Book 2: Chapter 6 "What Happens After School"

 When Dovic, Ronnie and Ellie got home from school on Thursday night, they shared their day with the rest of the Hibiscus clan and admitted they had done the wrong thing when they had climbed up to the ceiling and played up there. They were truly remorseful and the next day none of them were able to go to school. Dovic was so sad about this that Lulu and Ellie made up a new dance routine which ended with Lulu doing a pirouette while standing on Ellie’s trunk. Everyone was impressed.

For the rest of the weekend, Dovic, Ronnie and Ellie did what they could to help where they could and prove they were trustworthy again. On Friday night, they all sat down to watch the Preliminary final and Richo yelled the loudest and sang the Richmond Team song with gusto, when the Tigers won. On Saturday, they played Lego and went for a walk in the park and on Sunday morning they all sat down to hear the premier announce what restrictions would be eased. They were happy to hear that they could travel 25kms from home and looked at the map so they could see what places they could visit.

“The beach!” yelled Lulu.

“The farm where Hibiscus keeps her horse!” chimed in Tumbarumba and he thought fondly of the broncos he used to see in the Snowy Mountains.

“A lake” said another. They were all so excited and wondered when, and who, might get to enjoy those places with Hibiscus.

On Monday morning, Dovic and Tumbarumba went to school and waited at the front of the room for the students to arrive. Dovic pointed to the roof and showed Tumba where he had climbed to and Tumba looked at Dovic and asked him, “Did you have fun? Are you glad you did it?” and Dovic looked away, embarrassed.

Just then the music started and students came into the classroom, sanitising their hands and getting their books ready. Aiden was pleased to see Tumba and asked to take his photo. Ever since he had had heard the story of the bears up the Snowy mountain, lolling on the red car, as well as Tumba’s almost-adventure with his cousin Joey, Tumbarumba had become his favourite of the Hibiscus clan. He wished he could take Tumba home to meet his mum and take him for a ride in the 63 Merc.

The students settled in and worked hard. When Hibiscus took out the book “Wonder” to read them, one of the students grabbed her book so she could follow along. They haven’t read much of the story yet so much of it is just introducing the main characters. Later in the afternoon, the students read their own books for 15 minutes before learning more about Fables.

At the end of the day, after the students had gone, Tumba and Dovic picked up the book that Hibiscus had been reading to the class. They read a bit more and then flicked to the back pages. “Why are you reading the last chapter?” asked Dovic.

Tumbarumba smiled and said, “I want to know what happens at the end. I want to know if they all become friends and if they all live happily ever after.”

Dovic laughed and said, “You could always watch the movie.”

“It’s not the same” said Tumba and after he’d read the last page they went outside to the playground. They needed to get some fresh air and it wasn’t raining. They found the bars and decided to thread themselves through the handles and hang there for a bit.

“It’s fun hanging out with you,” cheered Tumba and after they dropped to the ground, they ran to the tree.

Dovic looked at the ants climbing up the tree and protested, “Not this one, the ants are bigger than my paw!” They found the right tree and reflected on the first time they had climbed a tree together and Dovic had been scared. Dovic laughed and they chatted for a bit before climbing down.

“Hey! Look over there!” pointed out Tumbarumba and they found a makeshift type structure with branches going in different directions. “If you put a tarp over it, it would be like a tent” he added. They explored it and looked at the way it was built, where things were and analysed the structure. They wondered if they would be able to make one at home sometime and made a mental note to ask the rest of the Hibiscus clan if they’d like to help.

“I bet Ronnie would help” said Dovic and Tumbarumba agreed. “I reckon they’d all help… but perhaps we need to wait until after the Grand Final first. Richo’s not going to be much use until after that.”

They both laughed and seeing Hibiscus, raced each other to the car. It was a tie and they both felt happy at the end of a good day.