The Bunyip
The Forbidden Catch
A young warrior pulling a strange creature from a swampy pool
Long ago, on the other side of the world in the vast Australian bush, a group of young warriors went out hunting. The sun was hot and the air shimmered above the red earth. They came to the mud flats and pools beyond the desert of stones to look for food.
While others dug for roots, the Chief's son, a proud young man, decided to fish in the deep pools. He cast his line of mimosa bark into the dark water. Suddenly, the line went tight. He pulled and pulled until he landed a creature unlike anything they had ever seen.
It looked like a calf, but also like a seal. It had a long, broad tail. The older warriors gasped in horror. "It is a Bunyip!" they cried. "It is the cub of the Great Bunyip! Fling it back quickly!"