The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Parameters:
Primary Character 1: Thief
Primary Character 2: Rubbish Collector
Non-Human Character: Bunyip
Setting: Office
Issue: Survival in the country
Random Words: Hectic, Fascinating, Cantankerous, Furry, and Curious.
Written by: Ebony Trapp, Brianna Humphry, Alex Wilson, Blake Curtis, Ella Sprott.
Illustrated by: Malith Fernando
Edited by: Ebony Trapp
With thanks and recognition to Mr White, Mrs Drinkwater, Ms Bickerstaff and Ms Lucas and all of
our friends and family for support and encouragement along.
Dedicated to the resilient young warriors of the Brisbane Royal Children’s Hospital.
Keep on fighting – you are our inspiration .
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Katherine Susannah Prichard Foundation Inc.
11 Old York Road, Greenmount, WA 6056
http://kspf.iinet.net.au
First published 2014.
Text copyright © North Lakes State College, 2014
Cover and text illustrations copyright © North Lakes State College, 2014
All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval
system, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted
under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Contents:
Chapter 1: Finding Food ………………………………………………………… Page 5
Chapter 2: The Recruitment ………………………………………………….. Page 6
Chapter 3: Oceans Rising ……………………………………………………. Page 7-8
Chapter 4: The Trap Is Set ……………………………………………………… Page 9
Chapter 5: The Beast Escapes ……………………………………………… Page 10
Chapter 6: The Big Misfortune …………………………………………….. Page 11
Chapter 7: The Second Attempt ………………………………………….. Page 12
Chapter 8: A Successful Capture ………………………………………….. Page 13
Chapter 9: Everyone Deserves a Happy Ending ……………………. Page 14
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 1 - Finding Food
They forgot to lock the door again. Can they make it any easier for me to break in? My stomach has
been making noises for days. Mondays are the only nights there is no one in the office, but wait, why
are there lights on, someone’s here. I walk through the hall to the room next to the kitchen. This is the
first time I’ve been in this room. There is a whole wall dedicated to a mysterious creature. At the top
of the wall there is a word in capital letters. ‘BUNYIP.’ I’ve heard of it before, but I’ve never seen
one.
I decide that I need food, it has been three days. I go into the room next door, the kitchen. It is
possibly the only room that doesn’t have the light on. I turn it on cautiously; I don’t want to get caught.
There is no one here; I head straight to the fridge. They always have the best food. They have
chocolate, some sort of cake, juice, bread, and most of all chips. I love chips. Living the way I live, I
don’t get the luxuries of an oven, I get damper cooked by a fire. I go to get a knife when I hear
something, someone’s here, I knew it! I don’t know what to do, there is nowhere to hide, I can’t fit in
any cupboards, I grew too tall for them years ago. I could just turn the light off, but that would be too
obvious. I could slowly sneak into the room with the bunyip wall. I am really good at being sneaky, I
am a thief.
I’m glad I had a reason to go back into this room, I am really curious about this wall. It is full of
pictures of an animal I have only ever heard of. There are maps with big red dots in specific places. I
notice that there is a dot where I live. I have heard that there were bunyips near where we live, but I
didn’t notice they were that close. I also notice that the pictures are only drawn, not taken with a
camera. It surprises me things that a 15 year old orphan can notice when she has time!
In all the excitement I completely forgot to bring the food with me. I wander if the person next door
found it all on the bench ready for me to eat. I am really freaking out. Another thing I notice is that
this room is probably a worse place to hide in then the kitchen. It has no benches to hide behind, no
cupboards to climb in and no weapons to use in self-defence. Ok maybe I’m not the smartest 15 yearold in the world. I didn’t even do my job, so really I was better off staying home.
I hear footsteps coming closer; I don’t know what to do. What will they do? I hear a hand turn the
door handle. The door opens.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 2 - The Recruitment
“Who are you?” he asks. “What are you doing here?”
“I am Mel, I haven’t eaten in three days, and I am starving. Who are you?”
“You’ve been here before, haven’t you?” Albert asks. She nods.
“Who are you?” she says again.
“My name is Albert, and yes we have food next door. Can you please take off your
balaclava? I would like to see your face,” he says. She hesitates.
