Dink And Donk Short Story & Audiobook Series: Episode 4 - Go With The Floe

Go With The Floe

When Dink stepped out of her BubbleBus this morning, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Arriving on Earth with a *POP!*, she was greeted by hundreds of barking, whiskered, giant—–

“Walruses!” shouted Donk the moose. He was excited to see his friend Dink again. 

“Why are they all here?” asked Dink.

“For the once-a-year International Walrus Obstacle Course Race!” declared Donk.

Donk explained that many of these walruses had come from far away. “Including Lars!” added Donk. 

“Lars?”

“Last year’s champion! He’s from Sweden. He doesn’t like giving autographs, but I’m hoping to get one anyway.”

“What’s an autograph?” asked Dink.

Donk explained that usually an autograph is someone signing their name on a piece of paper. But walruses don’t know how to do that.

“So I’m gonna ask him to slobber on this rock,” said Donk, holding up a rock. 

They watched the walruses practise their speed-flopping before the race. The walruses bounced on their bellies across the snowy field as fast as they could. Dink thought it looked fun.

“I’ve never seen anyone flop before,” said Dink. She explained that on her planet of Husharoon, it’s very crowded. Husharoonians aren’t allowed to move in ways that take up lots of space.

“You’ve never flopped?!” asked Donk. “Oh, you should try it!”

Dink did try it. She lay on her tummy and tried flopping her way forward. The cold snow tickled her tum.

“Hmm. Not bad for your first try,” said Donk. “Now I’m gonna try.”

Dink enjoyed watching her friend, the moose, try to flop on the ground like a walrus. It looked rather silly, but she was too kind to tell him so. She saw a walrus standing nearby, also watching Donk. So she gave the walrus a Hearring to wear. Then he could understand what she and Donk were saying.

“See, Dink?!” said Donk as he flopped. “Flopping is easy! Walruses make a big deal about it. But, really, anyone can do it!”

Then Donk accidentally flopped right into the walrus. *PLOOMP-OOF!* The bump surprised Donk. Then the bump amazed Donk. 

“Dink!” Donk whispered. “It’s Lars!”

“The champion walrus flopper?” asked Dink.

Yes, Donk had bumped into Lars-the-champion! He was wearing an upside-down bird’s nest, like a crown, on his head. But the walrus did not look happy.

“So, you think walruses make a big deal out of flopping,” said Lars.

“Oh, uh...” stammered Donk, “well...a little? Just a teensy bit?”

“A teensy bit?!” said Lars, getting more annoyed.

“Donk,” Dink whispered. “Don’t make him more upset!” Dink turned to Lars. “Hi. My name is Dink. My friend Donk really admires you. He was wondering if he could get your autograph?”

“You think I should give my autograph,” said Lars, “to a moose who thinks he can flop as well as a walrus? I can walk on all fours like a moose better than this Donk can flop on his belly!”

“Oh, yeah?!” said Donk. “Should we have a race to prove it!?”

“JA!” said Lars, nodding.

“Oh, dear,” said Dink.

“And what will be the prize?” Donk asked.

“Hmm,” said Lars. “How about...a big pile of fish?”

“Ew,” said Donk. Moose don’t like fish.

Then Lars took the bird’s nest off his head and said, “Okay, then. This is the crown from last year’s International Walrus Obstacle Course Race. It’s an old goose nest. This shall be the prize for the winner!”

“Now we’re talking!” said Donk. “Let’s do this!”

Dink worried that this race was a bad idea. Maybe Donk should leave flopping to the flopping experts. But before she could say anything, Lars turned to her and said, “And you, little Dink, shall be the referee.”

“The what?”

“The one who makes sure there is no cheating,” said Lars. “You’re not a moose and you’re not a walrus. You are a perfect referee!”

Minutes later, Dink found herself saying, “On your marks, get set, GO!” 

Lars and Donk flopped and grunted across the snowy field. Dink ran after them to make sure they both followed the rules.

They had designed the race to be a mix of flopping (easier for Lars) and trotting (easier for Donk). Dink ran hard to keep up. Lars and Donk slid down icy hills, rolled through rocky arches, scampered up snowy banks and jumped across gurgling streams.

One of the final obstacles in the race was by the edge of the sea. Dink stood on a large piece of ice that stuck out from the land onto the surface of the water.  

Dink was ready to referee this part of the race. Donk and Lars had to flop onto the ice, twirl without falling into the sea and then flop off again towards the finish line. 

Lars was beating Donk by quite a bit. He approached the ice where Dink was standing.  She found it thrilling to have a walrus leap right towards her! Lars handled the flop-twirl-flop move with ease, then went off to finish the race.

Now Donk was heading her way. He launched himself high into the air and landed on the ice with a thump, right next to Dink.

*CRRRRRACK!*

The chunk of ice that Donk and Dink were standing on broke away from land. It began floating out to sea!

“Oh, no,” said Donk. “We’re trapped on this floating ice island!”

“What should we do?!” Dink asked.

Donk didn’t know. They floated further and further away from the land. Dink and Donk could try swimming back to shore. But they each dipped a toe and hoof into the water and knew that swimming wasn’t possible.

“BRRRRR!” said Donk.

“That water’s freezing!” said Dink.  

Dink could see her BubbleBus glowing in the distance. If she didn’t get back to the Bubble soon, it would POP without her. She’d miss her chance to return home.

Donk apologised. He told Dink he shouldn’t have picked a fight with Lars. Donk said he was too proud of his flopping to admit how amazing Lars is.

*SIGH!*

Donk was upset and sorry. But what Donk didn’t know was that Lars was in the water right behind them! Lars had heard everything Donk had said.

“Well, moose, I accept your apology,” said Lars. He used his powerful flippers to push the ice back towards the shore.

“It’s Lars! He came back to help us!” Dink exclaimed.

“You didn’t finish the race?!” asked Donk.

“How could I finish when I saw my friends were in trouble?” said Lars.

Donk was very happy to hear Lars call him a friend. They both agreed that walruses are better at doing walrus things and moose are better at doing moose things. And that nobody was better at being Dink than Dink. 

Back on shore, Lars picked up a rock, slobbered on it and handed it to Donk. Donk gasped.

“Your autograph!” said Donk with a huge smile.

Dink smiled too, as she waved goodbye to the moose and walrus. Then she squeezed into her BubbleBus aaaaand...*POP!* She was gone.

The End