Lisa and Her Dog

One day, Lisa was walking home from school when she passed a pet shop. It was the same one she had passed hundreds of times before. However, this time she looked in and saw the prettiest black dog she had never seen in her life. It was as black as coal (煤块) and had a red bow behind one of its ears.

Lisa ran home to tell her mother that she had seen the gift she wanted for her birthday, which was next week. Lisa ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She ran inside the house, slamming (砰地关上) the door behind her. She rushed into the kitchen where her mother was busy cooking dinner.

She asked, “Mommy, do you think I could get the dog for my birthday?” “I don’t know,” her mother replied, “It depends on what your father has got to say about getting a dog.” “But you and Daddy promised I could have anything I wanted for my birthday,” Lisa muttered (嘟囔). She walked into the living room, threw her schoolbag on the sofa and turned on the TV. Upon seeing this, Lisa’s mother said, “If you want your Daddy to let you have a dog, you need to get your homework done before your Daddy comes home.”

“Okay, Mommy!” Lisa immediately turned off the TV. She got her schoolbooks out of her backpack and started doing her homework. A short while later, she heard her father pulling up into the driveway and getting out of his car. He walked into the house and laid his newspaper on the coffee table. Seeing Lisa in the living room, he went to the kitchen and said to his wife, “What made Lisa start her homework early? She usually waits until after dinner.” “Well, she just thought she would start her homework earlier tonight. She would also like to ask you a question, but I’ll let her explain,” said Lisa’s mother.

Lisa’s father walked back into the living room where Lisa was busy doing her homework.

After hearing what her father had said, Lisa’s face turned red.

Today is the National Day for Families.

For years, putting up Christmas lights had been a family tradition for the Patrick’s household. It was an occasion when they would busily prepare for the celebration of Christmas.

Their Christmas light display was always a highlight of the neighborhood and brought much delight to the whole community. Typically, Anthony would invite the neighbors over as they decorated the Christmas tree in the front yard. Emily, who lived next door and had known Sara’s family for long, often came to admire their wonderland of Christmas lights.

In early December, Anthony would string colorful lights all around their roof until it looked dazzling. On the front lawn, he would blow up a large white Frosty the Snowman and a Rudolph with a glowing red nose. Sara always joined in, along with their warm-hearted neighbors, hanging gifts on the tree and playing “White Christmas” over and over to keep everyone in the spirit.

Yet the bad news came in the midst of the festive mood, before they could finish the Christmas decoration. Anthony fell desperately ill. The symptoms suggested acute heart failure and he was soon admitted to hospital. Sara spent days and nights in the ward, attending to Anthony and praying for his recovery, though the hope was slim. On Christmas Eve, Anthony passed away.

It came as a huge blow to Sara. In the following days, she had to manage the funeral while struggling to figure out a way to cover housing and household expenses, and tackling a seemingly endless list of difficult to-dos. Perhaps hardest of all, she had to persuade herself into accepting the loss of her father. It was too much to take.

When she pulled up to the house after a long day on the go, the only thing that could comfort her were the twinkling Christmas lights, which brought her a spark of hope-it felt as if the brightness of the lights could cancel out some of the darkness of the past days’ misfortune.

Wanting to help, Emily shared their story on a community website.

Touched by their kindness, Sara decided to fulfill the lighting decorations, though Christmas was gone.

Jim was born and raised in New York City for his entire life. He was the captain of the Fire Department of New York, which was no surprise as he came from a family of firefighters. He loved serving his local community.

While on the job, Jim had suffered a sad event that left him confused about what he was supposed to do with the rest of his life. Jim had lost a good man that was on his team. The grief had eaten the captain up for weeks. He couldn't seem to get himself out of the deep hole he had found himself in. That's when a massive change came his way.

A young boy walked up to Jim with a special request. It was normal for Jim to have young and excited children come up to him to see the fire engine. However, he could immediately sense that this boy had something else in mind. This young boy was named Trucker. He was dressed in regular jeans and a T-shirt, but he had a firefighter jacket above this. Jim found this to be absolutely adorable and it also showed him how much Trucker cared about firefighting.

Trucker explained to Jim that he loved firefighters more than anything on the planet. His mother nodded in agreement with her son's statement. Trucker was fascinated by the fire department. This was common but Jim was surprised to hear Trucker's mother said he was only 5 years old and had neuroblastoma(成神经细胞瘤), a rare form of cancer that typically affects young children. There's no cure for patients like Trucker who suffer from the disease. There was nothing more they could do but help him realize his dream.

“Jane! Look who I brought home!” My father stuck his head out from behind the door, flashing a big smile. My heart skipped a beat as I mouthed, “A dog?” Nodding, my father pushed the door open, revealing a large German Shepherd. I grasped my hands tightly over my mouth and failed to hold back a sharp scream. Rushing back into my room, I locked the door and covered the gap between it and the floor with tape. I had a strong fear and great hate of dogs ever since I was bitten by one badly on the face, leaving a huge and deep scar(伤疤). I decided to stay in my room until the dog had gone for a walk with my father.

After what seemed like ages, I heard the door open and shut. “Finally! I can get out of here,” I thought. Out of great joy, I threw open the door and punched(用拳猛击) the air. At that moment, I felt something wet touching my foot. To my shock, it was the dog! I stood there, scared and shocked as if my feet were rooted to the ground. When I regained my calmness, I shouted loudly, “Ahhh! It is the dog! Help! He wants to bite me! Get him away from me!”

My father was standing at the door, folding his arms and laughing quietly. “He is not going to eat you! Jane, don’t be so scared. Go on! Touch him!” he said. Attempting to show my unwillingness, I failed to do so due to my constant and uncontrollable shaking. Instead, I shouted loudly, “Never! I will never touch that dirty thing! Go away!” I picked up a tennis ball on the table and aimed at the dog but missed, causing the ball to roll across the living room.