulder and said, “Happy birthday, Gazza. We’re going to have a great day!” Gazza unwrapped his birthday present and exclaimed with joy, “Oh boy, oh wow! It’s a red, micro flip truck. It flips over when it hits a wall and it goes so fast! I’m so excited! Let’s go outside and play with it!” Outside, Dovic and Gazza had a lot of fun playing with the red truck and it was such a beautiful day, the sunshine helped to lift Gazza’s spirits.

They saw the hose wound up against the wall and Dovic invited Gazza to join him there. Gazza looked uncertainly as Dovic nimbly climbed up the hose and when Dovic peered down at him, he took hold of the hose and hesitated. He gave it a tug and it didn’t fall down which reassured him somewhat. Mustering his courage, he jumped up, grabbed the hose and put his 2 feet on the brick wall. With Dovic yelling out words to encourage him, he climbed up and then crawled into the centre where Dovic patted him on the shoulder, “Well done, Gazza!” Gazza was a little bit out of breath but managed to get the words, “Oh boy” out. While up in the centre of the hose, they discussed their plans for the rest of the day, talked about their friends who they were missing a lot and watched Milly running around in circles in the backyard, making them feel a little dizzy.

After a time, inspired by the lemon tree in the corner, Dovic recounted a story Tumbarumba had told him when he had first arrived in the Hibiscus clan. Tumba and The Old Wise One had picked some lemons and made a delicious lemon meringue pie but in the middle of the night, Ronnie had woken up and gone and eaten a piece. Gazza laughed and they decided to go and get some lemons. As he’d had enough of climbing for the day, Gazza stayed on the ground with the bucket while Dovic climbed the tree. As he threw the lemons down he aimed for the bucket and Gazza would try to catch them before they hit the ground. When they thought they had enough lemons, they took the bucket inside and presented it to Hibiscus. She raised an eyebrow at their suggestion to make a lemon meringue pie, wondering where she would get the time to do that.

Suddenly they heard the zoom signal and they opened it up and saw their friends on the screen. “Happy birthday, Gazza!” they chorused and when Lulu counted them in, they all sang Happy Birthday to Gazza. He was pleased to hear and see them, and they all told him what they’d been up to. Lulu and Richo had finally agreed on a dance routine that worked with the AFL Richmond theme song, Bruiser and Ronnie had done flips, twists and dives around and under the bed in their room, The Old Wise One and Harley had ruminated on how they would solve the Covid crisis and Ellie and Tumbarumba were making a special gift to give Gazza when they were out of isolation. Gazza told them he had successfully climbed up the hose and told them that he and Dovic had picked lemons so they could make a lemon meringue pie. “Although, Hibiscus didn’t seem too keen on the idea,” admitted Gazza.

After the call, it was time for the party. There were chips and twisties and Dovic added, “Life’s pretty straight without twisties”, strawberry milk, lots of lollies and chocolates, as well as party pies and sausage rolls. “Oh boy, oh boy” exclaimed Gazza, “Food! My favourite party food!” and he began to eat. After Hibiscus had made sure everyone had eaten enough, she brought out the birthday cake and sang Happy birthday to Gazza. He felt so happy and realised that even though he was not able to be with all of his friends right now, he knew they were celebrating his life too. “Birthdays are the best!” he exclaimed and Dovic added, “Oh boy, oh boy!” and they both laughed together.

Chapter 14: The Day After the Very Important Announcement

 The day after the Very Important Announcement, Dovic sat with Hibiscus while she zoomed with her class and read them more of his adventures. They recognised themselves in the story and smiled and laughed. A couple of them grabbed their teddy bears as they listened, some invited their little brother and sister in to listen and two or three students patted their own pets as they listened on the zoom session. All too quickly, reading time was over and it was back to learning. Dovic loved Maths the best, but he also loved Science and he learned that everything is Matter and can be divided into either a liquid, a solid or a gas. He was so glad he had been chosen to be part of the Hibiscus clan and be a part of the class of 2020.

Meanwhile, Gazza was not faring quite so well. Dovic had gone off to school and as all of Gazza’s other friends were in different parts of the house due to the restrictions, he couldn’t play with them either. Milly and Hibiscus’ husband had gone for a walk and left Gazza behind. He wandered into the loungeroom and noticed that Hibiscus had thoughtfully left the Lego out for Gazza to play with. He picked up a piece, turned it over and put it back down again. He shuffled the pieces of Lego with his trunk and picked up a red piece of Lego before he put it down again. “Oh boy, oh boy” he muttered, “This is no fun, no fun at all.” He picked up 2 green bricks and put them together and added another brick and then another. He shuffled through the pieces again and then gave up. He could not think of anything to make and decided he did not want to think of anything.

