But, of course, Bat didn’t know a thing about Star Wars.
“I’ll show you later. Right now, look.” He pointed to some images of Borneo on the screen. “Is that home?”
“Undoubtedly.” Bat nodded. “There is being the raining forest…and the waterfalls are very much a-same.”
“Good,” Daniel said. “It’s Borneo. Now we just need to get you back. How did you get here, anyway? Did you fly all that way?”
Bat shook his head. “A Bat traveled in a crate marked with the name of mine land: Papaya Premium.”
“But why?” Daniel asked.
“Mine was napping on a tree one sunny day when, out of nowheres, mine sleeping-papaya was plucked and made to plummet into a crate filled with mores papayas,” said the bat, “which mine gobbled most hungrily. A bat journeyed many days. First in a rolling rectangle, then in the belly of a roaring beast. One day, mine arrived in a noisy land, filled with fruits mine could smell but not reach.” Bat winced as he remembered this torture.
“At last,” he went on, “a Daniel with white hair carried mine crate away. Before longish, the Daniel opened the crate, screamed shriekily and tried to flatten a Bat with a broom.” Bat trembled. “But mine made a daring upward exscape. And sincely, mine has been all alone—until yours arrived.”
Daniel took a minute to put the pieces of Bat’s story together. Suddenly, he remembered a jar of chunky papaya jam that had been left by the old owner as a welcome gift. She must have been the white-haired “Daniel” who had opened the crate, screamed and chased Bat with a broom.
“You know,” Daniel told the bat, “Not all humans are called Daniels. I think that one’s name was Mrs. Jenkins or something.”
“Mrs-Jenkins-or-Something is a great villain,” said Bat somberly. “Her thwacky broom is most terrible.”
Daniel was going to point out that Mrs. Jenkins was probably just a sweet old lady—but he noticed his mother coming. Quickly, he tucked Bat into his pocket.
MEGABAT
That night, while his parents kept unpacking, Daniel settled in on the couch in the family room. Bat, who was sitting atop a cushion, slurped apple juice through a bendy straw and watched with wide eyes as Luke Skywalker learned to wield a lightsaber. Meanwhile, Daniel read.
He’d brought home three big books about bats from the library. Already, he’d learned that Bat was a fruit bat. Fruit bats live in warm climates. They have a strong sense of smell and a long tongue that they roll out when eating fruit nectar, then roll back in—like the tape measure Daniel’s mom used for woodworking.
“It says here that fruit bats live in colonies with sub-groups of eight or nine bats, like families,” Daniel said. That explained why Bat had been so lonely in the attic.
“Undoubtedly,” Bat said, not taking his eyes off the TV.
“And sometimes fruit bats are called flying foxes or megabats. Megabat.” Daniel smiled. It was a powerful name for such a tiny creature. “It’s almost like a superhero name,” he said.
“A superhero name,” Bat repeated.
“Like, a good guy name,” Daniel explained. “Luke Skywalker is kind of like a superhero. Because he fights the bad guy, Darth Vader.”
At that, Bat’s ears perked up. “A Megabat is like Luke Skywalker?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Daniel laughed. “Do you have a lightsaber?”
Bat glanced down. His tongue flicked in and out of his mouth in excitement. Using the claws on his wingtips, he pulled the bendy straw out of his drink box and poked Daniel’s arm with it.
“Not bad.” Daniel grinned. “I bet with a little training, Megabat could totally defeat Darth Vader.”
By then the movie credits were rolling. Daniel knew his parents would be coming to tell him it was bedtime soon.
“But for now we should probably get some sleep. I think I figured out a way to get you home…but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Here, I’ll throw that out.” Daniel reached for the drink box straw—but Bat wouldn’t let go.
“Unhand mine lightsaber!” the bat shrieked so loudly that Daniel was worried his parents would hear.
“Okay, okay…” Daniel shook his head. “Keep it. Come on, Bat. Let’s go upstairs.” He held out his hand as a perch.
“Who is this Bat yours speaks of?” Bat ruffled his wings with an air of great importance. “Mine is Megabat.”
