By+Nancy+Edwards

“Look at my snowman！”Ally cried. She climbed up on the couch to get a better view. Three birds perched on top ofthesnowmanshead.Twostruttedatthebase.

Allys mom knelt beside her.“Put on your coat， Ally. Well sneak out the back door to get a better look.”Moments later， Ally and her mother tiptoed through the snowandroundedthecornerofthehouse.

“Somebody put birdseed on my snowman！”Ally cried. At the sound of her voice， all the birds flapped their wings and flew off—all but one. A bright red cardinal sat curled upunderthecurveofthesnowmansbelly.

Allys mom crouched down.“Thats not a real bird，”shesaid.

Ally ran to the snowman.“Its an ornament！”she said， pickingitup.Anotepokedoutfromunderafeatheredwing.

Ally unfolded the paper and read，“A secret friend wantsyou tohavea happy holiday. Hope you enjoy this little gift—moreareontheway！”

“Its a mystery，”Ally told her father at dinner that night.“Who do you think it is？”“The mailman，”he guessed.“Or maybe Grandma？”Allys mom wondered. Allyshookherhead.“Weneedmoreclues.”

When she got home one day she found a new clue. A little birdhouse sat on their front step， with a note sticking out.

Ally raced inside and read it to her mother，“Birds make good neighbors. They sing songs of cheer. Your neighborswishyoumuchhappinessthisyear.”

“A neighbor，”Ally said. Her breath steamed up the windowasshelooked down thestreet.“Thered door ladylet me pick her flowers.”Allys mother put her cheek next to Allys to get a better look.“The Millers get our mail when we go on vacation，”she said.“Mr. Collins has a bird feeder，”Allysaid，“butheneversmiles.”

“I know，”she said.“Lets go for a walk and say‘hito all the neighbors we see. If somebody smiles a really big smile， well know.”Her mother laughed，“What a detective youare！Allright.Letsgo！”

Mr. Miller was wrapping Christmas lights around his bushes.“Hello！”Allycalled.“Howareyou？”“Dandyas candy，”he said with a grin. By the time Ally and her mother rounded the corner， they had smiled at five different neighbors and everybody smiledatthem.

A week went by before they received another note. Ally found it taped to a birdseed bell hanging in their crab apple tree. Her dad had to get it down. It said，“Time to greet your secret pal！ Lets meet for lunch at Rays， Saturday atoneoclock.HappyHolidays！”

On Saturday， by the time they reached the restaurant， Ally thought shed burstwith excitement.“Here we are！”a voice called out. Ally turned to look. A young couple—the red door people—stoodinfrontofthem.Thewoman held outashiny ornament—abluebird，coveredinfeathers.

“Hi， were Paul and Wendy Harrison，”the man said.“Last year we were new on your street. We didnt know anyone. Then one day， presents started showing up， with littlenotes. FinallytheMiller family met us right here in this restaurant.”

Mr. Harrison continued，“We had so much fun， so we decided to be secret pals every year. When you came over to pick flowers with us， Ally， we knew your family was the right one.”“This was fun！”Ally said.“I want to have a secret pal family next year！”She wondered if a bird like this would make Mr. Collins smile. She could hardly wait till nextyear.

“看我的雪人！”艾麗喊道。她爬上沙發(fā)，好看得更清楚一些。三只鳥兒棲息在雪人的頭上，還有兩只在雪人的底部大搖大擺地走著。

艾麗的媽媽跪在她的旁邊?！按┥贤馓?，艾麗。我們從后門悄悄出去，去好好看看?！逼讨?，艾麗和媽媽躡手躡腳地穿過雪地，然后繞過房子的一角。

“有人在我的雪人上放了鳥食！”艾麗喊道。她的話音剛落，鳥兒就全都拍打著翅膀飛走了———不過有一只除外。那是一只鮮紅色的鳳頭鳥，蜷縮在雪人圓乎乎的肚子下。

艾麗的媽媽蹲下來?！澳遣皇钦娴镍B?！彼f。

艾麗朝雪人跑過去。“這是個(gè)裝飾品！”她邊說邊把它撿了起來。一張紙條從一只覆蓋著羽毛的翅膀下露了出來。

艾麗展開那張紙條，讀著：“一個(gè)神秘的朋友希望你度過一個(gè)快樂的假期。希望你喜歡這個(gè)小禮物———更多的禮物即將到來！”

