“Daddi, I have a new friend. His name is Harry, and he’s just come back from a place called Australia. He lived there for three years.”
“Did he like Australia?”
“A lot, but not in the beginning, Daddi. He was sent to prison when he arrived, and he didn’t know what he had done wrong. The prison was called Quarrel Teen, so he thinks he was punished for fighting with other cats when he was younger.”
“I think you mean quarantine. It isn’t a prison…”
“It must be, Daddi. He says he had horrible food in Quarrel Teen, and he wasn’t allowed to see his humans while he was there.”
“Rinpoche, cats are kept in quarantine for a short period in Australia to make sure that they are healthy and won’t bring dangerous diseases into the country. This isn’t a punishment; it’s just a safety measure.”
“Well, it’s not fair, Daddi. They didn’t put Harry’s humans into Quarrel Teen and give them horrible food! Why pick on poor Harry?”
“That’s life, Rinpoche. What else did Harry tell you about Australia?”
“He said there are big brown creatures called Kangaroots that hop around like grasshoppers and carry their babies in pockets on their tummies.”
“Yes, these pockets are called pouches. Many Australian animals have them – koala bears, wombats, wallabies…”
“Harry told me he saw a wannabe once. Is it called a wannabe because it wants to be a kangaroot? Harry says it looks just like one.”
“They are called wallabies – not wannabes…”
“Daddi, did you know that there are birds In Australia that laugh at you? They are called cooking burrows.”
“Kookaburras.”
“And there are big parrots called cockatools that fly around outside. They aren’t even kept in cages! And huge birds called emutes… Daddi, please can I come with you the next time you visit your sister in Australia?”
“No, Rinpoche, I wouldn’t be able to get you through Customs.”
“You could hide me in your suitcase, Daddi.”
“They’d probably give me life imprisonment for that! Things were bad enough the time I forgot to dispose of a packet of beef jerky.”
“All right, Daddi, I’ll stay at home then. But you have to promise me you’ll bring me back a cockatool or a cooking burrow. They’d be delicious snacks for a hungry little cat.”
