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Hey, parents.
Just a quick note before we jump into today's adventure.
Snaffles is nearly finished with his birthday guest list.
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And there are only a few spots left.
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And remember, keep on shining!
Hey Koala Kids, welcome back to Koala Shine.
I'm your host Kelly, and today we're back with episode three of Hector and Sonny in the Topsy Turvy.
In last week's episode, Hector and Sunny ventured into the strange back-to-front world of the Topsy Turvy and uncovered a big secret about who's really behind the trouble.
That's right, Chill Bill's long-lost, evil sister, Unchill Jill.
Luckily, though, they managed to make it back to the Koala Kingdom without being captured by her.
Phew! only to discover that the topsy-turvy had left a piece of itself in Hector.
Just like Kira before him, he'd started to change.
In today's episode, the adventure takes a brand new turn.
With time ticking, Sunny and Coco set off to search for something that could save Hector, and their journey leads them somewhere very unexpected a masked ball in the middle of nowhere.
So listen up, koala kids, and let's get back into the adventure.
And away we go!
Standing side by side in the sunlit glade, Sunny and Coco gazed over at their friend Hector, who was lying in the shade beside Coco's cabin.
He was currently being tended to by Cuthbert, a wise old camel who knew everything there was to know about, everything from stargazing to ancient history, to the causes and cures of magical maladies.
What's happened to him?
Coco whispered.
I don't know, Sunny replied.
But I think that place, the topsy-turvy, has left a little piece of itself in him.
He's turning green, Coco said.
Yup, Sunny replied.
From over by the cabin, there came a loud snapping sound from Hector.
Grr!
Leave me alone, he growled.
And he's getting kind of mean too, Coco added.
Yup, Sunny sighed.
Tell me about it.
Less than an hour before Hector and Sunny had narrowly escaped from the Topsy-Turvy, the dark and mysterious underworld that had lately been spreading its evil influence over, the Sweets had begun to taste sour.
And then, to top it all off, Coco's little sister Kira had disappeared.
But inside the Topsy Turvy, Hector and Sunny had made some extremely important discoveries.
Firstly, that the mastermind behind the evil was in fact their friend Chill Bill's long-lost evil sister, the tigress Unchill Jill.
And secondly, that she had Kira, wrapped in binding vines and trapped in the topsy-turvy.
Now, if you had asked Sunny which would be harder escaping from the clutches of an angry evil tiger or persuading Hector to travel a short distance back through Sleepy Forest to the cabin where their friend Coco lived she would have said it was a no-brainer.
The answer?
Well, escaping from the angry evil tiger, duh.
But as it turned out, she'd have been wrong.
In reality, Sunny had to beg and cajole him to come with her.
Because Hector wasn't merely turning green, he was turning difficult.
He sulked and pouted and slumped on the floor and refused. leave and be.
It's not like you even enjoy spending time with me anyway, he snapped.
Sunny was shocked.
What on earth do you mean, Hector?
She said.
Well, you don't like playing tug of war with me.
You've made that clear, he said.
And there's probably loads else you don't like doing with me too, but you just won't say.
We may as well just admit it.
We're not even friends anymore.
Though his words really stung Sonny's heart.
She told herself it wasn't really Hector speaking.
It was the topsy-turvy, where everything was upside down and back to front.
And yet, a little part of her wondered whether there wasn't a seed of true feeling in what he said.
Now, with a great sigh and a creaking of his knobbly knees, Cuthbert rose from Hector's side.
His sandy coat shone in the sunlight, and when he looked down at Sunny and Coco through his half-moon spectacles, his watery eyes glittered.
Unfortunately, he said, I don't know how to slow down or stop the topsy-turvy taking over Hector.
Oh no, Sunny sighed disappointed.
You don't?
Cuthbert shook his head sadly.
I don't, I'm afraid.
I understand what he's suffering from, but I don't know the cure.
But, and this is very much a but, I know someone who might.
Cuthbert told them about his friend, an alpaca named Alma, who he'd met many decades before at a fair for the magical arts.
Cuthbert had gone to the fair to learn about how to tell the future from the shapes the stars make in the night sky.
