The next morning, Daniel and Megabat went to the basement for the first geography lesson.
Daniel started by drawing Megabat a map of Borneo on his dad’s whiteboard, but the bat just scratched his head and asked for apple juice.
They moved on to the cardinal directions. “The letters you need to know are N, E, S and W.” Daniel drew them on the whiteboard. “They stand for north, east, south and west.”
Megabat was busy licking one of his talons.
“So?” Daniel prompted. “What are the cardinal directions?”
“Yours said what?” Megabat blinked.
“Cardinal directions,” Daniel repeated.
“Cardinal is being a bird!” Megabat answered triumphantly. “Theys is most red and chirpy.”
Birdgirl, who was never far from Megabat (even though she wasn’t allowed in the house), was sitting outside the closed basement window. She bobbed her head, as if agreeing.
“Not that kind of cardinal.
Remember…north, south, east and west. Here’s a good way to remember: Never Eat Shredded Wheat.” It was a trick Daniel’s second grade teacher had taught the class. “See? The letters make the same sounds.”
“Shredded wheat?” Megabat asked, puzzled. “Is most dust-gusting?”
“Well, kind of. It’s mushy. But that’s not the point. It’s a way to remember the four letters.”
“Megabat will be remembering,” the bat promised vaguely, then he went back to cleaning his talons. “Shredded wheat,” he muttered, between licks. “Most dust-gusting.”
Daniel sighed.
“Buttermelon now?” Megabat asked, for the third time. Daniel had brought down a container filled with fruit to reward Megabat, but it only seemed to be distracting him.
“One piece,” Daniel said. “Then we keep working.”
While Megabat devoured his melon, Daniel worried about what to do next. Just then, the vent above him came on, letting out a blast of air conditioning.
Daniel shivered, then he stood up and walked toward some unpacked boxes. He found one marked “Coats & Gloves,” opened it and lifted out his dad’s old brown wool coat. The sleeves hung over his fingertips, but at least it was warm. He put up the hood.
“Okay, Megabat,” he said. “Let’s look at the map again.”
Megabat glanced up from his piece of melon and gasped. “Jedi Master,” he said, bowing low.
Daniel laughed. The big brown coat did kind of look like the cloak Obi-Wan wore when he trained Luke Skywalker. He was going to explain that it was just his dad’s old winter jacket, but then he had an idea. He bowed back. “The Force is strong with you.”
Megabat ruffled his wings with pride.
“Shall we begin your training now, young Jedi knight?” Daniel asked.
And so they did.