Magical Kangaroo and Santa’s quest in Australia

Aino and Leo are a brother and sister from Finland. Aino is 7 years old, and Leo is 5. They are not only siblings but also very good friends. They live with their mom and dad in Oulu. All the ideas and adventures are a creation of the children's imagination developed in their own bedroom. At times mom and dad become curious, as after the children have already been put to bed, they can still hear whispering, muttering, faint rattle, and clatter coming from the room. One at a time, they checked on the children who always seem to be sleeping peacefully in bed. Is upstairs haunted or does the creaky staircase have something to do with the matter?

Magical Kangaroo

Magical Kangaroo was born in Australia, like most kangaroos are. When she was little, she was a very normal kangaroo and lived happily in her mom’s pouch. This is the story of how Magical Kangaroo got her magical powers and how she made friends with Santa Claus, teddy bear called Bon, and !QuauQ! the duck. Nowadays, Magical Kangaroo and her friends venture around the world to help Santa Claus and solve problems for people and other living creatures and help those in need.

Bonific the teddy bear a.k.a. Bon

Bonific is almost the smallest and almost the strongest teddy bear in the world. Bon is also wise, even though he has never gone to school. Bon learned to read when he was little (although, Bon is still very little as was we already established). By reading, observing, and pondering, he has become sure of the fact that all world’s people and living creatures everywhere need help at some point in their lives. And Bon wants to help. Another thing about Bon is that he is not afraid of anything –or well, maybe of the dark, a little bit, and maybe...oh, never mind. You will find out in the future adventures.

!QuauQ! the duck


!QuauQ! truly isn’t afraid of anything. A swan couple adopted him when he was little and raised him as their own after a pike had snatched !QuauQ!’s mom and siblings. !QuauQ! is very brave and often also resourceful in frightening situations. !QuauQ! also wants to save the world. On the condition that he gets to be the hero every once in awhile. Something you may find peculiar about !QuauQ! is the way he speaks.!QuauQ! speaks very loudly, so loudly in fact that even the bad guys can hear his whispers from a short distance away. He also speaks with words the wrong way round: with letters back to front. For this reason, the mother and father swan gave him a loud name that stays the same no matter if you say it front to back or back to front – or even shout it.


Santa Claus


We all are familiar with Santa Claus. He lives in the Christmas World in Finland. More specifically, at Korvatunturi. In the previous years, Santa Claus and the people of Christmas World have decided to deliver fewer material gifts. The people of Christmas World work throughout the year and around the world to inspire people to see the important things in life and to help them with real issues and problems. According to Santa Claus, it’s not only important to have beautiful thoughts at Christmas, but what you do on those other 364 days a year matter.

At night when everyone else was already asleep, Magical Kangaroo was constantly restlessly twisting and turning. She found it difficult to sleep. The day had been full of excitement. All of a sudden, there was a noise in the corner. It sounded as if somebody was walking on their tiptoes as to not wake up those who were sleeping in the room.

Magical Kangaroo got up silently and started tiptoeing towards the noise. A figure appeared from behind the closet. It and Magical Kangaroo locked eyes at the same time. Before they knew it, they were wresting on the floor – pretty quietly so. You could hear huffing and puffing but neither one spoke a word. Eventually, Magical Kangaroo was able to twist the opponent underneath and sat on the figure’s chest. She had never seen anything like it. The figure was wearing a red elf hat and felt boots. Most of his face was covered by a beard and a pair of bushy eyebrows.

“What on earth are you, and why are you secretly sneaking around in the home of my new friends?” asked Magical Kangaroo briskly. “Excuse you! I am an elf from the Christmas World. My name is Tomelius, and I am an observer elf. I have come here for years to observe if Aino and Leo have been good. This is one of the most important tasks for us elves. Santa Claus wishes to know how each and every child is doing. Nowadays, everyone at the Christmas World along with Santa aim to help people and animals in the world in other ways than giving out material presents. However, children will always have a special place in the Christmas World. Children will always also receive presents at Christmas. Children enjoy presents and it is important to them,” said elf Tomelius without taking one breath between the words.

“But you I don’t recognize. You are not a tiger, are you? I have never seen such, but I have heard that they are strong and scary. You don’t look very scary though, and we are more or less equally strong,” continued Tomelius. “I am Magical Kangaroo, and I have lived here starting from today. I am a friend of Aino and Leo, and Bon and !QuauQ!,” said Magical Kangaroo confidently. “And I can do magic – I don’t quite know how exactly, but it’s what Aino said,” she continued with a timider demeanor while looking at her big feet.

