Parrot to the Rescue in Italian 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 Pietro. "Ciao! Dove andiamo oggi?" squawked Pietro.
"Andiamo a fare un picnic al lago," replied Jack.
	"Andiamo al lago!" squawked Pietro. And with a big flap of the wings, he was off leading the way up the path.
"Fa caldo," said Lisa, wiping her face with her hand. "Ho bisogno di qualcosa da bere." "Anche io ho sete," said Jack. "Dov'è la limonata?"
Suddenly, something large swooped down from the sky towards Lisa. Lisa screamed, "Ahi!! Aiuto! Aiutami!"
It was a ferocious magpie and she was on the attack. She thought they were too close to her nest.
"Che succede?" cried Jack in alarm. "Va' via!" shouted Jack, flapping his arms around his head as the magpie targeted him. "Vi aiuterò!" squawked Pietro. 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 Pietro flying above. "Fermati, Pietro!" called Lisa. "Ci siamo persi! Dov'è il sentiero? Non possiamo trovarlo."
	"Posso trovarlo per voi!" squawked Pietro as he zoomed down through the trees and along the path. "Seguitemi!" he screeched.
"Rallenta!" puffed Jack. "Non sappiamo volare come te! Dobbiamo passare attraverso la boscaglia," he called.
"Ecco il lago! Finalmente!" cried Lisa.
"Grazie per tutto il tuo aiuto, Pietro!" said Jack. "Prego," replied Pietro, preening his feathers in embarrassment.
	They sat down beside the lake and started to set up their picnic.
First, they started with some fruit. Pietro called out as his favourite food appeared out of the backpack ...
"... una pesca, fragole, albicocche, una banana, un'arancia ..."
"... ciliegie, una pera, un grappolo d'uva ..."
Pietro eyed all the food with interest as it was placed on the picnic blanket. "Ho molta fome. Posso provarla, per favore?" he asked, bobbing his head towards a slice of fruit cake.
...............	"Non la mangiare!" said Lisa, grabbing the cake. "È coperta di formiche." She tried to brush all the ants off. It was difficult. "Le formiche hanno fome ..." said Jack. "E gli piace la torta." "Non vi preoccuparte!" squawked Pietro. "Mi piace la torta e mi piacciono anche le formiche!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Ugghhhh!" laughed Jack and Lisa together.
"Il pane!" squawked Pietro. "Ti sei ricordata del pane?" "Sì," replied Lisa. "non l'ho dimenticato." Pietro happily grabbed a chunk of bread in his beak.
"Hai formaggio?" asked Jack. "Certo! Ecco," replied Lisa as she pulled it out of the backpack. "Dammi un coltello, per favore," he added. "Grazie," mumbled Jack through a mouthful of cheese and bread. They all ate for a while, chatting and laughing together.
"È sufficiente?" asked Lisa. "Ne volete ancora?" "No ... Ho mal di stomaco. Forse era troppo," said Jack. "Mai!" squawked Pietro. 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. "È tardi," squawked Pietro. "Sì, ora dobbiamo ritornare a casa," 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.