Animal at Large

bad she hadn’t dusted the rug better.
Ah, but there they were: pictures of sparrows, of red-winged blackbirds, of…
She dashed outside.
She tiptoed across the patio.
“Hey,” she whispered. “I solved the mystery.”
“Tough,” came the voice.
“It’s a rare bird,” she said. “An Amazon parrot missing from the zoo.”
“A talking bird,” Sumiko said.
Sumiko sat at the table. She played with the torn papers. “You’re right,” she said. “It all fits.”
“Wow,” Ken said. “Hanging out in our sticker bush. Eating the seed. A parrot who says…”
“Tough,” came the voice.
Tori tiptoed to the sticker bush. She pulled a branch aside. Never mind the scratch she’d get.
She had to get a look at the bird.
It sat on the highest branch, staring down at her with shiny dark eyes. Its coat was bright green.
It threw its head back and…
Was it laughing?
Tori smiled as she ran across to Nana-Next-Door’s house. Nana would bring the bird back where it would be safe.
And then, Tori would write her life story.
It wouldn’t be boring.
She lived on Zoo Lane, next to a zoo.
She had a brother who tried new things. And one of them worked.
Her cousin and best friend came from Tokyo, Japan.
She kept Kimi indoors. It helped the wildlife.
And she had found a rare Amazon parrot. And mostly because of a dusty rug.
Miss Raymond would love it.
She loved it too.

MORE ABOUT WILD ANIMALS AMAZON PARROTS
Some parrots are green with red tails. Others have bright blue fronts. Some have orange wings, and some have yellow on their foreheads. Parrots are friendly. They can be trained to talk, sounding like people. Tough! Some live as long as forty or fifty years.
OSTRICHES
They’re the largest birds, and because they can weigh up to three hundred pounds, they can’t fly! But they can run! When running long distances, they can travel about thirty miles an hour. But when they’re in a hurry, watch out! They can run sixty miles an hour when they are covering short distances. They like veggies, but will settle for insects if they have to.