Seth has recently moved to Seattle with his mom, where they live with his new stepdad and stepsister, Beatrice, on a hill above Puget Sound. Seth’s stepdad works for the city and seems like a nice guy, but Seth is unhappy about the change. One summer day, Seth and Beatrice watch as a new neighbor, Mrs. Kadima, moves in next door. When the moving men carry into the house a large object covered with a sheet, Seth and Beatrice are curious, especially when they hear a voice under the sheet screaming, “Jambo! Jambo!” When they go over to introduce themselves, they learn that Mrs. Kadima is from Kenya, in Africa. Her husband, James, has died, and she has come to Seattle to live near her son.
Mrs. Kadima invites the children into her house, where they see baskets and carvings from Kenya, a photograph of her family standing beneath a spreading tree, and an African grey parrot named Asha, a word that means “hope” in Swahili. Mrs. Kadima says that Asha is very smart, but she misses James and doesn’t know why she is in a new place. When Seth tries to feed Asha a bean, she accidentally nips his hand.
Seth and Beatrice come back the next day with snacks for Asha. Seth points out a bare spot on Asha’s chest, and Mrs. Kadima says that Asha has been plucking out her feathers because she is angry about the move. Mrs. Kadima encourages Seth to try giving Asha one of the treats they’ve brought. Seth carefully opens the cage door, and Asha wraps her claws around his finger and snaps up the grape. Just then, Seth’s mother knocks and opens the front door of the house to call them to lunch. “With a beating of wings, Asha was gone.”
WE DASHED OUTSIDE in time to see Asha flying up high into a pine tree.
Nobody could get her down. All the neighbors came out and took turns calling, but that didn’t help. Asha hopped from one branch to the next, staring down at us with her smart, black eyes. Every time Mrs. Kadima went close, Asha climbed up to another branch.
My mother put her hand on Mrs. Kadima’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she kept saying.
Mrs. Kadima smiled and shook her head in a worried way. “If my husband were here, Asha would fly straight to him. James was good with animals, just like your son, Seth. Is Seth’s father also good with animals?”
Esta historia es de la edición July/August 2017 de Cricket Magazine for Kids.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July/August 2017 de Cricket Magazine for Kids.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
The Tale Of Paddy Ahern
THERE ONCE WAS a lad named Paddy Ahern who trod the green hills of Limerick, Ireland, offering to help farmers with their chores in return for food and lodging.
The Pedestrians
EACH TIME HELGA Estby looked over her shoulder, the big cat was there. Crossing Wyoming’s Red Desert on foot, in the dust and heat of August 1896, was tough.
The Magic Gifts
A Basque Folk Tale
The Dragon's Scales
“THREE YEARS I'VE been waiting, when Torquil promised he’d return them in three days. I’m not waiting three more days to get back what’s mine!” The dragon punctuated his remarks with a smoky snort and a lashing tail.
The Water Bucketre
A Chinese Folk Tale.
Between The Pages
One rainy night, while alone in the castle library with her talking gargoyle, Marcus, Princess Audrey finds a book with the odd title Finding Angel. Meanwhile, in modern times, a girl named Angel is celebrating her thirteenth birthday.
Swim Buddies
I LEAN OVER the side of the catamaran and peer into the crystal blue water. This is my last chance, I think.
The Bushwhackers
I CAN’T ABIDE living one more day in this pigpen!” I groaned and rolled out of bed to pull on my dress.
As American as Appleless Pie!
NOTHING IS MORE American than the humble apple pie. There’s even an old saying to prove it: “as American as apple pie.” So it may come as a surprise that many early settlers who forged the trails of our expanding nation were often without apples to make this most American of desserts. As pioneers headed west in pursuit of territory and gold, they had to leave many things behind, including apples. Not only did life on the trail make fresh fruit like apples hard to carry and keep, apple trees were native only to the east coast, which made finding apples in the West nearly impossible.
The Man Who Built A Better Leg
THE CIVIL WAR was only a few weeks old when seven hundred and fifty Confederate recruits gathered in the fields around Philippi, Virginia. It was early June 1861, and as yet there had been no real battles. The men had eagerly volunteered, but most had no training as soldiers. Their only weapons were the ones they brought from home— old-fashioned flintlock muskets, cap and ball pistols, and a few shotguns.
