Polly the Porcupine loved living in Australia. She had much fun with her friends playing in the Outback. Even though she was a porcupine, she was still able to have many animal playmates.

Her best buds were Peter the porcupine, Karina the kangaroo, and Dolly the dingo.

One day, the pack decided to go on an adventure through the great beyond. They packed their gunny sacks, and set out towards the sun.

“Where do you think we should go?” asked Karina.

“I think we should go until we get tired.” suggested Dolly.

Peter replied, “You guys have more energy than Polly and I.”

Polly stayed quiet for a minute and then piped up.

“I think we should go until it gets dark and then make a place to sleep. I was hoping we could go until we found a place that looked really cool. I’ve always wanted to go to a place like Millaa Millaa or Jim Jim Falls.”

Everyone agreed to journey to Millaa Millaa Falls, since it was closest to where they were. It would be a three day journey, and they had already completely one day. All of the animals set up their tents and went to bed. They all needed to be bright eyed and bushy quelled for the next day.

They woke up, refilled their water bottle, and set off again. Along the way they played many games.

“Okay, have you ever heard of the ABC game?” asked Polly, “It is my favorite.”

“Yeah!” said Peter excitedly, “We used to play it all the time.”

“What should the topic be?” questioned Dolly.

“How about animals? Since that is what we are.” suggested Karina.

“I’ll start. Ooh! I have an idea! Let’s go backwards from Z to A.” After everyone agreed, Polly started the game. “Z. Zebra.”

“Ok. Z. Zebra. Y. Yak.”

“Z. Zebra. Y. Yak. X. Xerus! It’s an African ground squirrel.”

And so on they went. The game lasted for a long time and they were nearing dark.

“Z. Zebra. Y. Yak. X. Xerus. W. Walrus. V. Viper. U. Uakari. T. Tiger. S. Snake. R. Rhino. Q. Quail. P. Porcupine. O. Ostrich. N. Narwhal. M. Monkey. L. Lion. K. Kangaroo. J. Jaguar......"

"......I. Iguana. H. Hippo. G. Gorilla. F. Firefly. E. Elephant. D. Dingo. C. Cat. B. B..B...BEAR!” Karina shouted as she was finishing her turn.

The whole group shifted their focus ahead to see a big burly bear creeping over to their direction. The animals freaked out and began to scatter. Bears and porcupines are known not to be friends. Polly and Peter couldn’t see each other because it was so dark and they were worried about each other.

The bear approached Polly and she backed against a rock. She was really scared until she saw that the bear was sad. The bear had a thorn in its jaw and couldn’t talk.

“There you go!” Polly said as she removed the thorn. “All better.”

“Thank you so much! My name is Beronica,” said the bear, “where are you headed to?”

The group joined up with Beronica and Polly and apologized for running away.