“Will I get in trouble?”
“No, you were hungry, I understand. But why were you in this room, this is my room. Do you know
what it’s about?” He looks towards the wall. His dark brown eyes interested on what she had to say.
“No, I don’t.” She takes off her balaclava. Her long black hair falls out, she smiles and her green eyes
light up. “It seems interesting though. Are you trying to catch it?”
“Yeah, actually I am,” his chocolate coloured skin wrinkles as he smiles. “Would you like to help me?
I’ve been setting traps for ages.” He ran his fingers through his thick chocolate brown hair that
matches his eyes. He had an idea. “I’ll be back,” he exclaims and he leaves the room. That leaves Mel
feeling really awkward. She can’t help but stare at the wall. She finds it really exciting; although this
creature is very dangerous, she wants to be a part of the search.
Albert comes back into the room with a plate of cooked chips. Mel’s face lights up like a Christmas
tree as Albert puts the food down on the table. He pulls out a seat and Mel sits down. She digs in to
the food, savouring every moment.
“So, did you want to help me out?” Albert asks.
“Yes please, it seems fun, when do we start?”
“Meet me here at my office tomorrow, I’ll finish collecting rubbish and will be here at nine”.
“Okay” Mel says and she leaves.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 3 - Oceans Rising
On 19th of August 2019, the world was changed in an instant. A massive earthquake, measuring 9.8 on
the Richter scale struck the icy region of Antarctica, breaking it up into smaller icebergs. Record
breaking tsunamis struck the southern coast line of Australia, pounding Tasmania. The giant tidal
waves radiated outwards from the Antarctic region striking all of the southern countries like South
Africa, New Zealand and completely devastating islands like Fiji and Hawaii causing mass
destruction and an endless amount of hectic chaos. The world had just plunged into one of its worst
catastrophe that it had seen in millennia.
Just as the world had got its head around the unfathomable damage caused by the earthquake, it
realised the world still had the worst to come. The earthquake had decimated the Antarctic region
reducing it to chunks of ice floating around the oceans. As these floating chunks of ice drifted into
warmer seas, they started to melt into the ocean, slowly but surely raising the sea levels. However, for
the larger chunks of ice that were big enough to retain their heat, another natural disaster helped them
to melt – global warming.
Global warming is the act of releasing heat-trapping gases into the environment typically from the
fossil fuelled power stations. The gasses trapped heat in atmosphere raising its temperature.
Overpopulation had always been a problem, but quite recently it had become rampant and as the
population increased exponentially so did the Earth’s power demand. To satisfy its demands many
fossil fuel burning power stations were erected releasing massive amounts of greenhouse gases further
trapping heat in the environment. The rise in temperature proved fatal in the end.
The increased temperature in the atmosphere helped the icebergs to melt and raise the sea levels,
flooding low lying towns and regions. As more and more ice disappeared, more and more water
appeared. The sea level was rising rapidly and soon begun flooding the coastlines of low lying
countries and even completely submerging some nations. Huge death tolls arose as entire countries
disappeared. And all of this in front of the eyes of the people who had watched the sea claim their
livelihoods and some even their lives.
To add to the enormous amounts of damage and grief caused by the floods and tsunamis, extreme
anarchy broke out in several countries causing even more damage. How one could do so much more
damage to the earth even after massive earthquakes, record breaking tsunamis and now rising sea
levels was the sad question everybody was asking themselves.
People begun realising that was no solution to amend this, let alone even stop it, so they began
heading inland, retreating from the invading seas that had claimed oh so much. In Australia’s case this
meant heading into the desert, into the forty degree heat and the sweltering sun. The iconic Australian
coastline now lay under the ocean and forcing all its inhabitants to head inland also, to join with
people. This included the bunyip that had inhabited the swamps and marshes that the coastline lay
home to.
