Captain Aki and the Plose Pirates
Third story
The little eagle’s heart is still thumping hard as he prepares to land. The air show that he has just put on for the animals has made him quite out of breath. Aki perches on a giant letter. The sky up here seems even bluer and the sun’s rays warm his feathers.
Curiously, the little eagle looks around him. His letter is not the only one - there is a whole word there. With his head hanging down, he tries to read it. “It says P L O S E! That must be the name of this place,” he reasons.
Loud chattering tears Aki from his thoughts. A family wanders past the little eagle. They are laughing and gesticulating and seem to be having a whole lot of fun!
Perhaps they know the way to the resort that he has been looking for all this time. Aki doesn’t ponder for long and flies after the family. He catches up with them right by a signpost with the word “Woodywalk” on it.
“Hello you! My name is Aki!”, he greets them chummily.
The little boy from the family turns round and puts his finger on his lips - “Shhh! Not so loud or they’ll find us straight away!”
Aki looks around him in confusion. “Who will find us?” he asks in bewilderment.
“The wild pirates, of course!” the little girl joins in.
The little eagle has no idea what is going on.
“You should know we are on a secret mission. We are exploring the Plose today. But there are ferocious pirates here and we absolutely mustn’t fall into their hands.”
For a moment Aki is still confused, but then he understands. The family has made up a game! Of course he wants to join in!
“Well it’s a good thing, then, that I am excellent at map reading. And as an eagle, I can spot enemies from the air,” says Aki, enthusiastically.
The family is delighted to have an extra member in their team of explorers and happily takes Aki with them.
As soon as the group comes to a pond, Aki raises the alarm. “Look out! It’s the pirates! They’re coming! Let’s get away from here as quickly as possible.”
“They’re coming with the raft!”, calls the boy. “And now they’re coming ashore. What should we do?”
Bravely, Aki says, “I’ll distract them while you capture the raft.”
The eagle shoots quickly up into the air and performs his tricks while the family grabs the raft.
That went well again! The angry pirates stay behind on the shore. Aki flies to the family and jubilantly they all arrive at the opposite bank.
This fantastic adventure makes the hike into an extra special experience.
The pirates catch up with the adventurers again at an ox cart, but thanks to the enchanted oxen, who can fly along with the cart, they get away once more.
Suddenly the family arrives in a strange place. The whole floor seems to be lava. Luckily there are loads of climbing poles. And so they manage to cross the obstacle without touching the lava.
Completely out of breath they make it to the slide.
“I know,” shouts the boy, “it could be a wagon that you use to ride through a tunnel.”
What an amazing idea! And so finally they escape from the pirates, because in a wagon-slide like that, they are as fast as the wind.
Tired, but happy, Aki sits on a picnic blanket with the family. There is delicious-smelling bread, small radishes, South Tyrolean bacon and tangy alpine cheese.
After a big gulp of water, the little eagle remembers why he had spoken to the family in the first place. “I wanted to ask you if you know the resort where there is an adventure every day.”
“Of course we do,” grins the boy, “that’s where we are staying for our holidays!”
Aki beams. “Then could you tell me where it is?”
The girl puts Aki on her shoulder and says, “Better yet, why don’t we just take you back with us?”
Aki is so happy he could burst! He is going to see the resort at last! Will it really be as amazing as everyone says?
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