第192期：雪地里飞来的神秘小鸟

想成为我们的主播，欢迎加微信 xdfbook 投稿。 一段美文，一首英文歌，或是一点生活感想，全由你做主。 《雪地里飞来的神秘小鸟》 Snow Secrets “LOOK AT MY snowman!” Ally cried. She climbed up on the couch to get a better view. Three birds perched on top of the snowman’s head. Two strutted ) at the base. Ally’s mom knelt beside her. “Put on your coat, Ally. We’ll sneak out the back door to get a better look.” Moments later, Ally and her mother tiptoed through the snow and rounded ) the corner of the house. “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 up under the curve of the snowman’s belly. Ally’s mom crouched down. “That’s not a real bird,” she said. Ally ran to the snowman. “It’s an ornament )!” she said, picking it up. A note poked out from under a feathered wing. Ally unfolded the paper and read: A secret friend wants you to have A happy holiday. Hope you enjoy this little gift— More are on the way! Your Secret Snow Pal “It’s a mystery,” Ally told her father at dinner that night. “Who do you think it is?” “The mailman,” he guessed. “Or maybe Grandma?” Ally’s mom wondered. Ally shook her head. “We need more clues.” Ally checked for clues every morning when she left for school. She checked again when she came home. And when she got home that 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 neighbors wish you Much happiness this year. “A neighbor,” Ally said. Her breath steamed up ) the window as she looked down the street. “The red door lady let me pick her flowers.” Ally’s mother put her cheek next to Ally’s to get a better look. “The Millers get our mail when we go on vacation,” she said. “Mr. Collins has a bird feeder,” Ally said. Then she shook her head. “But I don’t think it’s him. He never smiles.” She thought for a moment. “I know,” she said. “Let’s go for a walk and say ‘Hi’ to all the neighbors we see. If somebody smiles a really big smile, we’ll know.” Her mother laughed. “What a detective you are! All right. Let’s go!” Mr. Miller was wrapping Christmas lights around his bushes. “Hello!” Ally called. “How are you?” “Dandy ) as candy,” he said with a grin. “It’s him,” whispered Ally. Ally saw Mrs. Duffy carrying groceries and took a bag to help. Mrs. Duffy smiled. “Nothing like good neighbors to brighten the holidays.” “It’s her!” Ally whispered. By the time Ally and her mother rounded the corner, they had smiled at five different neighbors. “Everybody smiled at me, Daddy,” she told her father when he came home. “How will we ever know?” 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! Let’s meet for lunch at Ray’s, Saturday at one o’ clock— Happy Holidays! “Ray’s Pizza?” Ally cried. “Oh, Daddy, can we?” “You bet )!” he said. On Saturday morning, Ally danced around the kitchen as the smell of baking cookies filled the house. Finally the cookies were cooled and wrapped. By the time they reached the restaurant, Ally thought she’d burst with excitement. “Here we are!” a voice called out. Ally turned to look. A young couple—the red door people!