Just When Stories Read online

  JUST WHEN

  STORIES

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Preface

  The Legend of Earthseasky

  by Nury Vittachi

  Ladybirds for Lunch

  by Hanif Kureishi

  The Schoolbag

  by Kate Thompson

  Birds

  by Radhika Jha

  Extract from The Wreck of the Zanzibar

  by Michael Morpurgo

  The Morning After

  by Polly Samson

  A Dream of Cranes

  by Nirmal Ghosh

  The Seahorse and the Reef

  by Witi Ihimaera

  Camp K 101

  by William Boyd

  A Duck in India

  by Alice Newitt

  Zushkaali and the Elephant

  by Angela Young

  And the Dolphin Smiled

  by Jin Pyn Lee

  George the Tortoise

  by Antonia Michaelis

  Tiger, Tiger

  by Lauren St John

  The Bear Who Wasn’t There

  by Raffaella Barker

  The Intrepid Dumpling’s Dugong Story

  by Louisa Young

  The Loris

  by Romesh Gunesekera

  Appendix

  Copyright

  Preface

  by Tamara Gray

  Sincere thanks to those who have given me their support and encouragement and helped to make Just When Stories a reality: Simon at Beautiful Books for his belief; Sara and Ryan at Beautiful Books; Davy, David and Chris at Heavy Entertainment; Gui Altmayer at the Environmental Justice Foundation; Jonathon Harmsworth; George Thwaites; Fee Kennedy; Anna Phillips; Bob Benton and Steve Trent. Amber Rust who has been at my right hand over the last months.

  Thanks to all the truly inspired children who entered the Just When Writing Competition whose work could make a wonderful book in itself.

  So many thanks for writing Just When Stories go to William Boyd, Louisa Young, Romesh Gunesekera, Nirmal Ghosh, Raffaella Barker, Witi Ihimaera, Radhika Jha, Hanif Kureishi, Antonia Michaelis, Michael Morpurgo, Jin Pyn Lee, Lauren St John, Kate Thompson, Nury Vittachi, Angela Young, Polly Samson and Alice Newitt.

  Thank you to Romola Gerai, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Bonnerville, David Tennant and Martin Jarvis who have recorded stories for the Just When Audio CD and extra thanks to Hugh for making it happen. Everyone has donated their time, effort and work at no cost.

  Thanks to Maria Livings for her stunning illustrations.

  Thanks to you for buying this book. All profits will go to WildAid and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, to support their work to stop the illegal wildlife trade.

  The idea for Just When Stories came to me while reading Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling to my children.

  As my son delighted in the rhinoceros with itchy skin, I thought about the plight of the rhino today. When Kipling wrote his stories, rhino numbers stood at around 65,000. Today, less than 3,000 black rhinos survive.

  Despite the fact that the trade in rhino horn has been banned for more than twenty years, demand for horn for use in traditional Chinese medicine remains strong.

  Rhinos remain one of the most critically endangered species on the planet.

  The rhinoceros, whale and leopard that feature at the heart of Kipling’s Just So Stories now face imminent, permanent oblivion.

  With Just When Stories I wanted to produce a book that would raise awareness of these issues as well as being a collection of stories that would be fun and entertaining.

  The title Just When Stories asks the questions: when will the irrational and cruel destruction of wildlife stop? And when will we take action to make it stop?

  We need to answer that positively if today’s generation of children are not to be the very last to have the chance to see, for example, a tiger in the wild.

  Estimated at between $6 and $20 billion a year by Interpol, the illegal wildlife trade has drastically reduced numerous wildlife populations and currently has some teetering on the brink of extinction.

  I have campaigned against the international illegal trade in endangered species since 1990. I think my energy comes from my mother Lana. During her short life, she campaigned passionately on behalf of women, despite the pressures of ill health. A love of animals comes perhaps from the lap of my grandfather, the British zoologist Sir James Gray, renowned for his work in animal locomotion and the development of experimental zoology. In particular Grandpa Gray is remembered for the Gray’s Paradox on dolphin locomotion.

  My early work as a photographer for the RSPCA led, at the age of 21, to a decision to dedicate myself to campaigning on behalf of animals. I have worked for some of the world’s most effective and dynamic conservation organisations including The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and WildAid. Within these organisations were and are some truly inspiring people, who I am honoured to have worked with over the years. People who work tirelessly, to undo the careless actions of a reckless world: Dave Currey, Allan Thornton, Pete Knights, Steve Trent, Rebecca Chen, Patrick Alley, Melanie Shepherd, David Shepherd, Steve Galster, Sue Fisher, Juliette Williams, Susie Watts, Dr Roz Reeve, Samantha Arditti, Debbie Banks amongst others, you ROCK.

  As a mother of two children and a Trustee of WildAid, I wanted to make the book as appealing and accessible as possible. Each author has written a story in his or her own style and as such Just When Stories has become a family book. As the collection came together I realised that there would be a story for everyone.