“Sorry…I meant, come on, Megabat…” Daniel tried to hide his smile.
Megabat flew to Daniel’s finger and hung upside down, still clutching the straw in his wingtips. The friends went upstairs and slept soundly for the first time in days.
THE CASSEROLE DISH OF DOOM
Daniel and Megabat got up early to work on the plan. It was simple, really. Megabat had traveled from Borneo in a crate of papayas…so to return him, all they needed to do was put to him in another box and mail him back.
“Of course,” Daniel told Megabat, “it can’t be just any box. It needs to be strong and comfortable. It’s a long trip.”
Thankfully, there were plenty of boxes in Daniel’s house. After breakfast, Daniel slipped Megabat into his pocket and they went in search of the perfect one. They finally found it in the basement. It was an old apple cider box that had dividers inside. They’d make perfect walls for creating different rooms.
Daniel was carrying the perfect box upstairs, with Megabat still tucked in his pocket, when his mother stopped him in the kitchen.
“Sweetie, do me a favor? Run this over to Patricia next door.” Daniel’s mom was drying a casserole dish with a tea towel. “It’s from the lasagna she brought over.”
Daniel sighed. He knew what his mom was trying to do. The lasagna-dish house was where the two kids lived: the girl and the boy he’d seen before. Daniel’s mother was hoping he’d meet them. She was dreaming they’d become friends—best friends. Well, it wasn’t going to happen. Daniel’s friends were in Toronto. He didn’t want to make new ones.
But Daniel’s mom held the dish out insistently.
“This’ll only take a second,” he whispered to Megabat as they headed out the door. He’d already decided to leave the dish on the porch.
Unfortunately, the lady next door was out watering her garden. What’s more, she had the same idea as his mom.
“Oh, hello,” she said, from under her floppy sun hat. “You must be Daniel. I’m Patricia.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, then he held the dish out toward her.
“Just put it on the steps,” Patricia said with a smile. “You know, my kids are in the backyard. Their names are Talia and Jamie. They’ve been dying to meet you.”
“Oh. I’m kind of—” He was going to say “busy” but she didn’t let him.
“Just pop around back for a second,” she suggested.
Daniel knew it would be rude to say no. He’d just say hi, he told himself. Then he’d go work on Megabat’s box.
“Hello?” Daniel called as he made his way past the garbage bins at the side of the house. Nobody answered and soon he saw why. The girl was jumping on a trampoline. The springs were making a rhythmic twanging noise. Her reddish pigtails were flapping like wings. She got higher and higher, then suddenly she flipped, landed and got ready to do it again.
Meanwhile, the boy was nailing pieces of wood together. Between the hammering and the twanging, the kids couldn’t hear him.
Daniel was just about to turn and leave, when—“Oh!” The girl dropped to her bum. “Hi,” she said. “You’re the new neighbor. Jamie!” she shouted to her brother. “Say hi to the new neighbor.”
The boy looked up but didn’t stop hammering.
“I’m Talia,” the girl said, climbing down from the trampoline. “That’s Jamie. You can ignore him if you want. He’s busy being cruel to animals.”
That got the boy’s attention. “I’m not being cruel,” Jamie said. “I’m defending our yard from pigeon poop by building a trap.” He motioned to the roof, where at least two dozen pigeons were perched. The
y glanced down nervously every few seconds, bobbing their heads. “They’re always doing their business on my bike.”
“So put your bike in the shed,” Talia answered, exasperated. “Anyway, what’s your name?” she asked Daniel.
Daniel told her, then he started mumbling about how he had to get home. He hadn’t made it very far, though, when the screen door opened and Patricia stepped out carrying homemade popsicles. “Who wants a fruit pop?” she called. “They’re banana, blueberry, passion fruit.”
Jamie made a gross-out face. Megabat, on the other hand, started to squirm with excitement.
“Did hers say passion fruit?” came the bat’s voice from Daniel’s shirt pocket. He crossed his arm over his chest to muffle the words. Thankfully, Patricia was too busy telling Jamie to “watch his manners” to hear the odd little voice—but Talia gave Daniel a strange look.
He cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry,” he said. “I just really love passion fruit.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear,” said Patricia. She handed a fruit pop to Daniel.
“Anyway,” Daniel said, after she’d gone inside. “I really should go now because—”
“What was that?” Talia pointed to his chest.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“That!”
Daniel glanced down at his pocket just in time to see the bat’s long pink tongue dart out, lick his fruit pop, then dart back in.
“Ummmm…” Daniel stalled.
“There’s something alive in there.” Talia came closer. “It’s squirming.” By now, even Jamie was interested.
“It’s just my pet,” Daniel said.
“I love animals!” Talia exclaimed. “Is it a mouse?”
Megabat licked the ice pop again. This time his pointy ears stuck out too.
“It’s a…fruit bat,” Daniel said, deciding to leave out the talking part. “But don’t tell, okay? It’s a secret fruit bat. I’m letting it go soon.”
“Is it injured?” Talia asked. Her voice was filled with concern. “One time I found a pigeon with a hurt wing, and I nursed it back to health.”
“Which was great.” Jamie rolled his eyes. “Because now it extra loves us, so it extra poops in our yard.”
“Anyway,” Daniel went on. “My bat needs help. I should go.”
“Okay,” Talia said. “But if I can help too, tell me. I’m good with animals.”
Jamie picked up his hammer again. “Just wear gloves,” he said. “It’s probably crawling with parasites.”
“Like you’d know.” Talia put her hands on her hips.
Daniel didn’t feel like sticking around for their fight. “Good to meet you,” he said. Then he pushed Megabat’s head back into his pocket and ran home.
THE BOX
Back in the attic, Daniel got straight to work on the box.
“This’ll be your sleeping area,” he explained, showing Megabat one section.
“And, over here, I’m putting three oranges, two bananas and some cut-up watermelon. And I got you these.” He held up some juice boxes. “In case you get thirsty.”
The bat licked the outside of a juice box then tried to bite through it with his front fangs.
“You use a straw, remember?” Daniel pointed to the little straw wrapped in plastic, but Megabat scoffed. He went to retrieve his own straw, then he clutched it in his wingtips and charged at the juice box, smacking into it, bending the straw, and knocking himself backward.
Daniel laughed. “You need to stick it in this little hole.” He showed Megabat the foil-covered part at the top. The bat nodded then charged again. It took many tries but, eventually, the straw went in and they both cheered like they’d just defeated the Death Star.
“Honey?” Daniel’s mom called. “What are you doing up there?”
“Umm…just reading,” he said.
“It must be a funny book. I could hear you laughing all the way downstairs.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be,” his mom answered. “Dinner in two minutes, all right?”
Daniel waited until he heard the sound of his mom’s feet going back down the stairs. “I’ll bring you part of my jelly roll after dinner. Then we can finish making your box, okay?”
“Oka-hay,” the bat said, trying out the new word. Megabat backed up, then added a double spin twist before spearing the juice box again. Daniel grinned and shook his head. He was going to miss that crazy little fruit bat when he sent him home.
* * *
Dinner was oniony meatloaf, but Daniel wolfed it down. He didn’t want to miss a minute of his last night with Megabat. He was busy loading the dishwasher as fast as possible when the doorbell rang.
“Daniel!” his mom sang out. “It’s Talia from next door. She wants to play. Isn’t that nice?”
Daniel wasn’t sure it was “nice.” She was probably only interested in his secret fruit bat.
“Ummm…” Daniel slid another plate into the dishwasher as Talia followed his mom into the kitchen. “Maybe tomorrow. I’m kind of busy tonight.”
“Daniel!” his mom gasped. “Talia came all the way over to play.” She said it like “all the way over” was across the Sahara Desert and not just a few steps from next door.
Daniel shot his mom a pleading look, which she answered with her “do not be rude” stare.