But while he was there he had bumped his camel's hump while walking under a low doorway and developed a nasty bruise.
He'd hurried off to the medical tent, and that was where he met Alma.
She was an apothecary, a master of potion brewing, and she made a herbal concoction for Cuthbert to sip which made his bruise fade in mere seconds.
She was, he said, a rare genius.
If anyone was to know how to help Hector, it would be Alma.
But where can we find her?
Sunny asked.
Well, that's the thing about Alma, Cuthbert said, shaking his head.
She's a wanderer.
She floats hither and thither like the wind.
You can never quite know where she's going to be.
But she's always had a particular soft spot for Potato and Bean's diner in the middle of nowhere.
Do you guys know it?
Sunny nodded.
Of course she knew the diner. where the roller-skating cats Potato and Bean serve delicious food to travelers passing through the dusty desert in the middle of nowhere.
Coco heaved his sunset orange backpack onto his shoulders.
Come on then, Sunny, he said.
I'll come with you.
But Coco, Sunny said.
We need to go and speak to Chill Bill about how to defeat Unchilled Jill and rescue Kira.
We can't get distracted by this.
Don't be silly, Sunny, Coco said seriously.
We'll be so much more capable of rescuing Kira if we've got Hector back on our side.
This is our priority.
Let's try to save Hector.
Then we'll deal with Unchilled Jill.
Sunny felt a sudden bubble of love for her friend and gave him a big hug.
Oh, thank you, she said.
Then Cuspert slipped an old brass stopwatch on a long chain out of his pocket, turned the dial a few times and handed it to them.
You'll have to be quick, though, he said.
When that stopwatch rings, it'll be too late.
Hector will have been taken into the topsy-turvy.
Sunny studied the stopwatch nervously.
Tick, tock, it went.
Tick, tock.
Right, said Coco bravely.
There's no time to lose.
Come on, Sunny.
I've got some eucalyptus snacks in my bag, just in case we get peckish.
Let's go find this alpaca.
And so, after Coco told his parents they were heading out and reassured them that they would be back soon, they set off for the middle of nowhere.
It was a long journey, through the misty pine trees of Sleepy Forest, up the banks of the Sleepy River, along the outskirts of Wonder Jungle until you reach the shifting sands of the desert.
But Sunny and Coco passed the time deep in conversation.
They were both worried that their best friends, Hector and Kira, would be lost forever or changed beyond all recognition.
This made them feel so sad and a little scared.
But the fact that they found each other in similar positions, that they could talk to each other about it, gave them some consolation.
It was a blessing to have a friend in a time of need.
Soon they reached the middle of nowhere, a vast desert valley with rocky orange canyons and sweeping sandy plains.
And a little while after that, a clapboard building appeared by the side of the road up ahead with a bright red neon sign announcing it as Potato and Beans Diner.
Thumping music rattled the windows and boomed out of the building.
Sunny and Coco exchanged a raised eyebrow look.
Well, it sounds like they're having a party, Coco said.
They reached the diner and found a couple of cats, one brown and one white, with brown splodges, waiting outside.
They were the diner's owners, Potato and Beans.
The cats were wearing their usual pairs of roller skates, but they were also wearing sleek black masks on their faces that made them look like bandits.
Welcome to the middle of nowhere mess ball, Potato meowed.
Sunny, Coco, we're so glad you could make it.
Although, purred Beans, it seems like y'all forgot your masks.
But never fear, we've got spares.
With these words, Beans lifted up a cardboard box brimming with spare masks.
Lucky dip, she said.
Sunny and Coco tucked their paws into the box and withdrew a mask each.
Sunny's was bright blue and had delicate butterfly wings extending outwards.
Coco's was silver and had a long beak that made him look like a funny swan.
Enjoy!
Potato and Beans told them and ushered them inside.
It was possible that the middle-of-nowhere masked ball was the most popular event the Koala Kingdom had ever seen.
The diner was heaving.
Masked figures danced over the black-and-white floor tiles, piled into the red nylon seating booths, perched on the swivel stools at the Polish counter, munching on French fries dipped in mustard and mayo.
If the fate of the Koala Kingdom wasn't currently hanging in the balance, Coco said to Sunny, this would be a lot of fun.