“這是一個(gè)謎，”那天晚上吃飯時(shí)艾麗告訴爸爸，“您覺得會(huì)是誰呢？”“郵差吧。”他猜測道。“也可能是奶奶？”媽媽尋思著。艾麗搖了搖頭：“我們需要更多線索?！?/p>

有一天回到家后，她發(fā)現(xiàn)了一條新的線索：大門臺(tái)階上放著一個(gè)小鳥窩，還有一張紙條露在外面。

艾麗飛快地跑進(jìn)屋里，念給媽媽聽：“鳥兒能成為好鄰居，它們唱著歡樂的歌。你的鄰居祝愿你這一年快樂滿滿?！?/p>

“一個(gè)鄰居。”艾麗說。她望向街頭，呼出來的氣讓窗戶蒙上了一層水汽。“紅色大門那家的女士讓我摘她的花。”媽媽把臉緊貼著艾麗的臉，好看得更清楚一些?！拔覀?nèi)ザ燃贂r(shí)，是米勒一家?guī)臀覀兪盏男偶！彼f?！翱铝炙瓜壬故怯幸粋€(gè)喂鳥器，”艾麗說，“可他從來都不笑?！?/p>

“我知道了，”她說，“我們出去走一走，對(duì)我們遇到的所有鄰居說聲‘你好。如果哪個(gè)人笑得無比燦爛，我們就知道是誰了。”媽媽笑了：“你可真像個(gè)偵探！好吧。我們走吧！”

米勒先生正給他的灌木叢纏繞圣誕彩燈。“嗨！”艾麗向他打招呼，“你好嗎？”“好得不能再好了?！彼肿煲恍Γf道。等艾麗和媽媽轉(zhuǎn)過街角時(shí)，她們已經(jīng)朝五個(gè)不同的鄰居微笑了，并且每個(gè)人都朝她們笑。一個(gè)星期過去了，他們又收到了一張紙條。艾麗發(fā)現(xiàn)紙條綁在他們家的一個(gè)鳥食搖鈴上，而搖鈴還高掛在沙果樹上，她只好讓爸爸把它拿下來。上面寫道：“是時(shí)候和你的神秘朋友打招呼了！我們?cè)诶准也宛^共進(jìn)午餐吧，星期六下午一點(diǎn)鐘。節(jié)日快樂！”

當(dāng)他們星期六到達(dá)那家餐館時(shí)，艾麗突然覺得內(nèi)心激動(dòng)不已?！拔覀?cè)谶@里！”一個(gè)聲音喊道。艾麗轉(zhuǎn)過身去看。一對(duì)年輕夫婦站在他們面前，是紅色大門那戶人家！那位女士遞過來一個(gè)閃閃發(fā)亮的裝飾品，那是一只藍(lán)色的小鳥，身上覆蓋著羽毛。

“嗨，我們是保羅和溫迪·哈里森，”那個(gè)男人說，“去年我們剛搬到你們這條街上。我們誰也不認(rèn)識(shí)。然后有一天，開始有禮物出現(xiàn)在我們家，還夾著小紙條。最后，是米勒一家和我們見面，就在這家餐館里?！?/p>

哈里森先生繼續(xù)說道：“我們覺得很有意思，所以決定每年都要做別人的神秘朋友。在你過來和我們一起摘花的時(shí)候，艾麗，我們就知道你們一家就是我們要找的?！薄斑@真有趣！”艾麗說，“明年我也想找一個(gè)家庭做我的神秘朋友！”她想知道像這樣一只鳥能否讓柯林斯先生露出笑容。她都等不到明年了。