02 Sleepyhead

Chapter 02 Sleepyhead Jack opened his eyes. Glaring hot sunlight flooded into the tree house. “ Neat hats, ” said Annie. She and Jack were both wearing hats. “ I think they will protect us from the sun, ” said Jack. He and Annie looked out the window. Teddy looked out, too. The tree house had landed in a scrubby forest filled with droopy plants and dry brown trees.

“ Man, this place needs rain, ” said Jack. He sat back on his heels and looked at the picture of where they had landed in the Australia book. He read: Australia’s forests go through times of drought (say DROWT). A drought is a long period of time without any rain. The same forest can be flooded by heavy rains at other times of the year. Jack pulled out his notebook and wrote: drought = no rain “ Hey, Jack, ” said Annie. “ Doesn’t it smell like a cookout?” Jack sniffed the air. It did smell like a cookout.

Jack looked out the window. A wisp of smoke floated above some trees in the distance. “ Maybe people are camping over there, ” Jack said. “ Let’s go see, ” said Annie. Jack put his notebook and the Australia book into his backpack.

“ Put Teddy in there, too, ” said Annie. Jack slipped the little dog into the pack. Then he followed Annie down the ladder. When they stepped onto the ground, the hot wind nearly blew their hats off. “ The campers must be over there, ” said Annie.

She pointed at the smoke in the blue sky. They started walking across a sun-baked clearing. They passed bushes and scrawny trees. Lizards ran over the dry, cracked ground. Arf! Arf! Teddy barked from Jack’s pack. “ Whoa! ” said Jack. A pair of huge, funny-looking birds walked out from behind a bush. They were taller than Jack. They had fat bodies, long, skinny legs, and long, skinny necks. “ Who are you? ” Annie asked the strange pair. Jack opened his pack and took out the Australia book. He found a picture of the birds. “ They’re emus, ” he said. He read aloud:

The emu (say EE-myoo) is a large bird that doesn’t fly. It can run as fast as thirty miles per hour. “ Wow, that’s fast, ” said Annie. Arf! Teddy jumped out of Jack’s backpack and barked at the strange birds. The emus gave the little dog a haughty look. Then they turned and walked proudly away. Jack wrote in his notebook: Emus proud birds don't fly “ Look, a live teddy bear! ” said Annie. Jack looked up.