Daniel closed the dishwasher, handed Talia a slice of jelly roll and showed her toward the stairs. He just had to hope that, by some miracle, Megabat would know enough to keep quiet so she wouldn’t find out he could talk.
“Wooohoo! Yours is broughtten smoosh-fruit!”
Megabat did not know enough to keep quiet. Not even a little bit. “Oooooooh. Double smoosh fruits.” He eyed the plate Talia was carrying. “And ladyfriend.”
“Who’s up here?” Talia asked. She dropped her backpack to the floor, then her mouth dropped open as she looked around and saw no one.
“Don’t scream, okay?” Daniel warned. He pointed to the ceiling.
“Like I’d scream.” Talia put her hands on her hips. “But I still don’t see anyone.”
“Look closer. Megabat, this is Talia. Talia, that’s Megabat.”
At the sound of his name, Megabat did an awkward upside-down bow, unfurling his wing in front of him. “It is being an honor to meeting yours,” he said formally.
Talia took a small, startled step back but didn’t even come close to screaming. “That’s a talking bat,” she said.
“Yup.” Daniel flopped down on his bed. “Trust me, he never stops talking.”
“Are you hurt, little bat?” Talia held out her hand. “I brought some bandages.” Megabat flew into her palm and started to rub his ears against her cheek like a purring cat. He obviously liked girls.
“He’s not hurt,” Daniel said. “He’s lost.” He told Talia the whole story, ending with the part about how he was going to mail Megabat home.
“That’s a good idea,” Talia said. “I mean, before anyone else finds out he’s here. I made Jamie swear not to tell, but if he learns your bat can talk, he won’t be able to keep his mouth shut.”
“It seems like you’ve thought of everything,” she said, examining the different sections of the box. Daniel felt his cheeks glow with pride. “Except…” She flipped the top flap closed. “Where are you going to mail it to?”
“I already told you,” Daniel answered. “Borneo.”
“Yeah, but where in Borneo? It’s a big place.” She paused. “Also, who’s going to open the box when he gets there?”
Daniel hadn’t even thought of that!
“I don’t know anyone in Borneo,” Daniel said. “Do you?”
“No,” Talia said. “But that’s okay.”
Minutes later, using Daniel’s dad’s phone they’d found and copied the address of a papaya farm in East Kalimantan, Borneo, and had decided to address the package to “Farmer Bambang” whose name they’d found on a blog. Finally, they wrote FRAGILE and OPEN IMMEDIATELY in big letters.<
br />
The box was completely ready.
“What do you want to do now?”
Daniel asked. There was more than an hour before bedtime.
“I don’t know,” Talia said. “It’s your last night here, Megabat. What do you want to do?”
“Megabat will be watching Star Wars,” the bat said without hesitation. “And drinking juice of the apple.”
It was exactly what they’d done the night before, but Daniel didn’t mind.
Daniel made popcorn and got Megabat three juice boxes. Talia and the bat both gasped when the Millennium Falcon went into hyperspace and covered their eyes at the parts with Darth Vader…and even though, at first, Daniel had wished that the girl from next door hadn’t come over, in the end he was glad.
THE POST OFFICE
The next morning, Talia came to help Daniel carry the box to the post office. She brought a red wagon to put it in and some magazines for Megabat to look at on his trip. When everything was in the box, she held out her hand for Megabat. He flew into it and she let him nuzzle against her cheek.
Meanwhile, Daniel stood by awkwardly. He hated goodbyes. Unfortunately, Megabat didn’t give him much choice. He landed on Daniel’s head, leaned over and licked him right across the face with his super long tongue.
“Ewww!” Daniel laughed and wiped off the bat spit. “Is that how they say goodbye in Papaya Premium?”
Megabat flew to the edge of his box, gave them both a salute with one wingtip and hopped in.
Daniel had a fluttery feeling in his tummy all the way to the post office and while they waited in line. When it was their turn, Talia carefully lifted the box onto the counter.
“All the way to Borneo, eh?” the postal worker said, as she measured the box. “Regular or airmail express?” Daniel chose express.
Megabat Page 2
