Squattu sleeps, among the Leadbeater's possums.
The one closest, a baby, wakes up.
A bat! In our hollow!
Ma! cries the baby possum.
Go back to sleep, Baby, says Ma Possum.
But there's a BAT sleeping next to me! cries Baby.
It's just a bad dream, says Ma Possum.
Baby pokes the bad dream.
The bad dream wakes up.
Squoo! says the bad dream. I'm so sorry.
Ma Possum wakes her partner, Dad Possum.
Is it night time already? grumbles Dad Possum.
No, says Squattu, this is all my fault. Let me explain what has happened. Then I'll leave you.
Never mind the story, says Dad Possum. Just leave us.
No! says Baby Possum. I want the story.
So do I, says Ma Possum.
Well, says Squattu, I suppose you know you're critically endangered?
That's enough! says Ma Possum.
What's critically endangered? asks Baby Possum.
It means you'll die out, says Squattu.
Baby Possum looks frightened.
Not you specifically, says Squattu.
This isn't going too well. She tries another angle.
I've just been in Yellingbo, says Squattu. I met some of your relatives.
All our relatives live here, says Ma Possum.
How interesting, says Squattu. So you don't know you have relatives in Yellingbo.
Because we don't, says Dad Possum. Is that the end of your story? Now you can go.
Squattu tries one more angle.
She turns to the baby.
One of the relatives looked exactly like you, says Squattu.
Like me? says Baby Possum.
His name was Banjo, says Squattu. What's yours?
Baby Possum looks blank. He is just called Baby Possum.
Banjo? says Ma Possum. What the dickens does that mean?
He's named after a poet, says Squattu.
Now Ma Possum looks blank.
So does Dad Possum.
Names, says Squattu. Don't you guys have them?
You mean other names? says Ma Possum.
Well, yes, says Squattu. Besides mum, dad and baby.
We don't need other names, says Dad Possum. We're a close knit community.
How fascinating, says Squattu. I must tell Gaius.
What's a Gaius? asks Baby Possum.
A man, says Squattu. He keeps notes about things he's discovered. He's camping at the base of your tree.
He hasn't discovered anything about us, says Ma Possum.
Not yet, says Squattu. Would you like to meet him, and his colleague Pierre-Louis? Terence and Easter Morning will be back soon as well.
No, thank you, says Ma Possum.
I would, says Baby Possum.
No, Baby Possum, says Dad Possum.
Call me Banjo, says Baby Possum.
That will ruin our research, says Squattu.
Too bad! says Baby Possum.
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