A Favor for a Favor

By Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.

Based on " Island Parrots" on the Russian Ducktales site. Looked at pictures, got gist. I'm hopelessly monolingual and don't read anything except English.

Since the pictures don't explain WHY that parrot would bother freeing them, I added that part.

A storm was raging outside our house in Duckburg. It was scaring our babies. So Launchpad told them a story about one of his adventures to distract them.

"It was a stormy night, like this one. I was steering Mr. McDee's yacht and the rain, wind and waves were terrible!" Launchpad began

"So I steered the boat towards a small isle, where we could put ashore until the storm was over. By the time I got the boat ashore, the rain had stopped, but the wind and waves were still very dangerous. And the ship's motor was overheated from the strain. So we decided to stay put for awhile. "Launchpad continued.

"Then we heard something. Two parrots, in a tree near the boat kept screaming. At first, we thought we were scaring them. "Launchpad said.

"Then I heard a tiny "peep!" in the thick weeds growing around the tree. I stooped down and searched the weeds and found a baby parrot that must have fallen out of his nest. I carefully picked him up. And I shinnied up the tree- which wasn't easy with a baby parrot in one hand! - And put it back into its nest, right next to its mom. They beak-kissed each other and squawked." Launchpad told.

"You're Welcome, Mrs. Parrot." Launchpad said. "And then I climbed down the tree. "

SQUAWKS TRANSLATED FROM "PARROT":

"Jr? Jr?" Papa Parrot squawed.

"My baby! Where's my baby?" Mama Parrot screamed.

"Mama! Mama!" squeaked Baby Parrot.

Then Launchpad found the baby parrot.

"MONSTER!" screamed Baby Parrot, who had never seen a duck, never mind such a BIG duck before.

"Help!" it screamed again, when Launchpad picked it up and carried it up the tree.

Then baby parrot saw it's mother as Launchpad put it back in it's nest.

"Oh." Baby Parrot said. "It's OK, Mama. This nice monster brought me home."

"I TOLD you that you were too young to fly!" Mama Parrot scolded.

"I can fly DOWN! I just can't fly UP- yet. " replied Baby Parrrot, who had just learned that the HARD way.

BACK TO ENGLISH:

"Then we decided to explore the island. But we didn't know pirates came to that isle periodically to steal parrots to sell as pets. The pirates didn't care that a lot of the parrots died before they could be sold. The pirates didn't care that a lot of the parrots died soon after being sold. The pirates didn't care if the parrots were sick and spend sickness. All they cared about was the money they could make from trapping and selling wild parrots as pets." Launchpad continued.

"The pirates found us and recognized Mr. McDuck. They decided to capture us and hold us for ransom. They pointed guns to us and I couldn't do anything without risking us getting shot. They tied us up to a tree in such a fashion that if I struggled and tried to free myself, I'd hurt the boys- hurt Mr. McDee!" Launchpad explained.

"But Mama Parrot must have been out looking for food for herself and her chick. I spotted her hiding in a tree, where the bad guys could not see her. I guess she decided to repay me for returning her baby to her. She did what parrots do best: imitate sounds. " Launchpad guessed.

"She imitated the noises made by all the predictors that ever tried to eat her or her kind. She made the noises as loud as she could, from as close to the parrot pirates as she dared. The pirates got scared, especially since they could not SEE what was making all that noise. Their imaginations started working overtime." Launchpad went on.

"Do you think there's a lion or a tiger on this isle?" One of the pirates nervously asked another.

"Don't be silly! This isle is much too small to support anything big enough to eat people!" the head pirate sneered.

"I decided to make them even MORE nervous by telling them a scary story. I said to the pirates:

"You know, they used to test A-bombs off of isles just like this one. All that radiation, after all these years could of mutated the animals on this isle into just about anything! Not to mention the sea life surrounding this isle! That storm we had last night...all that rain and wind and waves could of washed any kind of monster on shore! It could be stranded on this isle right now, confused, frightened, hungry..."

"And I remember thinking:

()()And my mom always told me that those dumb old Japanese Monster movies that I love could never come in handy!()() Launchpad said.

"Well, Mama Parrot kept doing her part of making scary noises until the pirates' nerve broke and they ran for it!" Launchpad commented.

"Criminals ARE a superstitious, cowardly lot." I replied, for I've read one too many a "Batman" comic book.

And we both laughed.

"As soon as the pirates were out of sight, Mama Parrot came out of hiding and used her sharp beak to cut our bonds. We thanked her and went back to our boat, where we radioed the Coast Guard and told them that thieves had been trapping wild parrots illegally and they should keep an eye out for them." Launchpad said.

"The Coast Guard soon saw the parrot pirates as the sped by. The pirates were going WAY too fast, so the Coast Guard chased them and searched their boat. And found parrot cages, parrot food- and ledgers recording parrots caught and parrots sold." Launchpad reported.

"So the Coast Guard locked the thieves up in the brig. And they came to the isle and took a statement from us. The pirates were soon locked up in jail and the Coast Guard promised to keep an eye on that isle henceforth to prevent anybody else from trapping wild parrots. I was glad we could stop the parrots from being captured. A favor for a favor." Launchpad finished his story.

The End.

Flying is more Dangerous for Musicians than for Pilots

Sick Joke: all of the following died in plane crashes.

Buddy Holly

The Big Bopper

Ritchie Valens, The "La Bamba" guy
(all in the same crash!)

Patsy Cline ("I fall to pieces"

John Denver