“So, you can do magic, and you are pretty strong too,” said Tomelius thinking out loud. “You know what? How about we be friends? As a result of our wrestling match, there seems to be a few bumps and bruises on both of us. If you agree, I’ll invite you to come and visit the Christmas World,” suggested Tomelius. “Let’s be friends. I cannot keep count of how many new friends I have made today,” said Magical Kangaroo in a happy but thoughtful tone while rubbing the tender bump on her forehead.

“We could go visit the Christmas World right now. There is activity almost around the clock and all year round. We, Christmas World folk, know a thing or two about magic, and I bet I can help you find your magical powers,” said Tomelius. “Ok. Let’s go. How do we do that exactly?” pondered Magical Kangaroo. “I’ll jump into that pouch in your belly. Then, you will stomp those strong legs of yours two times while thinking about the word Christmas World,” said Tomelius. And that is exactly what they did. After Magical Kangaroo’s second stomp, everything turned bright, and they heard a quick swoosh. When Magical Kangaroo and elf Tomelius opened their eyes, they found themselves in a marketplace in the Christmas World. “You see, that’s how your travelling magic works. Now you have learned as much. Welcome to the Christmas World!” said Tomelius looking very happy with himself as he mounted out of the kangaroo’s pouch and tidied his outfit.

“I am happy that you were able to meet up again like this. Magical Kangaroo, welcome to my home, the headquarters of Christmas World. We have prepared some supper for you. Did you enjoy your grand tour?” said Santa Claus while steering the visitors towards the main room and ushering them towards the snacks.

“We visited many workshops at the Christmas World, and we were also lucky to see the sleigh reindeer’s flying rehearsals. Magical Kangaroo was bursting with excitement as she got the change to pat the reindeer and feed them after the rehearsal,” said Tomelius happily recalling the events of the last hour.“

Listen up dear friends, and you especially Magical Kangaroo. I would be very happy if your club could help me and the people of Christmas World. We, at the Christmas World, have shifted our activities from the presents of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to helping people and animals around the world all year round. The best help we can offer is when we successfully inspire people to help themselves and each other in the future,” said Santa. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to tell you about the situation in Australia. There, both people and animals need help for problems caused by the climate change. You can decide yourself, if your club would be willing to help after hearing what I have to say. Feel free to enjoy the food while you listen.” Of course, both Magical Kangaroo and Tomelius agreed to Santa’s suggestion. They nodded silently while joyfully munching on their food.

“There have been more and more disturbances in the weather conditions in Australia. Now the situation has continuously been difficult in some places for a long time. The heat, especially around the Great Barrier Reef, has caused damage and suffering for nature both in the sea and on land. People have also suffered greatly. Another problem arising from the climate change is the bushfires. They occur often and there aren’t enough firefighters and equipment to cover all occurrences,” said Santa Claus describing the challenges. “I’m thinking that you, Magical Kangaroo, and the other members of the club could travel to Australia. There you would help both people and animals to the best of your ability,” continued Santa and stopped to take a sip of juice. He looked at Magical Kangaroo. Occasionally he also looked at Tomelius as if to get support.

Magical Kangaroo only took a moment to think it over. “This day and evening have been truly amazing. I received a name, many new friends, a home, and I was able to see and experience the wonders of the Christmas World. And I found out that I can do magic. It is a privilege if I, and we, can help the Christmas World. I will bet my cloak that the other members of the club are surely to be happy to take part in this adventure,” she said enthusiastically. “I do have one condition however,” said Magical Kangaroo, smiled and looked Santa Claus in the eye. “I want to have Tomelius come with us. It is, mostly, thanks to him that we have met, and we are able to help,” she said. “Great,” said Santa smiling contentedly. “You may begin your quest first thing tomorrow,” he said and ended their meeting.

It was already late. Tomelius and Magical Kangaroo licked the remaining food off their fingertips and wiped their mouths, one to his sleeve and the other to her cloak. After shaking hands with Santa for goodbye, they headed out. Tomelius jumped back into Magical Kangaroo’s pouch, she stomped her feet twice and thought about the bedroom of Aino and Leo. And in a blink of an eye, they were in the middle of the bedroom floor. They were both so tired that they fell asleep straight away. Tomelius was too tired to even get out of Magical Kangaroo’s pouch.

