'Hmm,' Doctor Koala said, 'maybe we should eat a few leaves before the others get here. We only have about forty-five minutes before the meeting begins.'
'Good idea,' Sticky agreed, standing up and walking towards the nearest tree. 'I'll climb up and collect some fresh leaves for us.'
Sticky soon returned with a bunch of fresh eucalyptus leaves, and the three had a delicious late lunch.
Soon thereafter, the councilmembers who had been invited to the meeting began to arrive. Claire was the first to get there.
'Don't tell me, let me guess,' was the first thing she said to them. 'We have won that lottery, haven't we?'
'Claire, we couldn't keep a secret from you even if we wanted to, which certainly isn't the case here!' Doctor Koala replied. 'How did you know?'
'I had another dream. All the koalas in the grove were very happy, and were making plans. In the second part of the dream, we were all living over there,' she replied, pointing over towards Eucalyptus Grove in the distance.
'Amazing!' said Sticky. 'Claire, you do have remarkable abilities!'
'True, true,' Grandaddy added, 'you've hit the nail on the head, as Nory the carpenter koala might say. That's just what happened, and is exactly what we're planning. Have a seat.'
Claire sat down next to Doctor Koala on one of the benches next to the table. Within the next ten minutes or so, the others arrived. Chosay and Chashibu, two of the elders who were long-time friends of Grandaddy, had been summoned, as had been the other notable koalas, Grandaddy having felt that the leaders of the grove should be the first to know all the details. Kashy and Gruffy, the grove's two lawyers, were present. Handy was on time, as he always was; punctuality was one of his many admirable qualities. Tecky, the last to get there and take his seat, was the most successful businesskoala in Koalaville.
Judge Grandaddy, Sticky and Doctor Koala filled them in on all that had happened that day, about how they had won the lottery, their talk with Mr. Johnson about the next steps to be taken, and especially about the plans for purchasing Eucalyptus Grove in order to make it their new home. All except Claire were quite astonished at this unexpected turn of events, and everyone agreed that Eucalyptus Grove would be a magnificent place to live.
It was Tecky who broke the stream of expressions of joy with a few comments of a more serious nature. Tecky, a vigorous, healthy, middle-aged koala with brownish-gray fur who wore beige-colored overalls with brown trim, was both very practical-minded as well as ambitious, and was able to clearly comprehend the importance of the transformation that was soon going to take place.
'Friends and colleagues, if we really are able to purchase Eucalyptus Grove and move over there, we should realize now just how many fundamental changes we will be experiencing.'
'For example?' Chashibu inquired.
Chashibu was perhaps the oldest koala in the grove, and was certainly the eldest on the council. Most of his once-gray fur had now turned a snowy white, and had even thinned out noticeably on his head. Tall and slender, there was definitely something distinguished about him, and he would have looked quite the aristocrat, had he dressed accordingly, yet Chashibu wore plain, dark gray overalls; he never did think much of fashion. His eating habits were similarly plain. He always said that simple food was the best, and he was never one to overeat. Chashibu was in excellent shape for his age, and kept that way by taking extended walks through the grove, and even through the woods, on a daily basis. He liked to say that his strolls not only helped him maintain his physical strength, but also sharpened his mental faculties, for he liked to think, ponder, and meditate about life as he walked. If Eucalyptus Grove had had an official philosopher, it would have been Chashibu, for in him, age was adorned with a penetrating mind, and with a perspicacious wisdom that he was always willing to share whenever somebody needed his guidance.
'Perhaps you could tell us of some of these changes you envision, Tecky?' Chashibu was curious.
Doctor Koala added, 'Of course, the grove will be a different one, but will things really be all that different?'
'Indeed they will be, Doctor,' Tecky began. 'Even once we've settled there, our lives will be affected in every way imaginable. First of all, we will possess not one, but two groves: Eucalyptus Grove, where we will all be living, and Koalaville, that we will have abandoned. Nonetheless, it will be our right to continue using its resources, since it will still belong to us. Thus, our supply of fresh leaves will be twice what it is now. We'll be able to store more leaves for the winter, have access to the entire forest region stretching from Eucalyptus Grove over beyond the eastern part of Koalaville. We will be able to use the large field between the two groves for any purposes we see fit. In short, we will possess the resources necessary to multiply the prosperity of our community, far beyond what we have known to date.'
'That's just like you, Tecky,' Chosay laughed, 'always thinking of how to make a profit!' Chosay could be very direct, most notably when it came to making a humorously sarcastic remark. Almost as old as his life-long friend Chashibu, Chosay was shorter in statue, and a bit stout, as evidenced by the slightly tight fit of his worn, brown overalls. Despite the occasional age-related ailment, Chosay was still quite active. He seldom, if ever, missed a council meeting, and never refused to join in a good card game, either.