Thankfully, for the bunyip, the rising sea line had created marshes and swamps closer to the desert,
further inland than where it had originally inhabited. The year was 2020 and the population of
Australia was starting to form new settlements within the Australian desert. The authorities were
starting to reform and the anarchy began to cool down as the government was getting back onto its
feet, re-establishing itself as the leader of the country. Slowly the Australians accepted life in the
desert.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
In the newly formed town of Parksville, life was returning to normality. They had running water, food
and electricity and there was no anarchy. Everyone was abiding by the new government. However
things soon became strange. People were starting to disappear in the night, never to be found again.
Strangely shaped paw prints were starting to be found near their disappearances.
The bunyip was a furry, large, cantankerous, carnivorous beast that dwelled in the billabongs and
creeks of South-East Australia. It had been forced into the marshes near the town by the rising ocean
levels and was running out of food. The creature was part of Indigenous mythology but know it now it
appeared as if the bunyip was behind this all. Soon the rumours began to fly and people began to
worry.
Except for Albert, the local garbage collector who doubled as a bunyip expert. After all it was in his
past as he was a descendant of the Aboriginal Wemba-Wemba people. The extremely patient and wise
man began to track and investigate the beast. He studied its habits and tracks and soon began to
predict its outings and routes. He knew that he could do this and protect the people. He was getting
close to it. He could feel it.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 4 – The Trap Is Set
Mel knocks on the door and Albert opens it. He has all of his equipment ready to set up the netting
trap in the corner of the office. She is still amazed at all of the information he has on the wall. They
take all of the equipment and walk out to try and find an area where they can try and put up the four
corners of the netting.
As they start to walk, Albert starts explaining the bunyip in more detail. He starts explaining how the
myth of the bunyip was created to scare little Aboriginal children and stop them from swimming
alone in billabongs, creeks and rivers. He tells her about how people have started disappearing. That
there have been reports of paw prints that can only be tracked to bunyips. He tells me that he takes it
upon himself to investigate further into the matter. Over six months he has collected enough
information to work out where the bunyips live and how to capture them. When Mel attempted to rob
him last night in his office, Mel saw all of this information Albert been taking on the bunyip. She has
also been wondering why some of the thieves that she is friends with have gone missing. This is why
Mel wants to help.
They have to stop for a moment and rest because they have been walking for a while and are getting
tried. They continue on their journey after a five minute break, and after what feels like ages, but it is
probably only half an hour, they find a good spot to set up their trap. They untangle the net and
spreading out all of their equipment so they could find the thing. They start putting up the trap. The
hardest part is making it come up when it had pressure on it. They set it up so it only goes up when it
has approximately 300 kilograms on it.
It is getting dark so they decide to call it a day and go home their different ways. They decide that
they would meet up at the office tomorrow.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 5 – The Beast Escapes
Mel arrives on the door step and Albert lets her in. He looks like he didn’t get much sleep last night.
Mel asks him why and he says he was nervous about what will happen if they find the bunyip and
what they will do. On their way, they decide that if they find it, they will call the wildlife rangers and
they will deal with it. They start to walk towards the trap, but suddenly they don’t recognise anything
and they realise they are lost. They have no maps or any way of find out where they are. They decide
eventually to walk back to the office and then go out again so they will have a port of call. By the time
they get back to the office it is lunchtime.
After lunch they continue to look for where they laid the trap. Eventually they find the trap; it is
empty and not pulled up. This time they bring cow meat as bait. They also bring equipment to
improve it. For example, they make it go up quicker because they know that the bunyip is very fast on
land. They have a closer inspection on the netting and they see it had little rips in it. They look at
these closer and discover that they are kangaroo paw prints. This is good because the bunyips eat
kangaroos, or pretty much anything with meat they can find. They decide to go home and come back
tomorrow, with more netting and poles because they are deteriorating rapidly.
Albert opens the door for Mel and they head off immediately. They take more netting and metal to
replace the wooden posts. This time they don’t get lost and make it just in time to put up the metal
posts and replace the net, then get home before one o’clock. Mel decides to sleep on the floor of the
office so they can leave early because they expect that the bunyip is eating the bait and then leaving it
without bait. They set off on their way to the trap. They find another place on the way. This time, they
take a map because they forgot the previous two times. The mark out the route on the map, but they
still get lost so they have to change it. They go to the edge of the swamp that the net is located on, but
the realise they are somehow on the wrong side. They go to the correct side of the swamp. They get
their clothes and their legs wet and muddy because they decide to go through the swamp. They decide
after five metres this is a bad idea and they turn around and come back to where they were at the
beginning. They work their way around the swamp and they see that the net is ruined. They look up
and see a dark shadow running away. If only they went straight there.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 6- The Big Misfortune
“I was sure that was going to work,” exclaimed Mel.