He picked up a Little Treehouse book to read but his trunk kept getting in the way and he couldn’t see past it to figure out what the squirly, black marks meant. He wandered over and picked up Dovic’s gratefulness journal, put it down again, and went and watched Dovic and Hibiscus talking to the class. “Oh boy, oh boy,” he sighed loudly, but they were busy with the class and didn’t pay any attention to him. He slipped out the back door and saw the tug-of-war ball that Milly had left behind. He looked at the box he had climbed into when they played Hide and Seek and he thought about climbing the wagon wheel. “Oh boy, oh boy. I’m bored” and he went back inside, sat on the couch and fell asleep.

“Wake up Gazza! Wake up!! We’re going for a walk.” Dovic shook him and he sat up groggily. “Wha..? Oh boy.. what, where, walk? Oh boy, oh boy.” Dovic pulled him forward and they caught up with Hibiscus who was getting her backpack ready to go. It was a warm day but it was also very windy and Dovic suddenly remembered the stories he’d been hearing on the news about trees falling, strong winds, no power and he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go walking after all. Hibiscus picked them up and got them ready. As they stepped outside she exclaimed, “Wow, it’s windy out here!” and her husband agreed.

As they walked, Dovic looked from side to side furtively and cried out, “What was that?” and complained, “The wind is so loud!” until Gazza turned to him and said, “Oh boy, oh boy. Come on Dovic. We’re safe! Let’s enjoy the walk.” Dovic looked chagrined and to cheer him up, Gazza pointed out the pretty flowers growing, now that it was Spring. The walk was mostly uneventful although sometimes when the wind blew, they would be pushed back. The trees creaked, bending towards the ground and the path was littered with leaves and branches.  A few smaller trees had been uprooted and were lying down across the path. Dovic tried not to look and tried not to feel so scared but he wasn’t fooling Gazza who had also gone quiet.

They walked past a playground with a slide, climbing ropes and a swing and Dovic gazed wistfully at it, wishing he and Gazza could go and play on them right now. It seemed so sad that children were not allowed to play there. Hibiscus handed Dovic and Gazza to her husband as she wanted to take photos of springtime plants and trees. Suddenly, it got dark and the wind blew loud. Dovic trembled a little and Gazza whispered, “Oh boy, oh boy.” They began walking over a fallen tree, weaving their way through the branches and Dovic admitted he was scared. They were both glad when they arrived home safely.

As she said goodnight to Dovic and Gazza, Hibiscus smiled, “Hey Gazza, I know it was hard being on your own today so tomorrow, you can come to school with Dovic and I.” “Oh boy, oh boy!” replied Gazza joyfully, “I can’t wait! Yipee!”

Chapter 13: A Very Important Announcement

Although it was a cold start to the day, the sun was shining on this, the first day of Spring. The number of Covid cases recorded was going down and there was talk of the Premier revealing a plan on Sunday, for our way out of lock-down. As Hibiscus and Dovic went to zoom with the class, it seemed that there was an air of hope, except when it came to the internet. When Hibiscus tried to mark the roll during zoom, she heard a student or two say that her picture was frozen, but they could still hear her. Suddenly the faces of children were gone, and Hibiscus felt she’d been launched off into cyber space and was floating around, doing the moon walk, while waiting to reconnect to her class. When she finally came back, the zoom session was abuzz with the sound of children talking and they told Hibiscus they were just waiting for her until a quarter to and then if she hadn’t shown up by then, they were going to go and do the work. She went through a few examples of what to do, answered their questions and they left to complete the task offline, before coming back for the next period.

During the day Lulu tried to teach Ellie how to dance. She showed her how to do a pirouette and Ellie tried to copy her. Her first two tries didn’t work at all, and Lulu patiently demonstrated again. She even brought Richo over to show Ellie, then Ronnie, and even Bruiser, but no matter how hard she tried, Ellie couldn’t do it. Her trunk got in the way, pulling her forward and her floppy ears couldn’t decide whether to flap out or stay close to her head. Lulu tried to show her the arabesque position but that seemed even more difficult and Ellie crumpled to the floor and burst into tears. “I just can’t do it!” she sobbed, “I’m hopeless. I can’t do anything right.”