Sunny had to agree.
It looked like a stupendous party.
Mrs Pig, the chef, who was usually busy cooking up a storm in the diner's kitchen, now stood on a stage behind some DJ decks using a pink trotter to spin the discs and fill the place with pumping music.
The problem is, Sunny said, everyone is masked.
How are we going to find Alma the alpaca if we can't see who anyone is?
Oh, no idea.
Coco said.
Then he glanced at the brass stopwatch dangling from Sunny's neck.
Tick-tock, it went.
Tick-tock.
But we better get on with it, he added.
Come on, let's divide and conquer.
See you over at the counter?
So they went their separate ways.
Sunny ducked and weaved through the crowd, glancing at passersby.
She was keeping her eye out for any alpaca-sized creature, muttering apologies and trying to avoid getting told off.
She lifted up masks and peered into the shocked faces of a horse, a zebra, a cow and even one grumpy goat.
She asked the other guests if they knew Alma, if they'd seen an alpaca at the party or if they knew where she could find such a creature.
But everyone just looked baffled and said no.
At one point, she was sure she found Alma wearing a moon-shaped mask.
She plucked the mask off the creature's face, only to discover it wasn't Alma at all, but Karma the llama.
Oops, sorry!
Sunny blushed.
But as she hurried off, she wondered who could blame her for her mistake.
What was the difference between an alpaca and a llama, really?
When she reached Coco back at the diner counter, it seemed that he'd enjoyed as little luck as she had.
It was literally impossible to find Alma in all this masked chaos.
Oh, what are we going to do? whined Sunny.
Coco shook his head at an utter loss and looked around at the diner until his eyes fell upon the stage where Mrs Pig was DJing.
A light bulb went on in his head.
I think I've had an idea, he said to Sunny.
Stay here.
And he was off, threading his way through the bodies until he reached the stage.
The speakers practically bounced with the sound of the bass, and Mrs Pig bopped her head back and forth, loving her own beats.
It seemed a shame that Coco was about to ruin her fun, but he figured there would be even more ruined fun if the koala kingdom got swallowed by the topsy-turvy.
So he scampered over to the DJ desk and, before Mrs. Pig could stop him, switched off the music.
The crowd bayed in disappointment.
Hey, turn that back on, shouted a giraffe.
We were trying to have a party here, added a disgruntled dragon.
But instead, Coco took the microphone from the trotter of the slightly dazed Mrs. Pig.
His own voice boomed around the diner.
Ahem.
He coughed.
Sorry for interrupting the ball, but this is a special announcement.
An emergency announcement.
Is one Alma the alpaca here?
I repeat, is one Alma the alpaca here?
Silence filled the diner, broken only by the occasional murmur from a guest.
Coco scanned his eyes across the crowd, praying silently.
Let it be here.
Let it be here.
He could see Sunny doing the same at the counter.
Seconds ticked by.
Maybe it was all a lost hope after all.
Maybe Alma wasn't here at all.
Then there came a small wizened voice from the back.
Excuse me, dear child, are you looking for me?
The crowd parted like a sea and down the long avenue.
Coco saw at the back of the diner a small figure.
An alpaca with a pale lilac coat, shrouded in all kinds of witchy shrouds and drapes.
A delicate silver mask balanced on her face.
So, this was Alma.
They had found her.
A few minutes later, Sunny and Coco stood in the diner kitchen with their new friend.
Next door, the music was thumping again.
The guests were back to their revelries and Sunny and Coco had just finished explaining to Alma, as quickly as they possibly could, the predicament Hector found himself in.
Like Cuthbert the camel, Alma was very old, with a fading coat and a quavering voice.
But there was a bright and determined twinkle in her glassy eyes that told of great knowledge and inner strength.
I can help you, she told them.
There is an ancient potion that should be able to rescue your friends from the brink of the topsy-turvy.
I wonder whether i can brew it here.
She went pottering around the diner cupboards extracting a pot of something here and a jar of something there.
Yes yes, she said with satisfaction.
I think i have all i need.
And so, with mingled relief and anticipation, sunny and coco watched She ground leaves into a dust.
She added a splash of one bottled liquid and another to the pan.