“Me too. Maybe we should follow the shadow and try and capture it,” Albert suggests.
“Yeah, good idea,” Mel says as she starts walking to where the shadow had run off to.
They run after the sound of paws, the bunyip is only slightly faster than them but it eventually gets
tired. After approximately 10 minutes they see a big shadow in the sunlight. Albert assembles the
tranquiliser dart as they run. He prepares to shoot.
“STOP,” Mel shouts, startling Albert so that the dart goes astray and hits a rock.
“What is it?” Albert asks, curious as to what the answer will be.
“That shadow we’ve been chasing isn’t the bunyip, it’s a goddamn dingo,” Mel explains, furious that
they were so foolish.
Albert stares at the shadow that’s run off into the distance, and as he looks closely he notices how
small it is, and he feels like a complete idiot.
Mel and Albert walk back to their failed traps in silence.
“Are we sure that this is where the bunyip has been sighted?” Mel asks, unsure of herself.
“People have spotted it here a few times,” Albert replied. The garbage man suddenly gets a look of
concentration. Mel knows not to interrupt him because it’s at times like these that he gets him best
ideas. For what seems like hours to Mel, Albert has a look of determination at the same time that he
has a blank face. Finally, Albert speaks.
“The Bunyip was sighted here on the outskirts of Parksville, 3 years ago. But the townspeople have
claimed that they were terrorised in the middle of town, a few kilometres away. Maybe the bunyip
doesn’t just stay in the water; he can survive on land as well. If we investigate where townspeople
have been terrorised and have gone missing then maybe we’ll find the bunyip.”
“Wow that’s not a bad idea, when should we start inspecting?” asks Mel.
“Does now work for you?” Albert questions.
The thief and the garbage man walk towards the town, excited because they just might finally capture
the bunyip.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 7- The Second Attempt
When they arrive in town they go straight to Albert’s office and search for where people went missing.
This takes almost no time so they are out the door in 10 minutes.
Finding where the bunyip has petrified citizens was the easy part. The hard part is finding clues; they
are everywhere, they just have to find them.
The first clue they find are droppings, they are massive so there’s no doubt that it belongs to the
bunyip. The second piece of evidence in the area is dark fur that has fallen from the bunyip. These
clues tell Albert and Mel that the bunyip has definitely been in the area, however the bunyip is long
gone and they have no clue where it is now.
The sky has grown dark and Mel and Albert decide to head home. They are walking away when they
hear a screech in the distance, instantly the thief and the garbage man are running towards the sound
without making a second glance back.
While they are running the duo pull out their torches and make their way in the dark. Eventually they
lose where the sound came from so Mel and Albert search the area. As they are walking around and
looking for clues Mel stumbles into a ditch. Albert pulls Mel out without much of a struggle, however
she is completely covered in mud, so they must be close the ocean. They investigate the hole and
notice it is in the shape of an animal foot, so they assume it is from the bunyip. The duo follows the
trail and they end up at the risen ocean.
They see a giant shape in the water, of course they’re frightened but after all they have done to find
the bunyip they aren’t giving up. Albert and Mel vow to stay the whole night until they capture it.
They set about making a trap from the trees that have fallen down for the rising ocean. They tied
together logs with strong seaweed, while doing this they tried to stay as quiet as possible so they
didn’t draw the attention of the bunyip. After an hour of working, the cage was tied to the tree, ready
to drop when the bunyip was under it.
To lure the bunyip under the trap they find a dead chicken, probably killed by a dingo and left to rot,
they roast it to make the smell appeal to the bunyip. They move the chicken to under the cage and run
behind a tree to hide from the bunyip, if it appears, while getting ready to drop the cage.
