“Hey, Koala”, Turtle said, quietly, to the fur ball on his back. Koala’s ears perked up, but she didn’t move, not wanting to wake the two sleeping creatures in her arms, both flailing their arms in random intervals to check that she was still there.
Turtle continued floating downstream calmly, focused on keeping his passengers warm and dry. He took his time to continue his thought. “Are you excited to come back home?”
Koala’s ears perked up more. She considered for a moment. “Very much”, she whispered, “I’ve been ready to return for a while now.”
Turtle nodded slowly, making sure not to dip below the waterline. “Me too”, he said. “I missed home.”
Koala padded his shell gently. “I know. But you did a much better job this time.” She paused. “We did a much better job.” There was a question in there somewhere.
“We did”, Turtle conceded. “I had a lot of fun with all of our friends.”
“Me too”, Koala said, and her voice sounded so full of love that Turtle wiggled his tail instinctively. “We saw a lot of my favorite creatures. But now”, she pressed her nose into Turtle’s shell gently, “now I’m happy to be coming back home and spend all my time with my very favorite ones.”
Turtle sighed contentedly, and continued making his way slowly down the stream, gliding by trees and meadows and sandy inlets, his heart pulling him along on his way back home.