as amy hagadorn rounded the corner across the hall from her classroom, she collided with a tall boy from the fifth grade running in the opposite direction.

在艾米繞過她的教室對面的走廊的拐角時，她迎面撞到了一個5年級的高個男孩。

"watch it, squirt," the boy yelled, as he dodged around the little third grader. then, with a smirk on his face, the boy took hold of his right leg and mimicked the way amy limped when she walked.

那男孩在避開這個三年級的學生時大叫，“看路，小個子，”然后，他臉上帶著帶厭的笑容，用手按在他的右腿上，模仿著艾米走路跛行的樣子。

amy closed her eyes for a moment.

艾米將雙眼閉上了一會。

'ignore him,' she told herself as she headed for her classroom.

“不理會他，”她在返回教室時對自己說。

but at the end of the day, amy was still thinking about the tall boy's mean teasing. it wasn't as if he were the only one. it seemed that ever since amy started the　third grade, someone teased her every single day. kids teased her about her speech or her limping. amy was tired of it. sometimes, even in a classroom full of other students, the teasing made her feel all alone.

但是在那天結束時，艾米仍然想著那個高個男孩低劣的嘲笑。其實他不是唯一的一個做出這種事的人。好像自從艾米上三年級后，每天都有人在嘲笑他。孩子嘲笑她的講話或是她的跛行。艾米受夠了。有時，即使在坐滿了學生的教室里，別人的嘲笑使她感到孤單無助。

back home at the dinner table that evening amy was quiet. her mother knew that things were not going well at school. that's why patti hagadorn was happy to have some exciting news to share with her daughter.

那晚，回到家里，艾米坐在餐桌旁邊默不做聲。她的母親知道肯定是在學校里遇到不順心的事了。所以，派蒂決定告訴她女兒一些激動的消息。

"there's a christmas wish contest on the radio station," amy's mom announced. "write a letter to santa and you might win a prize. i think someone at this table with blond curly hair should enter."

“在電臺中有一個圣誕節愿望競賽的節目，”艾米的母親告知她。“給圣誕老人寫封信，你也許可能得到獎品。我認為坐在餐桌邊的金發卷毛的人應該參加。”

amy giggled. the contest sounded like fun. she started thinking about what she wanted most for christmas.

艾米咯咯地笑了。競賽聽起來很有趣。她開始思考她最想的圣誕節禮物了。

a smile took hold of amy when the idea first came to her. out came pencil and paper and amy went to work on her letter. "dear santa claus," she began.

當艾米第一次想起這個主意時，她臉上掛滿了笑。她拿出鉛筆和紙，開始寫信。“親愛的圣誕老人，”她開始寫道。

while amy worked away at her best printing, the rest of the family tried to guess what she might ask from santa. amy's sister, jamie, and amy's mom both thought a 3-foot barbie doll would top amy's wish list. amy's dad guessed a picture book. but amy wasn't ready to reveal her secret christmas wish just then. here is amy's letter to santa, just as she wrote it that night:

當艾米起勁地做作文時，家里的其他人試圖猜測她可能向圣誕老人要求什么。艾米的姐姐，杰米，艾米的媽媽都認為3英寸大的芭比娃娃是艾米最想要的東西。艾米的爸爸認為是一本圖畫書。但是艾米當時還不想告訴他們，她的秘密圣誕節愿望。以下是艾米寫給圣誕老人的信，就是那晚上她寫的：

dear santa claus,

my name is amy. i am 9 years old. i have a problem at school. can you help me, santa? kids laugh at me because of the way i walk and run and talk. i have cerebral palsy. i just want one day where no one laughs at me or makes fun of me.

love,

amy

親愛的圣誕老人，

我的名字叫艾米。我9歲大了。我在學校有一個麻煩。你能幫我嗎，圣誕老人？孩子們笑話我講話和走路、奔跑的方式。我患有腦癱。我只想擁有一天，沒人笑話和取笑我。