Parrot to the Rescue in German 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 Peter. "Hallo! Wohin gehen wir heute?" squawked Peter.
"Wir machen ein Picknick am See," replied Jack.
	"Lasst uns zum See gehen!" squawked Peter. And with a big flap of the wings, he was off leading the way up the path.
"Es ist heiß," said Lisa, wiping her face with her hand. "Ich brauche etwas zu trinken." "Ich habe auch Durst," said Jack. "Wo ist die Limonade?"
Suddenly, something large swooped down from the sky towards Lisa. Lisa screamed, "Au!! Hilfe! Hilf mir!"
It was a ferocious magpie and she was on the attack. She thought they were too close to her nest.
"Was ist los?" cried Jack in alarm. "Geh weg!" shouted Jack, flapping his arms around his head as the magpie targeted him. "Ich werde euch helfen!" squawked Peter. 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 Peter flying above. "Halt, Peter!" called Lisa. "Wir haben uns verlaufen! Wo ist der Pfad? Wir können ihn nicht finden."
	"Ich kann euch hinführen!" squawked Peter as he zoomed down through the trees and along the path. "Folgt mir!" he screeched.
"Langsamer!" puffed Jack. "Wir können nicht wie du fliegen! Wir müssen durch den Busch laufen," he called.
"Da ist der See! Endlich!" cried Lisa.
"Danke für all deine Hilfe, Peter!" said Jack. "Gern geschehen," replied Peter, preening his feathers in embarrassment.
	They sat down beside the lake and started to set up their picnic.
First, they started with some fruit. Peter called out as his favourite food appeared out of the backpack ...
"... ein Pfirsich, Erdbeeren, Abrikosen, eine Banane, eine Apfelsine ..."
"... Kirschen, eine Birne, Weintrauben ..."
Peter eyed all the food with interest as it was placed on the picnic blanket. "Ich habe großen Hunger. Darf ich bitte ein Stück davon probieren?" he asked, bobbing his head towards a slice of fruit cake.
...............	"Nicht essen!" said Lisa, grabbing the cake. "Er ist voller Ameisen." She tried to brush all the ants off. It was difficult. "Die Ameisen haben Hunger ..." said Jack. "Und sie essen gern Kuchen." "Macht euch keine Sorgen!" squawked Peter. "Ich liebe Kuchen und Ameisen liebe ich auch!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Ugghhhh!" laughed Jack and Lisa together.
"Das Brot!" squawked Peter. "Hast du an das Brot gedacht?" "Ja," replied Lisa. "Ich habe es nicht vergessen." Peter happily grabbed a chunk of bread in his beak.
"Hast du Käse?" asked Jack. "Klar! Hier hast du welchen," replied Lisa as she pulled it out of the backpack. "Gib mir bitte auch ein Messer," he added. "Danke," mumbled Jack through a mouthful of cheese and bread. They all ate for a while, chatting and laughing together.
"Reicht das?" asked Lisa. "Möchtet ihr noch etwas?" "Nein ... Ich habe Magenschmerzen. Vielleicht war das zu viel," said Jack. "Niemals!" squawked Peter. 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. "Es wird spät," squawked Peter. "Ja, wir müssen jetzt nach Hause," 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.