Isaac was swinging on the front gate， trying to decide whether to walk down the street to play with Verna， her best friend in fifth grade， when she saw a tramp come up the road. “Hello， little girl，” he said， “Is your mama at home？” “No， she went shopping for the coming Christmas. Why？” she answered on the alert. “Umm...”he spoke haltingly， “I...I want to invite you to my place to play. May I hear you say ‘Yes’？” Isaac studied him carefully from head to toe. He was in his 50s， wearing an odd hat with a messy hair under it. The old black jacket and worn cuffs gave people a bad impression. One of his shoes was bigger than the other one， and there were several holes on them. “He looks like an evildoer！” she thought to herself with panic. “No， I won’t go！” she said. “Please！” the tramp begged. “I said NO！” she shouted， then she ran into the house and closed the door heavily. The tramp sighed sadly and walked down the street.
　　Isaac pressed her face against the glass， staring him knocking at the door of Verna’s home. Verna came out and talked with him， then she ran back home just as Isaac did. The tramp continued to walk， knocking at the door of every family with children. “What does he want？” Isaac wondered. She rushed to Verna’s home. “Hey！” Verna greeted her with joy， “Did you see that strange man？” “Yes！” Isaac cried， “He invited you， too？” “I’m afraid so. Oh gosh， I can hardly believe it！ What does he want to do？” “I don’t know.” said Isaac， “What if...what if he planned to kidnap children？” “He did？ That’s so scary！” Verna screamed. “Come on， we must stop him！” “No， we can’t do that！ That’s too dangerous！” said Verna. Her face turned pale because of fear. Ignoring her words， Isaac took her out of the door.
　　They crept and trod behind him lightly in order to avoid being found. After three blocks， the tramp entered an abandoned park. He turned left onto a path and stopped in front of a shabby hut which lay at the end of the road. “Darling， I’m back！” said he tenderly. A little boy walked outside， to be more precise he “drove” out of the hut—he has no leg and was in a wheelchair. Isaac and Verna were so surprised that they fell out of their hiding place. Finding themselves being stared in amazement， they were going red. “We...we didn’t mean to peep， we just...” Isaac explained. His surprise turned into joy. “It doesn’t matter.” said he. “So...you are not a bad person？ You didn’t mean to kidnap us？” Verna asked， wearing puzzled frowns. The tramp burst into laughter， “Certainly not！ I have told you that I just want to invite you to play. Now， ladies， would you please play with Brain for a while？ I have something else to deal with.”
　　Later， the girls learned that Brian was an orphan， and the tramp adopted him. “No one is willing to play with Brian， because of his physical disability and...me. Christmas is on the horizon， so I determined to give him a Christmas present—friends. But there are no children accepting my invitation， except you two. I really appreciate it that you came.” He told them. Both of Isaac and Verna were moved by his story.
　　“Now you’re not going to treat me like a bad guy， ah？” he asked before they were about to leave. “Oh， no！ You and Brian are our friends now.” They answered in unison.
　　（作者單位：山东省泰安第一中学）