Slowly and cautiously the bunyip appears out of the water, ready to quickly grab the chicken. As soon
as the beast is under the cage it drops on top of the bunyip.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 8 – A Successful Capture
As the bunyip thrashes against the hard, wooden bars of the cage, Mel prepares the needle to sedate
the huge creature. She injects the chemical into the bunyip and it slumps down to the ground as if it
were simply taking a nap.
“Wow. I never realised how big this thing is,” Albert exclaims in bewilderment. “It’s monstrous!”
“I think it’s quite fascinating, actually,” Mel mutters. “We should probably bring it in for
examination.”
They only problem is this: How are they going to transport the bunyip? It isn’t like they are just going
to leave it there after all that hard work.
“I think I’ve got an idea,” Albert remarks, and with that he turns around and runs back the way they
came with no explanation.
It takes 15 minutes for him to return, during which Mel sits on a small rock and stares intently at the
creature they have just captured. It actually looks quite peaceful and harmless while sleeping and Mel
realises that they must have judged this so-called monster too harshly. It is just in its nature to be
violent, and it probably is just afraid because of the drastic changes to its life because of the rising
levels of the ocean. She makes an oath that she is going to release it back into its natural habitat, but
only once it is tame and no longer dangerous. It is then that Albert finally returns in his old, rusty
garbage truck, only there is a large trailer attached to the back. What an excellent idea!
The next issue: How are they going to load it onto the trailer? Sure, they’re strong, but not that strong.
They try pushing, pulling, tugging, yanking and heaving but it isn’t budging. They realise they are
going to need more help. So, once again, Albert turns back the way he came, and returns 15 minutes
later with five amazed young men from town who apparently can’t believe their eyes. With their help,
the bunyip is finally loaded onto the trailer and the bumpy, uncomfortable ride back to the lab at the
edge of Parksville begins. It is time to start studying.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
Chapter 9 – Everyone Deserves a Happy Ending
The next day, at the lab, the testing begins. The bunyip is surprisingly calm throughout the routine and
isn’t trying to prevent anything the scientists are doing. They found out that bunyips were once
common in Australia, and they are not just old legends or myths. Bunyips were thought to be extinct,
so soon legends began to surround the colossal creature, and the stories changed over time, as they
always do, making it sound like bunyips are violent, heartless monsters. In fact, they are generally
friendly creatures most of the time, except when they feel threatened, which is normal for most
animals.
They decide that the bunyip is going be kept in captivity until the testing is over and it is tamed. It
takes two months, but the outcome is very impressive. The bunyip even responds to a handful of
commands when it is in the right mood. Not long after, Albert quits his job as a garbage collector to
go and work in the lab, which he finds very satisfying. Mel no longer has to resort to thievery to stay
alive, because Albert has invited her to go and live with him. He acts like a father to her now. Like
the father she hasn’t had in a very long time.
They people of Parksville hold a small but joyful ceremony for the releasing of the enormous bunyip
back into the wild. Some people are reluctant about this idea, but once they see how much its
behaviour has improved, they are very excited. It is still being watched and monitored by the workers
at the lab to make sure it is living comfortably and safely, and is maintaining its new lifestyle habits,
but mostly it is living a peaceful and improved life. The people now have one less problem to worry
about, but they are still stressing about the rising sea levels. They can’t do anything about that though.
At least there is no ‘suspicious deadly monster’ to worry about now. The scientists suspect that there
is still quite some time before the water completely covers the land, so the people of Parksville can
live without fear for a few more years.
After only two weeks of staying over at Albert’s house, Mel gets the surprise of her life. Her parents
have returned to her. They have been stranded on a small piece of land after the sea levels rose
dramatically. They had refused to leave, but when they changed their minds it was already too late.
But they finally came back. Her parents become very good friends with Albert, and Mel finally feels
like she has a real family once more.
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The Bunyip by Assassins in Training
An earthquake has decimated the Antarctic region.
Global warming has melted it all. Sea levels are on
the rise. People of Australia are retreating inland to
escape the ocean. They settle in the outback, and so
has the bunyip. Can a mere garbage collector and a
15 year old thief stop this beast?
The Bunyip provides you with action, thrills and
extreme suspense that will leave you grasping for
more.
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