BR012 Raising Flies

Just then Jazlin came flying through the window from the garden.

"Look, Jazlin!" said Jilly, "How To Raise A Fly!"

"What's that?" And little Jazlin flew over to where Jilly was sitting on the sofa.

"It's a book that Ella Pussycat just gave me. It will be full of good advice for me and Jack about how to look after you."

"It seems an unusual subject for a book," said Jazlin.

"That's true," I chipped in. "I hadn't thought of that."

"You'll notice," Don Owl remarked, "that it is quite a large book. There is quite a lot of territory to cover. Of course, a mother Fly wouldn't need all that information. They would understand perfectly how to raise a young fly without the aid of a book. But for Rabbits like yourself it seemed to us a very useful aid."

"Thank you," said Jilly, "Thank you both very much."

"You are most welcome, dear." And Ella came and sat by Jilly on the sofa.

"I've never even heard of anyone else adopting a Fly," buzzed Jazlin.

"That's just what I thought," said Don, "My very words when I first heard about it. Uncharted territory, that's what it is. 'Jack and Jilly will have to find their own way with this one,' is what I told Ella."

"And I said, 'They will certainly have to write the book on this one," said Ella.

"Then how did you..." but Jilly didn't finish her sentence as at that moment she started to leaf through the pages, looking at the book very intently. Then she laughed and held the open book up for me to see. "It's empty!" she exclaimed. "They are all blank pages!"

"Exactly," said Don, "This is the book you will have to write."

"We had it made up by a local bookbinder," said Ella. "Notice the lovely paper."

"I knew it!" Jazlin was buzzing around in circles now. "No fly would ever have anything to do with such a big heavy book. We would just have done one of our little Fly dances and considered you informed!"