Flying Lessons: Friends

By Hannah Taylor and Jayne Taylor

The last thing Leila Porter ever thought was that a boy would come between her and her best friend Stephanie. The two girls both disliked boys. Until Justin came to town, that is. Now the girls werent talking to each other and Leila didnt know what to do. How could she get Stephanie to be her friend again? And would Julius, Leilas handsome and adorable sun conure be the key to solving the problem? Find out in this second installment of Flying Lessons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491827024

Hannah Taylor

A ‘parent’ of her own sun conure, Jayne Taylor has learned that bird ownership can be very rewarding. “Flying Lessons” draws from her experiences raising a feathered friend from infancy to adulthood. Born and raised near Vancouver, BC, Jayne graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA in English and then spent five years teaching English in China. After three more years spent in Los Angeles, Jayne returned to the Vancouver area to work in university administration for international students. She now divides her time between writing and caring for her family.

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© 2013 by Jayne Taylor. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/17/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2704-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2703-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-2702-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013918752

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Morning

Breakfast

News

Brain Freeze

School

Friendship

The Report

Truth

Trouble

Recess

Tears

A New Beginning

Also by Jayne Taylor:

    Flying Lessons: Feathers

www.facebook.com/FlyingLessonsWithJulius

Acknowledgment

Without people contributing to our lives, we would be boring mannequins staring into space. Well, I would be anyway. So thank you to my family and friends for supporting me and challenging me to be better.

And without someplace to sit and work most authors wouldn’t even be able to begin putting ideas on the page. I want to thank all those places that have free Wi-Fi and a comfortable environment that allowed me (whether they knew it or not) to sit, type and create. This includes the Austin Station Starbuck’s and the Coquitlam Public Library. I am forever grateful.

Dedication

For my dad, whose support and love have made this book possible.

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Morning

There is not much that can come between an eight-year-old girl and her teddy bear friend, especially when they had been friends for as long as either could remember! So many tea parties. So many secret stories. So many heartfelt conversations.

Leila Porter first met Simon when she was two. At least that is what her father told her. As far as she knew, she’d known Simon all her life. His big furry, teddy bear belly had been her pillow during countless naps when she was younger. His soft, brown fur had brushed away so many tears. And he had always given great hugs every time she had scraped a knee or had a cold. And in her dark bedroom at night, with Simon around, Leila knew she was never really alone. They had been best friends. Best friends, that is, until she met Stephanie.

Stephanie Collier had moved in across the street four years ago. Leila knew that Simon had not been too happy about Stephanie’s arrival. She had introduced them and hoped for the best. Stephanie liked Simon right away. Who wouldn’t? Even though he was getting a little old and slightly tattered, his big eyes were so friendly and his never-ending smile was so welcoming.

As the days and weeks went by, the girls had included Simon in most of their secret conversations. He soon grew to like Stephanie as much as Leila did. At least, that’s what Leila decided. Besides, when Stephanie went home at the end of the day, Simon had Leila all to himself.

But things were different now. Leila knew that. Four months ago, Julius, her beautiful green, orange and yellow sun conure, had come into her life. Her father had brought him home as a surprise and since then her new, feathered friend had continually demanded her attention. And he was usually pretty loud about it. The noisy squawk, squawk didn’t seem to bother Simon too much. The little bear didn’t seem to mind the preening either. Even though she felt she was almost getting too old for teddy bears, Leila still made an effort to pay special attention to Simon on a regular basis so her father would know that the bear was still important to her.

You are my oldest friend, after all, she often whispered into his big brown ears.

Leila’s room seemed quite cool on this particular November morning. It was as if the air outside was jealous of a little girl still curled up in bed after a long restful sleep. It was as if the cold air then decided to do something about it. It crept quietly into the house though the cracks between the windows and the sills and explored every corner of the house it could reach.

Leila opened her eyes and shivered slightly as the chilly air tugged at the hand she’d left on top of her comforter when she’d gone to sleep last night. She snatched it back, pulled the covers up to her chin and shoved her hand under her butt to warm it up.

She stayed in bed longer than usual. It was a Saturday after all, and she felt no one should have to get out of bed before 8 in the morning.

Then she heard the soft rustle of feathers. Julius.

Oh, Julius! You’re awake!

She jumped out of bed, wrestled her pale feet into the yellow bunny slippers resting beside her bed and made her way quickly to Julius’ cage near the window. She pulled off the heavy blanket and looked at the bright bird huddled on a perch near the top of the cage.

Squawk! Julius said as he looked expectantly toward Leila.

Leila laughed. Good morning to you too, she said. She opened the top door and Julius crawled out and looked around cautiously. When Julius was clear of the opening, Leila gently closed the door and put her small finger in front of the bird. He stepped up quickly. Leila could feel how cold his little feet were.

Poor Julius, she said as he hurried up the sleeve of her pajama top and settled down on her right shoulder next to her ear. I guess I didn’t get your blanket tucked in tight enough last night, did I? I’ll have to do better tonight.

Leila had learned a lot about her little bird in four months. One of the most surprising and, frankly, the most frustrating things was how messy a bird could be. When he preened himself, feathers would sometimes fall out and float about everywhere. Leila had found feathers everywhere in her room, including in her shoes in the back corner of her closet. Some had even tracked downstairs onto the living room floor! Fortunately, there was a small, hand-held vacuum in the upstairs hall closet. Unfortunately, Julius didn’t like the vacuum. And he didn’t like brooms either. Just the sight of either of them sent him into long, very loud screeches that Leila was sure could be heard as far away as Dave’s Diner, if not farther. She and Auntie Sarah learned that the best way to avoid the noise was to cover Julius’ cage whenever they were going to do any cleaning.

The feathers weren’t the only mess Julius made. Whenever he ate the multi-coloured pellets in his food dish, bits and pieces got scattered all around. While most of it fell into the cage below him, far too much managed to get into the carpet, on her clothes and stuck to the walls and windows around his cage.

But even the food bits weren’t the worst of the mess. Before Julius came into her life, Leila hadn’t realized just how many times a bird poops in a day. She was surprised to learn that Julius needed to relieve himself somewhere every 10 to 15 minutes.

I guess that’s what happens when you are eating all the time, sweetheart, she told him. Now, if only I could completely potty train you! That would be so much better than cleaning out the bottom of your cage so much. And I wouldn’t have to wash the mess off of everywhere all the time!

Leila