Sandra and the Flying Elephants of Belfast
Before William James Hanna leaves to fight in the Second World War, he gives his young daughter Sandra the task of looking after her younger brother Billy. Sandra takes this commission on, but in doing so, has to survive being bombed and strafed by the Nazis, being burnt and drowned, and on top of all that, even has to deal with her hair turning green!
Amidst the seriousness of war, her story is filled with gems, like ducks with wooden legs, Irish nuns hiding butter, a donkey sitting in front of the fire like a part of the family, and many other stories that are both funny and heartwarming.
Excerpt from Sandra and the Flying Elephants of Belfast:
It was nearing Christmas now and the evening was bitterly cold. Snow flurries danced outside, briefly passing through the warm yellow light emitting from the window where Sandra, kneeling on the couch, nose pressed to the glass, peered outside into the night. “Billy? I think there’s a donkey standing out there,” she said quietly.
Billy, who was sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, stopped reading his book, looked up at his sister and frowned. “A donkey?” Billy asked loudly.
“Shhhhhhhhh!” Sandra signed at him to come take a look.
Climbing up onto the couch Billy pressed his nose to the glass as well, squinting through the snow and dark until the donkey slowly took shape. Looking back to his sister he nodded and whispered, “Aye, Sandra, that’s a donkey, all right.”
“Don’t you think it’s going to be freezing?” Alexandra asked quietly without taking her eyes off the poor beast.
Billy pressed his nose to the glass again and squinted at the donkey as hard as he could, then looked at the snow. “Aye, he’s probably really freezing, Sandra,” he confirmed slowly, turning to look at her.
Sandra looked at Billy with concern. “Aw, Billy, what are we going to do?” Sandra flicked her head towards the window.
Billy looked up in the air for an answer. “Maybe we should go put a blanket around it?”
Sandra thought for a bit, then pressed her nose up to the glass again and stared at the donkey with compassion. Billy joined her again.
“Billy?”
“Aye, Sandra?”
“Go get your shoes on, please.”
Alexandra and Billy led the poor animal through the front door and brought it over to the fire. The donkey grunted as it sat down on its haunches and looked calmly into the warm glow, its long eye lashes closing to meet across its large brown eyes.
Alexandra and Billy both sat on the couch and basked not only in the heat of the fire, but also in the fact they had helped some poor hapless beast escape from the cold. They stared at the donkey with fascination.
Unfortunately, their mother didn’t share their fascination.
She walked into the living room with a bowl of steaming rice and looked up just as Sandra, Billy and the donkey looked around at her.
“Dinner’s read… Oh my God!” She screamed, dropping the hot bowl of rice onto the floor. The children’s eyes went wide and their mouths flung open.
The donkey’s eyes went wide and its ears went down flat.
“Get that thing out of this house,” Alice screamed. “For the love of God! What am I going to do with you, Sandra? First a rat, now this. GET IT OUT NOW.”