My homework was gone! I looked all over my room for it. It was supposed to be on my desk, right next to my drawings of fire-breathing dragons.
"What's wrong, Jackson?" Lily chirped, hopping onto the desk. Lily wasn't a regular bird. Lily was my best friend, and she was 54 years old, which is REALLY old for a bird!
"My math sheet is missing, Lily! I can't find it anywhere!" I exclaimed, my robot arms whirring as I searched under my bed.
Lily tilted her head. "Hmm, this sounds like a case for Detective Lily!"
I giggled. Lily was always pretending to be a detective. "Okay, Detective Lily, what clues do we have?"
Lily tapped her beak with her wing. "We know it was on your desk. Did you see anything unusual? Maybe a sneaky squirrel or a mischievous wind?"
I shook my head. "No, but I did hear a little bird singing outside my window earlier. A very pretty song!"
Lily puffed up her feathers. "A little bird? What did its song sound like?"
I hummed the melody I had heard. It was a cheerful tune, full of trills and whistles.
Suddenly, Lily's eyes widened. "I know that song! It belongs to my friend, Pip! He loves collecting shiny things."
We rushed outside to the big oak tree where Pip liked to hang out. He wasn’t there, but we did find a trail of shiny paperclips leading towards the backyard.
"My math sheet had sparkly star stickers on it!" I exclaimed. "Pip must have taken it!"
We followed the paperclip trail all the way to the birdbath. There, sitting at the edge, was Pip. He was trying to dip my math sheet into the water!
"Pip, stop!" I shouted.
Pip chirped in surprise and dropped the math sheet. Luckily, only the corner got wet.
"Why did you take my homework?" I asked.
Pip hopped closer and rubbed his head against my hand. Then he pointed his beak at the sparkly star stickers. He just wanted to make his nest sparkle too!
"Oh, Pip," I said, scooping him up for a hug. "My homework isn't for your nest. But you can have some of my star stickers!"
Pip chirped happily and helped me carry the math sheet back to my desk. Lily even helped me smooth out the wet corner.
Later that night, as I finished my math problems, I could hear Pip singing outside my window. It was the prettiest song, and I knew his nest would be the sparkliest one ever. And I knew something else, too. Even though homework can sometimes disappear, good friends are always there to help you find it!
