24 March 2026
24 March 2026
In a quiet place, not too far from here, there was a village where everything moved just a little too fast.
The sun seemed to rush across the sky.
The wind hurried through the trees.
Even the birds sounded like they were in a hurry when they sang.
And in that village lived a boy named Marlo.
Marlo was a good kid.
He liked climbing trees, building things, and making up games with his friends.
But lately… things hadn’t been going well.
At school, his teacher said he was “too much.”
At home, his mum said he wasn’t listening.
With his friends, games kept turning into arguments.
Marlo didn’t understand.
“I’m not trying to be bad,” he said one night, lying in bed.
“But everything keeps going wrong.”
That night, something strange happened.
A soft glow appeared in the corner of his room.
Out stepped a tall figure, made of light and leaves, with eyes that looked like the sky just before sunset.
“Who are you?” Marlo whispered.
“I am Bundjil,” the figure said gently.
“I watch how people live… and how systems move.”
Marlo blinked. “Systems?”
Bundjil smiled.
“The invisible things around you. The way your day moves. The way people speak. The time you have… or don’t have.”
Marlo sat up. “I think my system is broken.”
Bundjil nodded slowly. “Let’s go and see.”
⸻
In an instant, they were standing in Marlo’s classroom.
But something was different.
Everything was moving really fast.
The teacher was talking quickly.
Kids were rushing through their work.
The clock on the wall was spinning faster than it should.
Marlo watched himself sitting at his desk.
He looked tense.
His legs were bouncing.
His eyes kept darting around.
Then the teacher said, “Marlo, focus!”
And Marlo saw himself snap.
“I am focusing!” he shouted.
The whole class went quiet.
Marlo looked at Bundjil. “See? I told you. I mess things up.”
Bundjil shook his head.
“Look again.”
Marlo watched more carefully this time.
He noticed how fast everything was.
How tight his body looked.
How there was no space to breathe, think, or slow down.
“It’s… too fast,” Marlo said quietly.
Bundjil nodded.
“When time runs too fast, people don’t feel safe inside themselves.”
“So… I’m not just being bad?” Marlo asked.
“No,” Bundjil said gently.
“You are trying to keep up with a system that is moving too quickly.”
⸻
Then they were at home.
It was bedtime.
Marlo watched himself playing on the bed, laughing.
His mum looked tired.
“Come on, it’s bedtime,” she said.
But everything felt rushed again.
No slow down.
No gentle moment.
No time to settle.
“Stop mucking around!” she snapped.
Marlo saw himself get louder.
“No!”
And suddenly, it was a fight.
Marlo looked down.
“I hate that part,” he whispered.
Bundjil placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Neither of you are the problem.”
“Then what is?”
“The time,” Bundjil said.
“When there is not enough time for your body to slow down,
your body will try to stay fast.”
⸻
Marlo sat quietly for a moment.
“So… what do I do?”
Bundjil smiled.
“You don’t fix yourself.”
“You change the rhythm.”
⸻
The next day, Marlo tried something different.
At school, when things felt fast, he slowed his breath.
At home, before bed, he said:
“Can we have a slow-down time first?”
His mum looked surprised… but she said yes.
They sat together.
They talked.
They breathed.
And something changed.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The village didn’t stop being fast overnight.
But Marlo was no longer trying to outrun it.
He was learning how to move differently inside it.
⸻
That night, as Marlo fell asleep, he whispered:
“Maybe I’m not the problem.”
And for the first time in a long time…
His body felt calm.
The next night, Bundjil returned.
“Ready to learn something new?” he asked.
Marlo nodded.
⸻
They stepped into a great forest.
Tall trees.
Soft ground.
Animals moving quietly through the shadows.
“This forest,” Bundjil said,
“is like a system.”
Marlo looked around.
“It feels calm.”
Bundjil smiled. “It is. But watch what happens when things change.”
⸻
Suddenly, the wind picked up.
The trees swayed.
The sky darkened.
The forest became unstable.
And as it did… the animals began to change.
⸻
First, Marlo saw a kangaroo.
It stood tall, alert, scanning everything.
“What’s it doing?” Marlo asked.
“It’s protecting,” Bundjil said.
“When things feel unsafe, some step up and take control.”
⸻
Then he saw a small possum.
It quickly climbed high into a tree and stayed very still.
“It’s hiding,” Marlo said.
“It’s withdrawing,” Bundjil explained.
“Some move away to stay safe.”
⸻
Next, a magpie flew down between two arguing birds.
It chirped softly, trying to calm them.
“It’s helping,” Marlo said.
“It’s regulating,” Bundjil said.
“Some try to keep balance.”
⸻
Then came a loud cockatoo.
It screeched.
Flapped wildly.
Pushed everything away.
“That one’s angry,” Marlo said.
“It’s escalating,” Bundjil said.
“Sometimes loud is what happens when things feel out of control.”
⸻
Marlo looked around.
“So… they’re all different?”
“Yes,” Bundjil said.
“But they’re all responding to the same thing.”
“The storm.”
⸻
The wind began to settle.
The trees slowed.
The forest softened.
And one by one…
The animals changed again.
The kangaroo relaxed.
The possum came down.
The magpie flew off.
The cockatoo went quiet.
⸻
“They’re different now,” Marlo said.
Bundjil nodded.
“They didn’t change because someone told them to.”
“They changed because the system became safe again.”
⸻
Marlo thought for a moment.
“So… when I get loud… or silly… or don’t listen…”
Bundjil looked at him gently.
“What might be happening?”
Marlo smiled a little.
“Maybe… there’s a storm.”
⸻
Bundjil smiled.
“Exactly.”
⸻
As they returned home, Marlo asked one last question.
“Will there always be storms?”
Bundjil nodded.
“Yes.”
“But now you know something important.”
“What?” Marlo asked.
“You are not the storm.”
“You are someone learning how to move within it.”
⸻
That night, as Marlo drifted off to sleep, he imagined the forest.
Calm.
Steady.
Breathing slowly.
And deep inside, he knew:
He wasn’t a “bad kid.”
He was just learning how to find calm in a fast-moving world.
Relational Law Psychology, RLP, story for bubups.