Part 1: Skippy starts her Mission

While wandering about in the beautiful Slovenian Capital of Ljubljana, I came across an old friend who was far, far away from home.

“G’day mate ”, I whispered in her ear, “what are you doing here?”

“G’day yourself ”, Skippy whispered back, “I’ve been here a while, I guess. It’s a bit of a story, just lean in and I’ll give you the goss.”

Well, I leaned in, and this is what I heard. Skippy was on her great OSE (overseas experience), and was traveling around Central Europe, just enjoying herself and exploring some history. While in Zagreb, for the Festival of the Giant Easter Eggs, she heard a report of troubles in Ljubljana.

Apparently four fierce Green Dragons had seized control of an important bridge, cutting the city off from the nearby Castle.

No one could pass by the dragons, and the city people were worried that without the Castle and its defences, the whole of Ljubljana, and even all of Slovenia, could fall to the fierce green dragons.

Skippy explained that as soon as she heard this news, she knew what she had to do. “My family has a history with dragons. Way back in the Dreamtime, my great ancestors Kanga and Rooey helped clear them out of Australia.”

She then told me, “One funny thing about dragons, they don’t pass stuff down from generation to generation like us Boxing Kangaroos do. So, I knew that these ones would not have any idea about me at all.”

“But, I sure know about them. These ones are exactly like what Hopper, my GrandFather, told me about when I was small. They are B-A-D, really bad !”

Skippy said that she then left immediately for Ljubljana, hoping that she might be able to convince the dragons to leave the bridge, and return to their mountain lair, without any trouble.

On arrival in Ljubljana, Skippy attempted to negotiate with the dragons. But the dragons were not prepared to leave. They were having too much fun scaring the people of the city.

Skippy knew that the only way she could overcome the dragons was to use some powerful Dreamtime magic. But, she also knew, there would be a cost for using Dreamtime magic.

Skippy could see that things in the city were getting a bit desperate, and time for the city people was running out. So, she determined that she would use the Dreamtime magic, even if it came at a cost.

At first, the dragons were quite respectful towards Skippy. But after a few moments of discussion, the biggest dragon said “I’m not afraid of a skinny little kangaroo, you do not scare me!” The other three dragons immediately hissed loudly, and nodded their heads in agreement.

Boldly, Skippy challenged the dragons to a contest. If she could beat their champion in a boxing match, they would leave; if she lost, she would become their servant.

The dragons immediately liked this idea – how could an Australian Kangaroo hope to defeat a fierce green dragon. They were sure that they were on to a winner – the Kangaroo would soon become their servant.

However, the dragons didn’t know that they were messing with a Boxing Kangaroo. Nor did they know that when a boxing contest promise is not honored, Dreamtime magic says that everybody involved will be turned to bronze.

The dragons agreed to the contest, which was to be held on the bridge that the dragons were controlling. Without delay, before the dragons could change their minds, Skippy stepped onto the bridge. Then, the dragon champion also stepped onto the bridge.

As it did so, the dragon champion’s scaly skin began to change color from green to a deep reddy-purple shade. This made the dragon champion appear even more awesome and scary than before.

As Skippy and the dragon champion faced each other, the sun began to set. The contest started slowly, as the two circled each other. Skippy was aware of the dragon’s claws and its fearsome tail, but most deadly was its fiery breath!

Skippy’s main strength was her feet, but her tail could also deliver a solid blow. As the contest went on, it became apparent that Skippy was more agile than the dragon. Skippy began to use this to frustrate the dragon and to wear it down.

From time to time the dragon managed to score a hit on Skippy, leaving a dark purple mark each time. After a while, Skippy’s coat was showing several patches of purple. Each time the dragon scored a hit on Skippy, the dragon roared in delight. The other three dragons also roared and let out great bursts of fire from their mouths.

Somehow, it seemed as though Skippy could not land any telling blows, either with her feet or her tail. Throughout the night the contest continued, but as it went on, the dragon was becoming slower and scoring fewer hits.

Perhaps Skippy’s strategy was working? Perhaps the dragon was starting to tire?

Part 2: A New Day Brings Fresh Hope

As dawn began to break and the sky started to lighten, the dragon champion was moving much more slowly. The other dragons were also less engaged in the contest, with one even lying down, with its head on its front feet.

Some of the city people had gathered close to the bridge to watch, and occasionally one would call out “dobro opravljeno (well done), Skippy “, causing the green dragons to snarl and shoot long jets of flames in their direction.

As the first rays of sunlight fell onto the bridge, the dragon champion began to squint. Now, it was starting to have difficulty following Skippy as she moved around.

Sensing a weakness in the dragon, Skippy began to move in a circle around the dragon, forcing it to look towards the sunlight. The more the dragon had to look into the sunlight, the more it shook its head as though trying to focus its vision.

Suddenly, Skippy rocked back on her tail, and then propelled forward, hitting the dragon’s scaly side, and forcing it to roll over.

Then, as the dragon tried to regain its footing, Skippy leapt into the air and came down with one big foot on the dragon’s back, and the other on the dragon’s neck. The dragon’s tail was trapped under its body, and it was unable to move its head to use its fiery breath.

At this, the dragon’s scales began to change color very quickly, and within seconds it was no longer purple, but it was green once again.

At last, Skippy had the advantage. She said to the dragon “You are beaten, do you concede?”. The dragon tried to move, but Skippy’s big foot on its neck was too much, even for the dragon champion.

“I concede, I concede” hissed the dragon. The people of the city cheered loudly, the Boxing Kangaroo had won, and soon they would be free of the dragons.

As Skippy took her foot off the dragon champion’s neck and stepped back, the other three dragons suddenly all stood up and started moving towards her. One hissed “We will never leave this bridge, unless you can defeat ALL of us“. Then they started to breathe fire towards Skippy. She was in big trouble!

But Kangaroos know about fire, and Skippy quickly bounded over the dragons’ heads and away from the flames. This was actually what Skippy had been expecting, because she knew that green dragons were very devious and seldom kept their promise. She could still hear Hopper’s words from long ago, “Never, ever trust a dragon !”

Just then, something very unusual happened. The sky rumbled, and dark clouds formed over the bridge. The dragons all looked up at the clouds. But Skippy, knowing what this was, bounded away from the bridge. A clap of thunder was heard, very loud and directly overhead.

All of the dragons scurried to their spots on each side of the bridge. Skippy, meantime, was standing quietly beside a building by the nearby marketplace, waiting.

Then it happened. Each of the dragons turned into bronze, frozen where they stood. Next, the same thing happened to Skippy!

This was the cost that she knew she would pay to bring peace to the city of Ljubljana, and its people. Because the dragons had not honored their promise, powerful Dreamtime magic had turned everyone involved into bronze.

Skippy’s great OSE was over. She would now spend her days fixed inside the bronze, here beside the Ljubljana Marketplace – forever!

Now I understood how and why my old cobber was stuck here, in this far-off land on the other side of the world from her home and Country.

“Skippy, mate”, I whispered, “everyone at home’s been missing you. Dundee reckoned that maybe the great giant croc(odile) must have got you. What can I do to help ? We need to get you home, to your Country, and little Joey !”

Skippy whispered back, “I can’t leave. If I do, the dragons will be released, and will come back to life again. I can’t let the dragons take control of Ljubljana again !”

Skippy waiting for the Dreamtime magic to strike

“Do you mean that you are here forever ?”, I whispered

Skippy responded, “There is a way, perhaps. If you can get enough people, all over the world, to believe in Dreamtime magic, to say out aloud I believe in Dreamtime magic, and to keep on believing, then one day when there are enough believers, I can be released from this bronze. But the dragons will stay fixed in their bronze.”

She continued, “Now, until that all happens, you can come here anytime, to visit me. Just one other thing, don’t let the dragons hear what you’re doing. That’s why we need to whisper, because their hearing is very good. And, they also have powerful telepathic minds, so they can use their thoughts to make people disbelieve.”

Skippy needs our help so she can be released from the bronze

So, Skippy has given me the secret to how she can be released.

Now it is up to us, all of us, together, which is why I am telling you this story.

If enough of us believe in Dreamtime magic, and if we say out loud that we believe, one day Skippy can be released from the bronze. And when that happens, maybe she will be able to go home to her Country in Australia.

Do you believe? If you do, will you say out aloud with me, that we believe?

A Green Dragon, frozen in bronze, at the Dragon Bridge

Let’s do it now, let’s say out aloud:

“I believe in Dreamtime magic!”

(and remember – we need to remember)

Skippy’s offspring, Joey, in the outback near Uluru

Postscript:

If you do go to beautiful Ljubljana, Skippy’s bronze drinking fountain can be found outside the Puppet Theatre, in Krekov Trg (Krek Square). It is one of Ljubljana’s attractive fountain sculptures.

You will also see the four green dragons, frozen in bronze on the corners of the bridge. Now, you know the story behind how, and why, they are there. They were defeated by one very brave Aussie Boxing Kangaroo.