Parrot to the Rescue in Dutch by Mia Bowen Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved
	Jack and Lisa were on school holidays, but it hadn't been a fun holidays yet. It had been raining every day!
"Look!" cried Jack, pointing out the window. "Finally the sun is out!" "Why don't you go on a picnic? You can spend all day outside," suggested Mum.
	First they went down to the shed to find Piet. "Dag! Waar gaan we vandaag naartoe?" squawked Piet.
"Wij gaan naar het meer picknicken," replied Jack.
	"Laten we naar het meer gaan!" squawked Piet. And with a big flap of the wings, he was off leading the way up the path.
"Het is warm," said Lisa, wiping her face with her hand. "Ik moet iets drinken." "Ik heb ook dorst," said Jack. "Waar is de limonade?"
Suddenly, something large swooped down from the sky towards Lisa. Lisa screamed, "Au!! Help! Help me!"
It was a ferocious magpie and she was on the attack. She thought they were too close to her nest.
"Wat gebeurt er?" cried Jack in alarm. "Ga weg!" shouted Jack, flapping his arms around his head as the magpie targeted him. "Ik zal jullie helpen!" squawked Piet. He chased the magpie high up into the tree, while Jack and Lisa disappeared down the path.
	They ran and ran and ran until they were out of breath ... "Slow down!" cried Lisa. "I think we're lost! I can't see the way to the lake any more."
Lisa looked up into the sky and saw Piet flying above. "Stop, Piet!" called Lisa. "We zijn verdwaald! Waar is het pad? We kunnen het niet vinden."
	"Ik kan het voor jullie vinden!" squawked Piet as he zoomed down through the trees and along the path. "Volg mij!" he screeched.
"Langzamer!" puffed Jack. "Wij kunnen niet vliegen zoals jij! Wij moeten door het bos heen lopen," he called.
"Daar is het meer! Uiteindelijk!" cried Lisa.
"Bedankt voor al jouw hulp, Piet!" said Jack. "Graag gedaan," replied Piet, preening his feathers in embarrassment.
	They sat down beside the lake and started to set up their picnic.
First, they started with some fruit. Piet called out as his favourite food appeared out of the backpack ...
"... een perzik, aardbeien, abrikozen, een banaan, een sinaasappel ..."
"... kersen, een peer, druiven ..."
Piet eyed all the food with interest as it was placed on the picnic blanket. "Ik heb erge honger. Mag ik een hapje proeven, alsjeblieft?" he asked, bobbing his head towards a slice of fruit cake.
...............	"Niet eten!" said Lisa, grabbing the cake. "Het is met mieren bedekt." She tried to brush all the ants off. It was difficult. "De mieren hebben honger ..." said Jack. "En ze eten graag koek." "Maak jullie geen zorgen!" squawked Piet. "Ik hou van koek en ik hou ook van mieren!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Ugghhhh!" laughed Jack and Lisa together.
"Het brood!" squawked Piet. "Heb je aan het brood gedacht?" "Ja," replied Lisa. "Ik heb het niet vergeten." Piet happily grabbed a chunk of bread in his beak.
"Heb je kaas?" asked Jack. "Zeker! Alsjeblieft," replied Lisa as she pulled it out of the backpack. "Geef me alsjeblieft ook een mes," he added. "Bedankt," mumbled Jack through a mouthful of cheese and bread. They all ate for a while, chatting and laughing together.
"Hebben jullie genoeg?" asked Lisa. "Willen jullie nog wat hebben?" "Nee ... Ik heb buikpijn. Mischien was het te veel," said Jack. "Nooit!" squawked Piet. They all laughed.
They spent the rest of the afternoon climbing trees, exploring and running around.
The sun was starting to get very low in the sky. "Het is laat," squawked Piet. "Ja, we moeten nu naar huis," said Jack.
They packed up their things and headed home down the path away from the lake .... tired, happy and not the slightest bit hungry. Soon they could see the roof of their house through the trees. It was good to be home.
...............	Magpie was happy to be alone again. She was even happier when she discovered some bread they had left behind.