Soon, strange smells wafted through the air.
Nothing like the usual aroma of pancakes and maple syrup and key lime pie that usually filled the diner kitchen.
The liquid in Alma's pan turned from caramel to hot pink to a blue the color of the summer sky.
And as she worked, the stopwatch around Sunny's neck shaved off the seconds one by one.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
We don't have long left, Sunny worried.
She pictured Hector back at the cabin in Sleepy Forest, turning miserable and green.
Don't worry.
Coco placed a soft paw on her shoulder.
We'll make it in time.
I just don't want Hector to change forever, she told him.
For a few moments, Coco was silent.
Then he said...
Even if someone changes, it doesn't stop them from being your friend.
That made Sunny think for a moment.
She gave Coco a grateful smile.
What he had said had made her feel a lot better.
But just then, Alma pressed a lilac hoof to her face and let out a groan.
She said, hurrying around, peering into cupboards.
Once again, her whimsical shrouds billowing around her.
Oh, I'm missing a crucial ingredient.
A feeling of dread leached through Sunny's tummy.
All she could hear in her ears was the ticking of the stopwatch.
It sounded like the marching of an army. a topsy-turvy army coming to take her friend Hector away.
Oh, and there's none here, sighed Alma, opening the fridge and sticking her whole head into it.
Oh, why don't they have any eucalyptus?
There was a pause.
What did you say? asked Coco quietly.
I said there's none here, said Alma.
No, after that, there's no... Alma the alpaca paused, blinking at him.
Eucalyptus, she said.
And quite unexpectedly, Coco broke into a big grin.
He slipped a paw into his sunset orange backpack and pulled out something folded in a napkin.
He opened the napkin to reveal a couple of eucalyptus treats, the ones he'd packed earlier in case he and Sunny got hungry.
You mean, he said, like these?
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
They were back at the cozy cabin in the forest.
As the final seconds of the stopwatch counted down, Sunny poured the pale blue liquid from the vial into Hector's mouth.
He spluttered and tried, grumpily, to resist.
But he drank it.
Then they all stood back and watched.
I hope it works, murmured Cocoa.
Well, let's see, Cuthbert sighed.
Sunny couldn't say anything at all.
Her heart felt like it was beating up in her throat.
For so long, nothing happened, that it seemed the antidote that Alma had made was no use.
Then Sunny felt Coco's grip on her shoulder.
Look, he whispered.
Hector's coat. which had turned fully green, was now returning to its golden hue.
His eyes flickered open, no longer icy blue, but the dark chestnut they always used to be.
He saw Sunny, and instead of a scowl, there was a big smile on his face.
Oh, Hector!
Sunny cried and bounced over to give him a hug and a huge slobbery lick.
Oh, I'm so glad you're okay.
Hector folded his legs around Sunny.
Yes, he said.
All thanks to you.
Hector and Sunny felt that they might have hugged each other forever and ever.
But a sound, pop, followed by a little squeal from Coco interrupted them.
They let go of each other, looked around and were shocked to discover that in the place of the cozy cabin where Coco and his family lived now stood well nothing.
The cozy cabin had disappeared, right into thin air.
Tears sprang from Coco's eyes, and his face was pale with horror.
My cabin, he said.
My home.
And my parents and my grandparents.
They're all gone.
Just like Kira.
All gone.
Hector and Sunny put their arms around Coco.
It's going to be okay, they told him.
We just have to go find Chill Bill.
He'll help us work out how to defeat Unchill Jill.
Coco gave a big sniff and nodded.
And the three of them began to make their winding way through the forest.
Back towards Chill Bill.
Back towards Unchill Jill.
Back towards the Topsy Turvy.
Wow, Sunny and Coco were in a real race against time to save Hector there.
I was right on the edge of my seat.
But Koala Kids, even with Hector back on his paws, the Topsy Turvy hasn't stopped spreading.
What will Hector, Sunny and Coco do next?
And how will they stop Unchilled Jill before the Topsy Turvy takes even more?
Well, make sure you tune in next Saturday for the final part of Hector and Sunny in the Topsy Turvy to find out what happens next.
And until then, keep on shining.
Koala shine.