—stood in front of them. The woman held out a shiny ornament: a blue bird, covered in feathers. Ally offered the plate of cookies. “Hi, we’re Paul and Wendy Harrison,” the man said. “Last year we were new on your street. We didn’t know anyone. Then one day, presents started showing up, with little notes. Finally the Miller family met us right here in this restaurant.” Mrs. Harrison waved at a table across the room. “Now the Millers are over there with their new secret pal family,” she said. 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!” Ally held up her ornament. She wondered if a bird like this would make Mr. Collins smile. She wondered if she could make a snowman in his yard and put birdseed on it while he was at work. She wondered if he liked pizza at Ray’s. She could hardly wait till next year to find out. “看我的雪人！”艾丽喊道。她爬上沙发，好看得更清楚一些。三只鸟儿栖息在雪人的头上，还有两只在雪人的底部大摇大摆地走着。艾丽的妈妈则跪在她旁边。“穿上你的外套，艾丽。我们从后门悄悄出去，去好好看看。”片刻之后，艾丽和妈妈蹑手蹑脚地穿过雪地，然后绕过房子的一角。 “有人在我的雪人身上放了鸟食！”艾丽喊道。她的话音刚落，鸟儿就全都拍打着翅膀飞走了——不过有一只除外。那是一只鲜红色的凤头鸟，蜷缩在雪人圆乎乎的肚子下。 艾丽的妈妈蹲下来。“那不是真的鸟。”她说。 艾丽朝雪人跑过去。“这是个装饰品！”她边说边把它捡了起来。一张纸条从一只覆盖着羽毛的翅膀下露了出来。艾丽展开那张纸条，上面写着： 一个神秘的朋友希望你度过 一个快乐的假期。 希望你喜欢这个小礼物—— 更多的礼物即将到来！ 来自雪国的神秘朋友 “这是一个谜，”那天晚上吃饭时艾丽告诉爸爸，“您觉得会是谁呢？” “邮差吧。”他猜测道。 “也可能是奶奶？”艾丽的妈妈寻思着。 艾丽摇了摇头。“我们需要更多的线索。” 每天早上去上学时，艾丽都会检查一下有没有线索，回到家后还会再检查一遍。有一天，放学回到家后，她发现了一条新的线索：大门台阶上放着一个小鸟窝，还有一张纸条露在外面。艾丽飞快地跑进屋里，把纸条上写的字念给妈妈听： 鸟儿能成为好邻居， 它们唱着欢乐的歌。 你的邻居祝愿你 这一年快乐四溢。 “一个邻居。”艾丽说道。她望向街头，呼出来的气把那扇窗户都蒙上了一层水汽。“红色大门那家的女士让我摘她的花。” 艾丽的妈妈把脸紧贴着艾丽的脸，好看得更清楚一些。“我们去度假时，是米勒一家帮我们收信件的。”她说。 “科林斯先生倒是有一个喂鸟器，”艾丽说道，说完后又摇了摇头，“但我觉得不是他。他都从来不笑。”她想了一会儿。“我知道了，”她说，“我们出去走一走，对我们遇到的所有邻居说声‘你好’。如果哪个人笑得无比灿烂，我们就会知道是谁了。” 妈妈笑了。“你可真像个侦探！好吧。我们走吧！” 米勒先生正围着他的灌木丛缠绕圣诞彩灯。 “嗨！”艾丽向他打招呼，“你好吗？” “好的不能再好了。”他咧嘴一笑，说道。 “是他。”艾丽低声说。 艾丽看到达菲太太正拎着好几袋杂货，便帮忙提了一个袋子。 达菲太太微微一笑。“没有什么比好邻居更能让假日时光熠熠生辉了。” “是她！”艾丽低声说。 等艾丽和妈妈转过街角时，她们已经朝五个不同的邻居微笑了。 “每个人都对我微笑，爸爸，”艾丽等爸爸回家后告诉他，“我们究竟要如何才能知道是谁呢？” 一个星期过去了，他们又收到了一张纸条。艾丽发现纸条绑在他们家沙果树 上挂着的一个鸟食摇铃上，只好让爸爸把它拿下来。上面写道： 是时候迎接你的神秘朋友了！ 我们在雷家餐馆见面共进午餐吧， 星期六下午一点钟—— 节日快乐！ “雷家比萨店？”艾丽喊道。“噢，爸爸，我们可以去吗？” “当然可以！”他说。 星期六早上，屋里到处都飘着烤饼干的香味，艾丽陶醉其中，在厨房里跳起了舞。最后，他们把饼干晾凉并包起来。当他们到达那家餐馆时，艾丽突然觉得内心激动不已。 “我们在这里！”一个声音喊道。 艾丽转过身去看。一对年轻的夫妇站在他们面前——是红色大门那户人家！那位女士递过来一个闪闪发亮的装饰品，那是一只蓝色的小鸟，身上还覆盖着羽毛。艾丽则递上了那盘饼干。 “嗨，我们是保罗和温迪·哈里森，”那个男人说，“去年我们刚搬来你们这条街上。我们谁也不认识。然后有一天，就开始有礼物出现在我家，还夹着小纸条。最后，是米勒一家和我们见的面，就在这家餐馆里。 哈里森夫人朝房间另一头的一张桌子挥了挥手。“米勒一家和他们新结识的一家神秘朋友现在就在那里。”她说。 哈里森先生继续说道：“我们享受了如此多的乐趣，所以我们决定每年都要做别人的神秘朋友。在你过来和我们一起摘花的时候，艾丽，我们就知道你们一家就是我们要找的。” “这真有趣！”艾丽说，“明年我也想找一家做我的神秘朋友！” 艾丽拿起手中的装饰品。她想知道像这样的一只鸟儿能否让科林斯先生露出笑容。她想知道当他出去工作时，她是否可以在他的院子里堆一个雪人，然后把鸟食放在雪人身上。她想知道他是否喜欢在雷家餐馆吃比萨饼。她迫不及待地想找出答案，都等不到明年了。 文章摘自：《新东方英语·中学生》杂志2017年2月号