The Reindeer and the Star Scout

Sam loved the night. Tucked into his backyard, which snuggled right up against a forest full of whispering gum trees, he felt like the world's greatest explorer. With his special Cub Scout scarf wrapped warmly around his neck, he peered through his telescope, connecting the sparkly dots in the inky black sky. 'There you are, Southern Cross,' he'd whisper, feeling like he was saying g'day to an old friend.

Suddenly, a swooshing, whooshing sound tumbled through the air, ending with a soft *THUMP* and a jingle-jangle. Sam lowered his telescope and saw a young reindeer, no bigger than a Labrador, tangled in his mum’s washing line! One of its antlers glowed with a faint, flickering light. 'G'day,' the reindeer mumbled, looking a bit wobbly. 'My tummy-compass went whizz-fizz-pop, and now I'm completely lost! I need to get back to the North Pole.'

Sam, remembering his Cub Scout handbook, sprang into action. 'Don't you worry! A good scout is always prepared!' He found a gum leaf, magnetised his mum's sewing pin on his woolly jumper, and floated it in a puddle. But instead of pointing north, the leaf-compass just spun around and around, caught in the reindeer's fizzy magic. 'Oh, dear,' sighed the reindeer, whose name was Pip. 'It's no use. I'll never get home.'

Pip's sad eyes looked up at the sky, and so did Sam's. And that's when he saw it. His friend! 'Pip, I don't need a leaf-compass!' he exclaimed. 'Look!' He pointed to the bright, kite-shaped group of stars. 'That's the Southern Cross! It always points south. So to get to the North Pole, we just have to fly the other way!' Pip’s wobbly antler buzzed with hope. 'Hop on!' he said. Sam scrambled onto Pip's back, held on tight, and shouted, 'To the north, Pip! Follow the stars!'

And whoosh! They were off! They flew higher than the tallest gum tree, soaring through the starry blanket of the night. With the Southern Cross at their backs, they zoomed across oceans and over sleepy towns until the air grew chilly and the ground below turned white with snow. They had made it! Pip was home. As a thank you, Pip gave Sam a tiny, silver bell from his harness. 'If you ever need a friend, just ring this,' he whispered, before a magical gust of wind gently carried Sam all the way back home, tucking him right into his own bed just as the sun began to peek over the horizon.