Parrot to the Rescue in Maltese 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. "Bonġu! Fejn ħa mmorru llum?" squawked Piet.
"Aħna sejrin ħdejn l-għadira għall-piknik," replied Jack.
	"Ejja mmorru ħdejn l-għadira!" squawked Piet. And with a big flap of the wings, he was off leading the way up the path.
"Is-sħana," said Lisa, wiping her face with her hand. "Għandi bżonn nixrob xi ħaġa." "Anki jien bil-għatx," said Jack. "Fejn hi l-luminata?"
Suddenly, something large swooped down from the sky towards Lisa. Lisa screamed, "Ajma!! Ajjut! Ajjut!"
It was a ferocious magpie and she was on the attack. She thought they were too close to her nest.
"X'ġara?" cried Jack in alarm. "Itlaq!" shouted Jack, flapping his arms around his head as the magpie targeted him. "Jien naqbeż għalikom!" 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. "Ieqaf, Piet!" called Lisa. "Intlifna! Fejn hu l-passaġġ? Ma nistgħux insibuh."
	"Jien nista' insibulkom!" squawked Piet as he zoomed down through the trees and along the path. "Imxu warajja!" he screeched.
"Bil-mod!" puffed Jack. "Aħna ma nistgħux intiru bħalek! Ser ikollna ngħaddu mill-buxx," he called.
"Hemm hi l-għadira! Fl-aħħar!" cried Lisa.
"Grazzi tal-għajnuna tiegħek, Piet!" said Jack. "M'hemmx imniex," 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 ...
"... ħawħa, frawli, berquq, banana, larinġa ..."
"... ċirasa, lanġasa, għeneb ..."
Piet eyed all the food with interest as it was placed on the picnic blanket. "Mejjet bil-ġuħ. Nista' nduqu, jekk jogħġbok?" he asked, bobbing his head towards a slice of fruit cake.
...............	"Tiklux!" said Lisa, grabbing the cake. "Mimli nemel." She tried to brush all the ants off. It was difficult. "In-nemel hu bil-ġuħ ..." said Jack. "U jħobb il-kejk." "Tinkwetax!" squawked Piet. "Jien inħobb il-kejk u nħobb in-nemel ukoll!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Ugghhhh!" laughed Jack and Lisa together.
"Il-ħobż!" squawked Piet. "Ġibtu l-ħobż?" "Iva," replied Lisa. "Ma nsejtux." Piet happily grabbed a chunk of bread in his beak.
"Għandek ġobon?" asked Jack. "Daż-żgur! Hawn hu," replied Lisa as she pulled it out of the backpack. "Agħtini sikkina wkoll, jekk jogħġbok," he added. "Grazzi," mumbled Jack through a mouthful of cheese and bread. They all ate for a while, chatting and laughing together.
"Daqshekk biżżejjed?" asked Lisa. "Tridu iżjed?" "Le ... Għandi wġigħ ta' stonku. Forsi kilt iżżejjed," said Jack. "Ħallina minnek!" 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. "Qed jidlam," squawked Piet. "Iva, issa għandna mmorru d-dar," 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.