'I admit that I have been successful in my trading with Koalatown,' Tecky answered, 'but what I am talking about here has little to do with any ambitious plans of my own. What I am trying to say is that because of the expansion we are soon going to experience, we should be aware not only of our possibilities, but if I may say so, of our obligation to use the resources we will have as wisely as possible, and when we do that, we will inevitably experience an increase in our development at all levels. In other words, all of our koalas will be called upon to play their role in improving our society, and that improvement will perhaps change the way we live more than we can even imagine right now. We must make sure that we are psychologically ready for it, and that our government – represented by those in the council meeting we are having right now – that our government, I say, has taken all the measures necessary to ensure that the transition be as smooth as possible. Isn't that right, Grandaddy?'
'Oh, huh?' Grandaddy muttered, only partially aware that he had been asked a question.
'Did Tecky's speech put you to sleep, Grandaddy?' his friend Chashibu laughed.
'No, not at all. I was listening to you, Tecky, but at the same time, I was thinking about something we really need, something we have needed for a while now.'
'What's that, Grandaddy?' Tecky asked.
'A leader. A supreme leader. Someone who represents us, our system, and everything we stand for. Someone who has the final word when important decisions must be made.'
'But Grandaddy, you are more or less the leader in Koalaville,' Sticky spoke up. 'After all, you are the Judge; you define the laws, make sure they are enforced, and when an important decision must be made, we meet in the Council and always decide what course should be taken.'
'I know, I know,' Grandaddy replied, 'but how often has it happened that we disagreed on something, and spent days or weeks trying to decide? We've lost a lot of time that way.
Besides, I may be the Judge, but somehow it isn't right for a judge to have the final word, yet because there are a number of us in the Council, we often can't agree on what must be done.
And please consider my age. No, no, what we need is a real leader, someone respected by all, and younger than I.'
'You're right there, Grandaddy!' his old friend Chosay interrupted him. 'We're no spring chickens, you, me and Chashibu!'
'That's just what I was getting at,' Grandaddy responded. 'Sure, I am healthy enough, but at my age, I could drop dead when we least expect it. We should have a leader who is youthful, more energetic, and as I said, someone all koalas could accept and respect.'
There was a moment of silence as all present pondered his words.
'That may all be true Grandaddy,' Sticky said after a moment's thought. 'May I suggest that Tecky be our leader? He seems to have a good understanding of all the important issues.'
'Oh, no, not me!' Tecky protested. 'I love doing business, and besides that, peace and quiet is all I desire. Don't you remember? It took you all a while to even convince me to be on this Council. And though I may see some things clearly, I don't want to dedicate myself to leading an entire koala community. But thanks anyway for the endorsement, Sticky.'
'Well,' said Grandaddy, 'no need to rush things. It's starting to get a bit late. I suggest we plan another meeting tomorrow, but not just a council meeting. We'll spread the word tomorrow morning that any koalas who wish to attend as observers may do so.'
'Wow!' Chosay exclaimed. 'It's been a long time since we've had a Grove Plenum!'
'True,' Gruffy, one of the grove's lawyer koalas, agreed, 'yet this occasion certainly merits it.'
'I usually disagree with Gruffy, but in this case, he's absolutely right. All the koalas in Koalaville should be present at the next meeting, for we may just end up selecting a leader,' added Kashy, who, as the grove's only other lawyer koala, was always on the opposing side of any legal argument.
Gruffy and Kashy, now both approaching the threshold of middle age, had been friends since childhood, though even back then, they engaged in heated debates about everything from whether moss does in fact only grow on the north sides of trees, to what would be the best possible system of government in this imperfect world.
Kashy was tall and slender, and wore fine, dark gray overalls whose straps and seams were black, as was some of the fur around his mouth area, a feature that might have given a human the impression that the koala had a rather stylish moustache and beard. This somehow corresponded to his natural vanity, a trait that both humored and irked the slightly shorter, yet physically more powerful Gruffy. Gruffy's overalls, that were more often than not wrinkled, were a plain leaf green, and seemed to reflect his pleasant, down-to-earth nature. Gruffy found Kashy's sporadic displays of haughtiness to be rather silly. Nonetheless, he was not above engaging in duels of witty one-upmanship with his proud colleague, and this made the trials in Eucalyptus Grove, in which Kashy represented the prosecution, and Gruffy the defense, both mentally stimulating, as well as entertaining for all those present.
'Exactly, we should invite all of our citizens to attend,' Grandaddy confirmed. 'Until tomorrow evening, then, all ten of us on the Council should think about who that next leader should be. Then, at the meeting, suggestions can be made by any one of us who would like to nominate somebody.'
'Sounds like a very sensible plan,' Handy thought aloud. 'Uh, Claire, maybe you could already tell us who the leader will be?' he added jokingly.
'Oh, no!' Claire replied. 'I don't have any visions about that yet. And even if I did, I wouldn't say anything now. It might ruin all the fun we're going to have at tomorrow's plenum!'
They all laughed at this, then engaged in some animated conversation until it was time for each of them to retire to his or her tree for a good night's sleep.