Parrot's Cave in Greek by Mia Bowen Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved

Jack and Lisa were spending their summer holidays at their Grandma's house by the seaside.

"Go play on the beach," suggested Grandma. "But all we've found are washed up jellyfish, broken shells and smelly old seaweed," grumbled Jack.

"Then go and feed the old parrot in the shed," said Grandma. "He used to belong to the old Greek fisherman who lived next door. He used to take him everywhere he went." Jack and Lisa walked down to the dark old shed at the back of the yard. They opened the door, not knowing what to expect.

An ear-splitting screech made Jack and Lisa leap back in fright. The big old bird, was perched on the back of a broken chair, slowly flapping his colourful wings back and forth.

Without taking his beady black eyes off them, the parrot slowly settled back onto his wooden perch. In a loud voice, he screeched, "Γειά σας!"

"He's speaking Greek to us!" exclaimed Lisa. Jack and Lisa had just started learning Greek that year at school with Mrs Papadopoulou. But Mrs Papadopoulou hadn't mentioned Greek-speaking parrots in class before!

"Γειά σου! Πώς σε λένε;" asked Jack. "Με λένε Πέτρο," replied the parrot.

"Do you want to go for a walk with us," asked Jack, not expecting an answer. "Ας πάμε! Ας πάμε!" replied Petros, and flew straight out the open door. "Ας πάμε στην παραλία!" "Yes, let's go!" shouted Lisa and ran down towards the beach. Suddenly the day was looking a lot more exciting for Jack and Lisa.

Jack, Lisa and Petros carefully climbed down the crumbling cliff steps onto the beach. "Γρήγορα!" squawked Petros.

A few fishermen pointed and waved from their boats. They recognised the old parrot from years before.

"Look at the colourful huts!" exclaimed Lisa, pointing at the old bathing huts. Each hut had a different coloured door.

κίτρινο ...... πορτοκαλί ...... ροζ ...... κόκκινο ...... μωβ ...... πράσινο

yellow ... orange ... pink ... red ... purple ... green blue ... brown ... grey ... black ... white

γαλάζιο ..... μπλε ..... καφέ ..... γκρι ..... μαύρο ..... λευκό

Suddenly Petros flew up and past the huts, past the rocks and around the corner to the next beach.

Jack and Lisa chased Petros and saw him fly into a dark cave at the base of a cliff. Jack called out to him, "Πού είσαι;" He heard Petros call, "Ελάτε εδώ!" Jack and Lisa hesitated. Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea.

A small stream flowed out of the cave, collecting in a wide rock pool blocking the entrance, before running off into the waves. "Είμαι εδώ," called out Petros's voice as they entered the dark cave. "Υπάρχουν θησαυροί εκεί," squawked Petros. "Αλλά … προσέξτε!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Treasure?" she whispered.

Petros flew towards twelve large rocks sitting in the pool of water. He landed on the closest one and started to count as he hopped from one to another...

"Ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, εφτά, οχτώ, εννιά, δέκα, έντεκα … και … δώδεκα."

He immediately started splashing in the water around the rock, hopping and squawking in excitement.

"I think Petros wants us to lift up the rock," said Lisa. "Ναι, ναι!" squawked Petros. Jack and Lisa started to dig under the rock and tried to lift up the rock.

"Μη, μη!" screeched Petros. "Πρόσεχε!" A large nipper suddenly appeared from underneath the rock and just missed Jack's fingers.

Jack slipped back on the slimy rock and fell into the water, splashing all of them. He chased the crab away and managed to push the rock aside. He dug deeper and deeper.

"Κοιτάξτε, κοιτάξτε!" squawked Petros. "There's something in there!" shouted Lisa in excitement. They both reached down and uncovered a box buried in the sand.

Jack lifted it out of the sand and placed it on a rock ledge. "Πολύ καλά!" squawked Petros.

"Άνοιξε το κουτί! Άνοιξε το! " squawked Petros. Lisa opened the lid of the old wooden box. A soggy leather bag lay inside. When she shook the bag, some gold coins fell out. They glinted and gleamed in the light.

Lisa picked them up in amazement. They were heavy and looked extrememly old. "Let's take them home and show Grandma," said Jack.

"Oh no!" cried Lisa when they turned back towards the entrance of the cave. It was now blocked by the waves of the incoming tide.

"Στο σπίτι! Στο σπίτι!" squawked Petros. He flew towards the back of the cave. "Follow Petros home," called out Lisa. He looks like he knows where he's going. Petros called out instructions in the gloom of the cave.

"Όλο ευθεία ..." They followed him straight towards the back of the cave. "Αριστερά ..." They turned left into a narrow tunnel ... "Δεξιά ..." The cave suddenly twisted to the right and ended in a huge jumble of dry rocks.

"Μπράβο!" squawked Petros from above. They all climbed to safety back on the beach and returned home with the gold pieces.

Grandma couldn't believe her eyes when they arrived with their gleaming gold coins. "This must be the luckiest parrot in the world!" she exclaimed.

"And the smartest!" added Lisa. "I will be so sad when we have to leave." "Αντίο," squawked Petros sadly.

Grandma smiled. "But you can take him with you!" "He'll be much happier living with you two." "I can just imagine the adventures you three will have!"

"Now let's celebrate with some cake!" "Πολύ νοστιμό!" they all cried out together.