  My young daughter loves The Intrepid Dumpling’s Dugong Story. Others I would suggest for younger readers are: The Legend of Earthseasky, The Loris, The Bear Who Wasn’t There, Ladybirds for Lunch, And The Dolphin Smiled, A Dream of Cranes and Zushkaali and the Elephant.

  For adults and teenagers I would guide you towards Camp K 101, Tiger, Tiger, The Schoolbag, George the Tortoise, The Seahorse and the Reef, A Duck in India, The Morning After and Birds.

  I hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as I have enjoyed working with such wonderful writers to put them together. Please give a thought to the animals in this book. Perhaps you can learn something new and be inspired to take action. Together we can protect our endangered species for today’s generation and the next.

  My part in this book I dedicate to Elliot and Honor.

  To my patient whippet Jake, more walks now I promise.

  In aid of

  The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

  ‘Saving tigers, elephants, rhinos and other critically

  endangered mammals in the wild.’

  DSWF is an adaptable and flexible, non-bureaucratic organisation responding promptly to conservation threats by supporting trusted, reputable individuals and organisations operating in the field.

  Lean on administration but generous on funding, DSWF supports a range of innovative, vital and far-reaching projects throughout Africa and Asia, achieving real results for wildlife survival by:

  sending undercover agents into the field to investigate illegal wildlife crime;

  training and supplying anti-poaching patrols;

  establishing nature reserves and other protected areas;

  working with governments to establish conservation laws and regulations;

  educating wildlife consumers about the plight of the animals they ‘use’;

  teaching young people about endangered wildlife through art and school projects.

  www.davidshepherd.org

  WildAid

  ‘When the buying stops

  the killing can too.’

  WildAid’s mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade within our lifetimes. To achieve this
WildAid uniquely focuses on raising awareness to reduce the demand for threatened and endangered species products and to increase public support for wildlife conservation.

  WildAid’s successes have included:

  helping to secure international protection for the whale shark and basking shark under the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES);

  helping to secure shark finning bans in the US, EU, Costa Rica and Ecuador;

  helping to reduce consumption from 10 to 30% in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore;

  repeatedly reaching up to 1 billion viewers a week with celebrities asking consumers to stop purchasing illegal wildlife products.

  www.wildaid.org

  The Legend of

  Earthseasky

  by Nury Vittachi

  Part one: The Legend of Earthseasky

  The sun never rises on Earthseasky, the place where land, ocean and sky meet.

  That’s because it comes into existence only once a year, on the night when the great moontide sweeps the Eastern Oceans.

  As the glowing moon reaches its zenith, tide-drawn waters rise all around what appears to be a deserted island containing nothing but dead trees and a long-sleeping volcano.

  Seawater surges through undersea caves to find its way to the heart of the Isle of Nowhere, rising inside it to make a great lake in the bowl of the volcano.

  At midnight on moontide, the ocean reaches the top of the volcano, salt-spray floating above the rim. The clouds bow down to form a ring around it.

  And earth, sea and sky meet.

  * * *

  Part two: Silky Safaka and the Really Bad Idea

  Since there is a place where earth, sea and sky meet, it could also be a place where the inhabitants of earth, sea and sky meet. Sea creatures could meet land animals. Land animals could meet birds. Birds could meet fish.

  That was the big idea of Silky Safaka, a rare white lemur who lived quietly by himself on a neighbouring island.

  He thought his idea was an excellent one. For about two weeks.

  Then he talked about it at length to a rather wise sea turtle and decided it was, in fact, a really bad idea.

  The turtle had pointed out to him that some of the sea creatures would not want to just meet land animals; they would want to eat them. The land animals would want to eat the birds. And the birds would want to eat the fish.

  But by the time this had become obvious, it was too late. He had already sent out the invitations. Whales had sung the invitation around the seven seas, birds had twittered it from the 12 skies, and land animals had barked and growled and howled it over countless mountains, forests and deserts.

  The Summit of the Species was on.

  * * *

  Part three: Midnight on Moontide

  At nightfall, darkness turned the ocean to a still pool of the blackest ink.

  But as the hours passed, rising moonlight sprinkled glitter on its surface. Night breezes chilled the air. Midnight-blooming trumpet-flowers scented it.

  Moontide was coming.

  Deep inside the Isle of Nowhere, stony veins and arteries gurgled as the salt waters rose. At the top of the mountain, a great lake started to form. Geysers gushed. Springs burst from the ground and trickled down the mountainsides. Clouds descended.

  Silky Safaka sat in a large, dead tree on the lip of the volcano and waited for his guests to arrive. He wore a rectangular badge carrying the name of his species and the words: “Summit Organiser”.

  The lemur, a small, monkey-like creature with snow-white fur, a pinky-black face, and large, round eyes, looked up at the moon. It was nearly midnight.

  The ocean, swirling blackly around the inside of the hollow volcano, belched as it crept higher and higher, sending fine sprays of mist to cool Silky’s feet.

  A small voice bubbled up from the water. ‘I’m here. Am I the first?’ said Angelshark.

