The Dependant

Phasco moved only twice in his life. The first time was when he was a joey. Natural instinct took over will and prodded him to take the journey all marsupial babies have to go on to survive. As per the laws of nature he climbed into his mother’s pouch and stayed there till he was a year old. At the end of 365 days, he stepped out with a lot of trepidation but very quickly spotted this friendly looking tree trunk.

A hundred shades of brown coated the trunk’s body exuding the warmth of a sunlit patch on a grey glacier. It had a coziness that spoke of fireplaces and safe caves, where kind eyes said ‘Come in, I won’t hurt you’. He hurried over, forgetting about his mother and hugged the trunk with his tiny, tubby, furry arms.

Immediately a branch with the most awesome smelling leaves tickled his nose. Food. He began slowly chewing one leaf at a time and decided this was the best place on earth. He would never ever move. The eucalyptus tree leaves were low on nutrition and calories (No good dietician would ever recommend it) so it was a blessing Phasco slept 20 hours a day or he would have been very, very tired.

The tree was marvellous. He didn’t even have to go out for a drink. The water in the eucalyptus was sufficient to keep him watered and alive. All night long he would eat leaves and during the day, the tree branch would produce more and more green yummies. A never ending supply of goodies. He didn’t even have to groom his fur. The strong eucalyptus odour added to his natural musky scent kept off every single flea and bug.

During summers he would hug the cool bark or flop on it horizontally, his arms and legs dangling towards the mud, loose, relaxed and swaying with the wind. When winter came, without moving from his spot he would curl into a tight ball conserving all the heat and energy he had. No matter what the season he stayed where he was chewing the leaves his generous tree gave.

One day, he heard the sound of a large, angry bee buzzing. It was deafeningly loud. The bee must have been a million feet tall to make such a racket. From the corner of his eye he observed all the other koalas, animals, bugs and birds leaping off the tree and running for dear life. He tightened his hold on his wonderful trunk. He knew it would take care of him as it had for the past nine years.

When the electric axe returned to silence the tree fell with nobody shouting timberrrr. Its body smashed on to the earth pinning poor Phasco to the ground. The trunk Phasco trusted so much smashed his nose, blocked his breathing and asphyxiated him. Even in death he held on to his beloved trunk, absolutely confident it would save him.

Moral: Your support system can suffocate you.

Phasco is drawn by the fabulous Bijoy Venugopal. You can find more of his wonderful stuff here bijoyvenugopal.com