KIDS IN ACTION: My Secret Pal

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

It was the first week of December and my seventh grade home room teacher, Miss Cox, had promised a special announcement.

“Regardless of which holiday your family celebrates, winter is a time of giving,” Miss Cox said. “So I decided to assign each of you a Secret Pal.”

She held up some folded slips of paper.

“I will give each of you the name of your Secret Pal as you leave. Starting tomorrow, you will become a special, secret friend to the person whose name you have. Maybe you can leave a note of encouragement on his or her desk. On December 20, our last day of school before break, you will bring a gift for your Secret Pal and at that time you can reveal your identity.” I raised my hand. “That’s three weeks! What if we can’t think of enough stuff to do?”

Miss Cox frowned at my question. “That’s half the fun of being a Secret Pal. You begin to think of that person instead of yourself. And if you reveal to anyone who your pal is, you’ll be ruining the fun for yourself and others in this room.”

I glumly took the paper from Miss Cox as we left. I could only pray I got Mary Ann or, maybe, even her brother Walter. But when I opened my paper, I gasped. Michael Quinn! I groaned to myself. Michael was messy, wore dirty shirts, had gross fingernails, and never talked to anyone. He lived in the apartments across from mine, and sometimes I saw him dragging a wagon around, picking up trash. Great! What kind of Secret Pal could I be to a garbage man?

Throughout the next three weeks I left lame notes on Michael’s desk, like “Have a nice day” or “Hope you get what you want for Christmas.” Once I left a candy cane and another time a pack of bubble gum. My Secret Pal was more creative, and I knew who it was-Mary Ann. Oh, she tried to disguise her handwriting but who else would know to leave my favorite Tootsie Pop (chocolate) one day with her note or a Hostess Twinkie another day?

As our last day of school neared, I agonized over what I’d get Michael. He didn’t seem to have a warm hat. Maybe that’s why he had his hair kind of long and shaggy. I finally asked Gran to knit him a hat and she did, using our school colors, green and gold. Gran said I should buy him something too. I noticed that he was pretty good in art, so I bought a sketch pad and colored pencils. As I wrapped them, I wondered what Mary Ann-I mean my Secret Pal-was wrapping for me.

On the last day of school, we returned to homeroom. Miss Cox had placed the gifts on each of our desks. I could tell mine was a book! I started to look at Mary Ann to thank her when I read the tag: To Kathleen from Michael Quinn. Michael had been MY secret pal. I glanced at him-he smiled shyly and pointed to Gran’s hat which he had put on. I smiled back and opened the package. It was the latest Nancy Drew mystery. How had he known? How many wagons of trash did he have to haul to buy it?

Have you ever had a secret pal who seemed to know your secret dreams? If so, share the details with other readers. E-mail those to: action@unitedspinal.org or mail them to:

KIDS IN ACTION
United Spinal Association
75-20 Astoria Boulevard
Jackson Heights, NY 11370-1177

Be a secret pal to someone this December!

Kathleen M. Muldoon is a children’s book author and writing instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.