

Lily and Ben were playing in the park. They liked to run and jump and slide. They saw a big pole with a sign on it. The sign had a picture of a bird and some words.
"What does it say?" Lily asked.
Ben tried to read the words. He knew some letters, but not all. He sounded out the words slowly.
"It says...whistle...here...to...see...a...parrot," he said.
"A parrot?" Lily said. "What is a parrot?"
Ben shrugged. He did not know what a parrot was. He thought it might be a kind of bird.
"Let's whistle and see," he said.
They both tried to whistle, but they could not. They only made funny noises with their mouths.
They tried again and again, but nothing happened.
They were about to give up, when they heard a loud squawk from behind the pole.
They looked and saw a colorful bird with a big beak and a long tail. It was hidden in a cage behind the pole.
"Hello, hello!" the bird said.
Lily and Ben gasped. The bird could talk!
"Hello, bird!" they said.
The bird smiled and whistled back.
"Are you a parrot?" Lily asked.
"Yes, I am a parrot," the bird said. "My name is Polly. Do you want to be my friends?"
Lily and Ben nodded. They liked Polly. They asked her many questions and she answered them. She told them about her feathers, her food, and her tricks.
They had a lot of fun with Polly. They forgot about the sign and the pole. They only cared about their new friend.
