Using her claws and beak, Violet the pirate parrot climbed up one of the ropes toward the billowing pink silk balloon overhead. "Arrr, looks tasty!" she cackled. "Like cotton candy!"

"Quick, Liam!" Princess Addie cried. "What is a parrot afraid of?"

"A hawk?" he wondered.

Addie screeched like a hawk.

Violet looked down, flapping wings to keep her balance. "You don't fool me," she squawked, and climbed nearer the balloon. "Gonna peck, peck, peck!"

"Is this balloon like a party balloon?" Liam asked. "Will it pop if it gets pecked?"

"Yes! What else is a parrot afraid of?"

Liam thought hard. "A snake?"

Addie grabbed some extra rope and shoved it in his hands. "Use the magic box!"

Liam stuffed the rope into the box, slammed it shut, and sang, "Magic Box, take this and make it a snake!" He opened the lid.

Out wiggled a long green snake with bright purple stripes.

"Please, snake," Addie whispered, "chase the parrot away! Keep our balloon safe from getting pecked to shreds!"

The snake wound itself around a rope and started spiraling up.

"You can't catch me!" squawked Violet. She flew up the outside of the balloon. "Now, where shall I peck at this perfectly pretty pink parfait?"

"What's a parfait?" Liam asked.

"I don't know, but look! What's that down below?"

Liam looked. "Our shadow?"

Addie shook her head. "No, our shadow is over there." She pointed to the left. "Something big is under the water. I have an idea! Let's go down." She pulled the rope that let a little air out of the balloon.

Hiss!

From somewhere overhead, Violet shrieked. "What's that hissing sound? Your silly green snake didn't look big enough to make that much noise!"

The hot air balloon drifted lower and lower. The sea came closer and closer.

Violet flew back into sight. "You can't run away from me! I can fly faster than any balloon. Give me crackers or I'll peck-peck-peck!"

"I hope we have sardines for lunch," Princess Addie said.

"Yuck," Liam said.

"Not for us. We need sardines to get rid of Violet. Please check and see!"

Liam sighed. "Magic Box, as strange as it seems, please give us a lunch of sardines!" He opened the box and took out a nearly-flat tin.

"Thanks, Magic Box!" Addie opened the tin, picked out sardines one at a time, and dropped the little fish into the water below.

The fuzzy dark shape in the water got darker and not so fuzzy. It was a whale, swimming up from way down deep! The huge blue creature swallowed the teeny tiny sardines. And then it blew a spout of water.

That spout blasted Violet the pirate parrot high into the air!

"Thank you, Whale!" called Princess Addie and Prince Liam as the wind blew their hot air balloon away from that pesky parrot.

"There are two sardines left," Addie said. "Want one?"

"No, thank you," Liam said. "Magic Box, for lunch today, I would like a pink parfait." He peeked into the box, and grinned. "So that's what a parfait is!"

~ to be continued ~