Gazza happened to be walking past at this point and stopped, “Oh boy, oh boy” he responded and sat down next to Ellie. “You’re not hopeless, Ellie. Our elephant bodies aren’t made for ballet positions and dances. Just like a wombat can’t fly, a kangaroo can’t dig and an emu can’t climb, we can’t dance like that.” She sniffed and said, “But I’m not good at anything!” He reminded her how just the other day, they had pulled the wooden bridge off Ronnie and saved his life and he told her how she always had the right words to say to cheer others up. She smiled at his words and felt much better. When Ronnie came spinning past them, she put out her trunk and gave him an extra spin to make him go faster. “Wheeeeee” he sang out and Gazza chuckled, “Oh boy, oh boy. That worked, Ellie!” and she laughed.

After school, Hibiscus approached the clan and told them she had a Very Important Announcement to make. They all stopped what they were doing and gathered on the couch wondering what was going to happen. Dovic was apprehensive and sat near The Old Wise One. Even Ronnie had stopped spinning around and doing somersaults. Lulu looked at all their faces and realised it must be serious, so she stopped her dancing and waited impatiently as she was in the middle of a new routine. Hibiscus looked at them kindly and spoke gently, reminding them of how people in the Greater Melbourne area and a few other places, were in Stage 4 lockdown.

“This means,” she went on, “They can only get 1 hour of exercise per day outside their home, only one person can do the shopping for essential goods and you can not go and visit anyone or have anyone come to your house. You are not allowed to go further than 5 kilometres from your home and you must wear face masks…. I know you all know this and up until now, it hasn’t affected you but it has affected all of the people around you; my family, my friends and my students. Everyone. Some people are living by themselves and working from home and they are very lonely.” She paused and looked at the clan before taking a deep breath and going on to explain further. “I have decided that you are all going to follow the same restrictions for a week only. I want you to be able to show empathy to others and understand how it can change how you feel, even about the day.”

They all had many questions, but they could see how it might help them to understand what it means to be in lockdown. They could go out into the backyard at different times, and they’d live in different parts of the house, so would have to find a way of communicating with those not in their room. To decide who was going to be their friend for the week, they drew names out of the hat. As Dovic would still be going to school with Hibiscus, he got to draw first. He pulled out the name and read it, “Gazza”. “Oh boy, oh boy” replied Gazza and both Ellie and Lulu were disappointed. As the names were read out, they each moved to their friend and began planning how they’d stay in touch with the others. They would use face time and write notes throughout each day.

Suddenly Ellie called out, “But wait! It’s Gazza’s birthday on Saturday!! Are we going to have a party for him? And give him presents? How can we do that if we’re in lockdown?” Gazza looked up and tried to smile bravely but it was clear he was disappointed. Hibiscus looked at Gazza gently and said, “We can still celebrate… It just won’t look like how we imagined. Many of my students, friends and family, have had birthdays and have missed out on friends coming over.” She could see him holding back the tears and quickly added, “We’ll have a big party when all this is over!” and as she smiled at him, he tried to smile back.

Tumbarumba tried to inject enthusiasm back into the group before they all went their separate ways,  “It’s only a week” said Tumbarumba, “We can do it!” and they all put their hands into a circle together and cheered out, “Hibiscus clan!” and scurried off to their rooms with their friends.

Gazza and Dovic talked about the situation, Gazza’s birthday and began to make plans for the rest of the week. Suddenly they heard the signal they were being face timed and turned it on to see Lulu. “Guess what?” she said and when Dovic went to speak, she spoke again, “You’re muted. I can’t hear you.” He pressed the button and they continued their conversation. Lulu was working on a new routine with Richo although she was finding it hard to include the football into the dance and complained that he only wanted to dance to the Tigers theme song. Dovic and Gazza told her they were thinking of having a theme party once the restrictions were over and Dovic was going to start up a Gratitude Journal. When he explained it, Lulu said, “Great idea. I think I’ll do that too.” Lulu talked more about her new dance until she heard the Tigers theme song in the background and said she had to go.  

After the call, Dovic and Gazza played with Lego until they couldn’t think of anything more to build. Later, as Dovic wrote in his Gratitude Journal for the first time, he decided that these restrictions might not be so bad after all. He looked forward to spending time with Gazza and he knew he’d still get to visit the class with Hibiscus. He put down his pencil and was thankful that he had so many good friends and that even though he couldn’t spend time with them right now, they would all be there when this was over.