  ‘Yes,’ said Silky, looking for Angelshark’s badge and dropping it down to her. ‘Here’s your name tag.’

  The lemur gave the small shark a welcoming smile, but inside he silently prayed that no one else would come. Silky Safaka was only the size of a cat, and could easily be gobbled up by a peckish bird of prey, or a tiger or a crocodile. ‘You’re early. But I don’t know if anyone else is coming. Maybe no one will.’

  Angelshark laughed. ‘Are you kidding? The message went all the way through the seven seas. EVERYONE is coming.’

  A sudden flap of wings startled Silky Safaka. Black-Headed Coucal hovered in the sky.

  ‘You scared me,’ the lemur said.

  ‘Better keep your wits about you,’ cawed the bird. ‘You do realize you’ve organized the most dangerous gathering in the history of the world?’

  ‘It’ll be fine,’ said Silky, not believing a word he was saying. ‘They’ll all behave themselves.’

  But he climbed a few branches higher in the tree, and looked behind him to identify escape routes.

  Already, tiny undulating shadows had appeared in the distant sky and were starting to grow rapidly. Great flocks of birds were approaching.

  At the same time, the water in the volcano lake started to seethe and boil as thousands of sea creatures found their way through the undersea caves to reach the surface of the volcano lake.

  And the mountain itself quickly turned into a writhing, breathing thing, as thousands of land animals crept up its sides.

  ‘Oh goodness me,’ said Silky, gulping. ‘It looks like everyone decided to come.’

  * * *

  Part four: The Problem of Snacks

  The first meeting of all the creatures of the earth, sea and sky started every bit as badly as Silky had feared.

  Most of the attendees were so transfixed by the sight of so much live food that they could do nothing but drool at each other. A steady drip-drip-drip of saliva drummed the rim of the lake and raised the water level.

  In the lake, Great White Shark licked its lips so enthusiastically that it cut its tongue. As blood dripped into the water, the other sharks went wild. ‘You cannibals,’ the injured shark complained.

  Overhead, Bald Eagle swooped around, circling particularly slowly over all the rodents. He refused to sit down.

  Asiatic Lion kept asking: ‘When are the snacks?’ He made big eyes at the nervous Chinkara Gazelle next to him. She wanted to move but no one would change places with her.

  As members found their badges, the various species of poultry, having decided that they were probably the favourite food group present, had an idea. They put up a large sign under Silky’s tree saying: ‘Isle of Nowhere is a Strictly Vegetarian Venue’.

  The erection of this notice produced a chorus of groans, but it seemed to help everyone focus on the agenda. Silky Safaka wished he had prepared a table of healthy snacks somewhere away from the volcano rim.

  He looked at the paper in front of him.

  Item One: Declare meeting open.

  Item two: Read minutes of previous meeting, if any.

  Item three: Discuss stuff that needs to be discussed.

  ‘Now, what would people like to discuss?’ asked Silky. ‘I’ve declared the meeting open, we have no previous minutes to read, and so we are already at item three.’

  ‘Let’s discuss food. When do we break for a snack?’ asked Asiatic Lion.

  ‘Never,’ said Chinkara Gazelle. ‘Never never never NEVER.’

  ‘This is a VEGETARIAN venue,’ clucked Red Junglefowl.

  ‘There are no snacks,’ Silky said. ‘Members should exercise self-control and eat when they get home.’

  A grumbly sort of silence descended. There was a general air of hostility and unhappiness.

  Silky heard someone whisper to his neighbour: ‘So why are we here?’

  The black-faced white lemur decided that the only way to get a discussion going was to push it along himself. ‘Now, to start with, let us identify what joint interests we all have,’ he said.

  ‘None,’ said Asiatic Lio
n, tearing his hungry eyes away from Chinkara Gazelle, but only briefly. ‘Except we all like eating each other. We all love fresh meat.’

  ‘I prefer rotting meat,’ said Griffon Vulture. ‘It has more flavour.’

  ‘No, fresh,’ said Grey Wolf. ‘It tastes fresher. That’s logical.’

  ‘Rotting meat has more protein,’ said Nile Crocodile. ‘All those worms and things, yum-yum.’

  Silky put on his sternest face. ‘May I remind you, this is a STRICTLY vegetarian event. Mental and verbal meat-eating are also banned. Please focus on the issue at hand. There must be something we have in common.’

  Screech Owl tilted her head to one side, thinking. ‘We all hate The Two-Legged Terror,’ she said.

  This produced much nodding among the members. ‘Definitely,’ agreed Arctic Seal.

  ‘So, what do we do about it?’ asked Silky.

  There was another pause as the assembly considered this.

  ‘Let’s eat them,’ roared Asiatic Lion.

  ‘YES,’ agreed many of those present. Drool flowed like streams.

  ‘No MEAT-EATING,’ said Domestic Chicken. ‘No meat-eating of any kind may be discussed, planned or thought about.’

  Silky picked up a gavel he had made from a twig and a nut and banged the hollow tree trunk below him for silence. ‘Quiet please, I need a sensible proposal.’