Upon arriving to Australia, the group immediately realized that their help was needed. A beach was full of people in their swimsuits, both adults and children alike, but there was hardly anyone in the water. The friends tried the water by dipping their toes in, except for Bon. Why didn’t Bon try the temperature of the water you may ask. Well, you see, Bon isn’t afraid of anything apart from, maybe, the dark, and maybe that its toes will fall off in water that is too hot. Although, to be exact, Bon doesn’t even have toes. He has paws. “This is terribly hot, it’s impossible for anyone to stay here for very long. You can’t swim and you can’t play,” said everybody in unison. “This isn’t the only challenge we’re facing here,” said a girl who was standing close by. She seemed a little older than Aino. “The rise in temperature over the years has caused deterioration in many parts of the Great Barrier Reef just off the beach. This is bleaching and even killing the coral,” continued the girl gravely. “Scientist and researchers are saying that many corals, bird species and the small fish at the reef as well as sharks, sea cows, seals, and whales are even in danger of extinction in the coming decades. Climate change and ocean warming must be stopped,” she continued sounding like she had truly investigated the topic.

“I have an idea of what we could do, if we have enough powers,” said Bon after a long moment of silence. “We could collect an iceberg from Antarctica or somewhere close to it and bring it here. The glacier water would cool the seawater temperature at least for a little while,” suggested Bon. “Excellent idea!” yelled the others in unison. The club members acquired long ropes and big anchors. At Bon’s request, a pod of whales that they had seen in front of the reef promised to take club and their equipment near Antarctica. You may not have been aware, but Bon had learned to speak “whale” from an animated movie and is now pretty fluent in it. That is, if you can even use the word fluent when speaking about the language of the whales.

After they found the perfect iceberg, they worked hard to attach the anchors to the iceberg and the ropes to the anchors. Then, they started pulling. Everybody grabbed the ropes and from Magical Kangaroo’s pouch, they all pulled the iceberg. The whales helped too by swimming at a suitable distance from one another to allow Magical Kangaroo to jump from one back to another towards Australia.

Finally, they were able to get the iceberg to Australia and close to the beach. Once it started melting, the iceberg did indeed cool the water to make the beach usable once more. Fish, corals, and other life on the Great Barrier Reef also began to get better as the coastal waters cooled slightly. The friends started playing with the children, fish, seals, crabs, and other marine life at the beach. Even Bon ventured in the water to play. He wasn’t even afraid when he was submerged in the water but skillfully held his breath.

However, the play was cut short once a messenger elf from the Australian elf department ran to the beach huffing and puffing and out of breath. “We received a message from Santa Claus that you are here to give us a hand. And..and..and, now we are truly in need of help,” said the elf struggling to breath. “For millions of years, there have been bushfires in Australia. In many respects, nature has adapted to them. But rising average temperatures have increased fires. For the same reason, winds and storms have also increased. Fires are therefore larger, and they often threaten populated areas as well. Animals and humans are increasingly at risk,” said the messenger elf.

“That was an excellent set of facts, but what is the matter right at this very moment?” asked Tomelius from his colleague. “Sey, tahw si eht rettam thgir won?!!” asked !QuauQ! in a very loud voice that startled the messenger elf. The elf took a step back while looking suspiciously at !QuauQ!. He calmed down and started telling the others about a great wildfire in the vicinity. “All local fire departments and firefighters are already there trying to extinguish the fire, but the task seems impossible to them. The fire is just spreading. It has already destroyed people’s homes and is threatening new residential areas,” said the messenger elf looking disheartened.

The group was able to get to the place of fire quickly in the, already familiar, manner: with the hop of Magical Kangaroo. The messenger elf got also to jump aboard. When they arrived and saw the large area in fire and smoke, they were confused for a moment. Again, they started thinking about what they can do to help. Suddenly, !QuauQ! shrieked: “I evah na aedi!” Because !QuauQ!’s explanation was so loud and a little difficult to read, it is better that we just describe what was done.

!QuauQ! spread his wings and started to fly in a big circle in the sky and blow. And let me tell you, when !QuauQ! blows air, the air moves! He moved smaller and bigger clouds to cover the fire zone. At the same time, without anyone noticing, the messenger elf and Tomelius along with the Australian elf department joined the firefighters in their extinguishing work. Once !QuauQ! had gathered enough clouds, Magical Kangaroo waved her cloak to bring frost to the air. Then, snow started falling from the clouds. Heavy snow quickly suppressed the bushfire. It snowed so much that the friends started a snowball fight and tried to create more firefighters out of snowmen. However, they rushed to help at once when people started to treat animals emerging from the forest that had suffered from the smoke. The real firefighters carried on with the extinguishing task until later that day.

In the morning, Aino and Leo woke up to a Sunday; meaning that they did not have to go to school. On top of the toybox, there was a red envelope. The envelope said: Club Pay It Forward. Aino and Leo opened the envelope anxiously. Inside they found a short, hand-written letter on a Christmas World letter paper that read: