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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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Hey, Koala Kids.
Welcome back to Koala Shine.
I'm your host, Kelly, of course.
And I am so excited because today we're starting something brand new.
That's right.
Today's story is episode one of a brand new adventure series, Hector and Sunny in the Topsy Turvy.
Now, let me ask you guys something.
Have you ever had one of those days where everything feels just a little bit off, where happy things turn strange sweet things?
Well, that's exactly what's going on in today's story.
We're heading back to the magical Koala Kingdom, where Hector and Sunny receive a very unusual letter.
They soon discover that Sleepy Forest isn't so sleepy anymore.
Rivers are flowing the wrong way, baking tastes terrible and, worst of all, their friend Kira has vanished.
What could have caused a whole kingdom to start turning upside down?
And where could Kira have gone?
To find the answers, Hector and Sunny may have to journey to the most upside-down, back-to-front place they've ever encountered.
So strap in, listen closely, and get ready for an epic journey.
Because this one is the first part of our brand new series, and the adventure is only just getting started.
New episodes will be released every Saturday.
So make sure to tune in so that you don't miss a single chapter of Hector and Sunny's new adventure.
And away we go!
One crisp spring morning in a sunny backyard in the little village of Lower Starry Skies, Hector lifted a piece of knotted rope in his teeth and gave it a good old shake.
He yipped at his best friend.
Let's play tug of war.
Sunny, who was lying in the soft patch of grass beneath the apple tree, gazed at him for a few seconds.
Then she gave a long yawn and shook her head.
I'm feeling a bit tired right now, thanks, she said.
Hector shook the rope back and forth and growled, enticing her to come play.
Oh, come on, he said.
Play, it's tug of war, our favorite.
But Sunny was suddenly distracted by a shadow passing over the garden, as though expecting to see a bird, some robin redbreast or a wide-winged hawk cruising overhead.
But instead, a bright yellow envelope fell out of the sky.
It landed in the grass right in front of her.
Oh, what's this?
She said, bouncing up and pouncing on the envelope.
Hmm, Hector thought to himself as Sunny tore the letter open.
It didn't seem like she was so tired now, did it?
But he was curious.
So he padded over beside her and together they read the letter and closed in the envelope.
Sunny was a faster reader than him.
Before he'd even got halfway through, she said, Oh, it's from Coco.
He wonders if we could come visit.
He says he needs our help with something.
Coco the koala was one of their closest friends in the whole wide universe.
Coco didn't live in the same place as Hector and Sunny, but in the koala kingdom, a magical place that lay not so far away.
But in spite of living in different worlds, from time to time Coco found enchanted ways of communicating with them, like trees opening their mouths and talking in Coco's voice, or clouds arranging themselves into the shape of words.
Or like now, by having envelopes fall out of the sky.
Let's go visit Coco, said Sunny.
Yes, let's, Hector agreed.
I wonder what he can need help with.
Oh.
Sunny laughed.
He probably got his ukulele stuck in the tree again.
Or needs a couple of sharp-nosed doggos like us to sniff out a stinky lost sock.
Come on, let's go!
Hector and Sunny trotted out of their garden down the lane and into a big golden wheat field at the very edge of the village.
Birds twittered cheerfully in the trees.
Flowers nodded in the breeze and so many bumblebees buzzed busily across the grass that Hecht had to be careful where he placed his paws, just in case he stepped on one.
Squashing a bumblebee was not a pleasant experience.
Soon they reached a spot by the hedgerow where the air seemed to shimmer.
The shimmering told them that they'd reached a place where the fabric between the worlds was thin.
They took a quick glance around to make sure nobody was spying on them, then climbed through the hedge, making sure not to get their noses poked by any stray twigs.
The next second they had clambered out to the other side of the hedge and stood in a forest of silver pines and rustling leaves, the koala sunshine beaming high above them.
They were here.
They'd made it to Sleepy Forest.
Now they just had to find their way to Coco's little wooden cabin.
Luckily, they'd been there before, so they knew the way.
They padded down a forest path, past bushes that grew squidgy marshmallows instead of berries, and rounded a corner towards the tree full of chimpanzees, who sang Christmas carols no matter the time of year.
Except today they could hear no singing.
No hark the heralds, no jingle bells.
The knotted branches of the tall tree were empty.
Oh, how strange, Sunny frowned.
Maybe they're just on holiday, Hector suggested hopefully, but his eyes flickered with concern.
It turned out that the absence of the choir of chimps was not the only change in Sleepy Forest.
They reached one of their favorite trees, tall with bright green, star-shaped leaves, only to discover it had turned red.
And when they passed a branch of the sleepy river, the waters were not their usual clear blue crystal, but murky and sludgy.
And could it be that the water had started flowing in the wrong direction?
Oh, what was going on?
So it was with a sigh of relief when they came across the familiar sight of Betty the Badger's bakery.
The chocolate box cottage, with a plume of pale smoke lifting from its chimney and an assortment of flowerpots along the wall.
But just as they arrived, the door of the bakery was flung open and betty herself flew out her baker's apron, all in disarray, and in her poor she clutched a fresh blueberry muffin.
Oh hector sonny, she cried.
Oh, thank heavens you're here, taste this, she thrust.
But Betty just gave the muffin a shake and repeated the same words.
Tasted!
Hector and Sunny exchanged a nervous glance.
Betty didn't seem her usual merry self.
She was famous for being the best baker in the Koala Kingdom.
So what could be the problem?
They each took a little bite of the offered muffin, chewed for a second and then...
They couldn't help it.
Even though neither of them liked to be rude, they spat the muffins straight out onto the ground.
It was bitter and revolting, nothing like the sweet and delectable treats they'd enjoyed at Betty's bakery before.
"'Aha!' cried Betty, almost triumphantly.
"'Oh, so you can taste it too!
Oh, it's completely inedible!'
Oh, well, I'd just say it's not up to your usual standard, Betty, Hector said tactfully.
Did something go wrong in the baking?
Betty glowered at him, a touch miffed at his suggestion.
Well, of course not, she said.
This is a recipe I've refined for years and years, and I did it perfectly by the book.
Something terrible is happening.
It's not only the muffin.
Everything's wrong.
The toffee tastes sour, the brownies are like bogeys, and the... oh, crumbs and chocolate sprinkles!
This final expression of horror erupted from Betty's lips because the offending muffin which had been balancing on her paw had just vanished into thin air.
In its place lay a tiny pile of ashes, which dispersed in the breeze.
They all stared at Betty's empty paw in disbelief.
Disgusting muffins was one thing, but disappearing muffins?
Suddenly, there came a pop from behind them.
They swung around and saw that one of the flowerpots outside the bakery had just disappeared too.
The sunflowers in another pot had all suddenly wilted.
And a moment later, that pot was gone too, evaporated from sight.
Betty let out a little squeak of horror.
Oh, my blooms!
She cried and rushed back into the bakery.
Once they'd watched her go, Sonny Very strange as a foot, she said.
We better get to Coco, and quick!
They hurried through the forest, hopping over fallen logs and trying not to get distracted by any more peculiar happenings.
At last they burst into the grassy glade where the little cabin in the woods stood.
Coco was already there waiting for them, in his blue jacket and wellies.
He was pacing up and down, but at the sound of their arrival he glanced up his face a pattern of worry.
We came as quickly as we could, Coco, Hector said.
What's the matter?
Sunny asked.
What do you need help with?
Is it about the monkey choir?
Or the backwards running river?
Or how bad Betty's baking has become?
But Coco only shook his head.
No, he said.
It's worse than that.
What?
Sunny urged him.
Coco took a big raggedy breath.
It's Kira, he said.
She's vanished.
She's gone.
This is what Coco told them had happened.
A few days ago, Kira began acting strangely.
It started with her mood.
Kira, who was always such a happy and playful panda, bright as a sunbeam, became dark and sulky.
She scowled and snapped and refused to dance or sing or play pirates and mermaids with Coco, like they usually did.
She went off on long and mysterious trips into the forest without inviting him.
And when she got back, she wouldn't say where she'd been.
She'd just slam the bedroom door, right in poor Coco's face.
Then, Coco told them, she stopped wearing her purple hair ribbon.
That made Hector and Sunny gasp.
They could hardly imagine Kira without her favorite ribbon.
She started wearing a severe black hairband.
And this morning, Coco found the purple one balled up and thrown in the bin.
Well, of course he fished it out, and he went to talk to Kira about it at once.
But Kira only gave him an evil black-eyed look, told him to mind his own business and stormed out of the house.
And no one had seen her since.
And the worst thing is, Coco said very sadly, Kira's more than just my sister.
She's my best friend in the whole world.
I don't know what's wrong with her, and she won't tell me.
I hope she's okay.
Hector and Sunny both felt like their hearts could burst for Coco.
What would one of them do if the other started changing like that, and then suddenly disappeared?
So of course, they said they would help him look for Kira.
After all, Hector had a super powerful doggy nose, and Sunny had eyes sharper than a hawk.
They trawled through the forest, sniffing and searching.
They visited all of Kira's favorite places.
The Glade of Gladness, with its magical swinging bench.
Prickles the Hedgehog's House, with his mom's humongous library.
Even Sleepy Forest Elementary School.
They also called in at the Home Sweet Home Hotel.
They scoured the playground, and they called her name up and down the river.
But no matter where they looked, they just couldn't find her, and there was no sign of her scent anywhere in the forest.
At last, the doggy duo had no choice.
Paws heavy with disappointment, they plodded back to Coco's cabin.
Oh no, sighed Coco, putting his head in his hands and shaking it miserably.
If you can't even find Kira, then who can?
Oh, she's gone.
She's probably gone forever.
Oh, I miss her so much already.
I don't know what to do.
Hector and Sunny had looked high and low, far and wide.
They had tried.
But the sight of their beloved friend Coco so sad and dejected, well, they simply couldn't stand it.
No, Coco, Hector said firmly.
We're not giving up.
We've only just started searching.
But we're going to search harder.
That's right, Sunny agreed.
We'll find where Kira has gone and we'll bring her back, no matter how long it takes us.
Isn't that right, Hector?
Yes, it is, Hector said.
We promise.
Now a faraway expression had stolen over Sunny's face.
It was the expression she got when her mind was fast at work, making connections between different things.
The same way, you drew lines between distant stars to reveal glittering constellations.
Help but think she said that Kira turning grumpy and the strange changes taking place throughout the forest has something to do with each other.
It all seems like a dark kind of magic to me.
If we want to find Kira, we're going to need to get to the bottom of that mystery first.
But how will we do that?
Hector asked.
We need to speak to someone who understands this kind of stuff, said Sunny.
Someone old, someone wise.
Hector racked his brains, but came up empty.
Old and wise, he whined.
Well, who could be like that?
But then, for the first time that day, Coco's face brightened.
Oh, he said.
I know.
You need to speak to the tiger, Chill Bill.
If anyone understands the mysteries of the Koala Kingdom, it's him.
He's one of the wisest creatures in all the land.
And so it was settled.
Hector and Sunny would head off to see if Chill Bill could shed any light on this darkness.
Coco in the meantime would stay by the cozy cabin just in case Kira comes back.
He explained, blinking hopefully.
Chill Bill lived up in the craggy, cloud-swirled pinnacles of the Pillowy Peaks.
That's where he ran his Tai Chi lessons, high above the distractions and worries of the world.
When Hector and Sunny arrived, they discovered the white-robed tiger sitting cross-legged on a mossy rock deep inside the most chill of meditations.
But something must have alerted him to their presence, some imperceptible shift of current in the airwaves.
For at their approach, Bill opened a single eye and said, Victor and Sunny, right on time.
As though he'd been expecting them all along, he invited them to sit beside him.
And only once they'd had a sip of his freshly brewed buttercup tea did he let them begin their story.
They told it hurriedly, tripping over their tongues and going back and forth trying to make sure they'd covered everything.
The disappearing flowerpots, the sludgy river, how Kira had turned sour just before disappearing.
As a Zen master, Chill Bill was not prone to being surprised by unexpected emotions.
But, as the dogs told their tale, a look of startlement bloomed on his face, followed by frown lines that deepened and deepened.
When they'd finished, he let out a long sigh.
I believe I know what the problem is, he said.
It is, as I have feared, the Topsy-Turvy.
It is spreading its evil power over the kingdom.
Hector and Sunny looked at him in confusion.
The Topsy-Turvy?
What was that?
You see, everything in the world, Chill Bill explained, has its opposites.
Light and dark, ying and yang, soup and ice cream.
The same is true for the Koala Kingdom.
Its opposite is the Topsy-Turvy.
Where the Koala Kingdom is a land of peace and friendship and happiness, the Topsy Turvy is a nightmare of chaos and hatred and misery.
For some time, the Topsy, Turvy and the Koala Kingdom have existed in careful balance, not affecting one another.
But if I am to understand your story correctly, something has tipped the balance.
The topsy-turvy is swallowing the Koala Kingdom up, piece by piece.
And if it doesn't stop, well, the Koala Kingdom will be gone, forever.
Though the sun still shone, Chill Bill's words made Hector and Sunny shiver, as though touched by an arctic wind.
But what has tipped the balance?
Sunny asked.
And how do we reverse it?
Chill Bill sighed.
He shook his head.
Those are answers I do not have, he said.
But here, follow me.
In grave silence, he led them up the mountainside.
They climbed higher and higher up into the clouds until they reached a place where a huge boulder rested against the mountainside.
There, Chill Bill closed his eyes and reached out his paws.
He was gathering energy.
Then he moved his paws as though he was pushing the air, and the boulder rolled out of the way, revealing a grimace.
Gasped, Hector took a step back.
In the hole that Bill had opened in the rock, a sinister whirlpool of black and purple swirled and raged.
Kissing and flashing, the whirlpool sunk down into the deepest depths of the earth.
This is the portal I learned about many moons ago.
Chillbill told them.
A place where the boundary between the Koala Kingdom and the Topsy Turvy has, for reasons I do not yet understand, been broken open.
This will take you to the Topsy Turvy.
I do not know what you will find there, or what dangers you might face.
But if you want to stop the topsy-turvy consuming the kingdom, first you must understand it.
And to understand it, you must go there and see it for yourselves.
Hector and Sunny stared at each other in fear and wonder.
How could either of them have predicted, when they left their sun-soaked garden in lower starry skies this morning that they would find themselves on the edge of an unknown and ominous world?
Oh, I'm scared, Sunny, Hector admitted.
Sunny nodded.
Oh, me too.
But we promised Coco we would find Kira.
We promised him.
We did, said Hector.
And if Kira's been taken by the topsy-turvy, then we have to go into it to try to find her, don't we?
Sunny gulped.
Oh, I think we do.
Chill Bill, who was gazing at them with a look of great admiration, said You are doing a very brave thing here for our friend Cocoa.
