As the afternoon sun bathed the local beach with its warm, golden rays, four-year-old William sat on the beach with a mix of expectation and confusion. His dad, Steven, sat by his side. They were waiting for William’s friends to arrive and celebrate his long-awaited birthday party. William’s wide eyes, filled with hope and happiness, stared at the shoreline, looking for familiar faces.

He kept asking his dad where everyone was, and Steven just told him “they’re coming soon, ”trying to ease his son’s growing impatience. But the longer they waited, the more hopeless William became. He was extremely disappointed when the two invited families called and said they couldn’t make it to the celebration because of unexpected situations.

Steven watched his son, who had been eagerly expecting his special day for what seemed like ages. This year, William had been more aware than ever of his upcoming birthday, asking throughout the month when his birthday was, eagerly expecting a good time.

Feeling a sense of guilt for his son’s disappointment, Steven decided to turn to social media for help. He posted a lovely picture of him and William on the beach. Their faces were filled with a mix of hope and disappointment. The sincere words with the picture read, “William would love some friends to play with on the beach. To celebrate his fourth birthday, he has Hot Wheels, sand toys, dinosaurs, and we have some snacks and drinks. Any and all welcome. ”

William’s wish for companionship produced a strong response from the local people. They flooded the post with messages of support, birthday wishes, and offers to join the celebration. They were determined to make William’s day special.

“Going there. See you soon, ”one warm-hearted local commented on the post, promising to bring her family along. The message aroused the same feeling from many others, who were quick to follow suit.

Soon, the beach was filled with scenes of joy.

After hours of laughter and games, the sun began to set.

On a Friday evening in December, two weeks before Christmas, my mother and I got home as usual. We were excited for the coming weekend and planned to get our Christmas tree. Suddenly, my mother got her voice mail: “We’re sorry but your work assignment has ended as of today.” The news cast a cloud of gloom over her face. And my heart sank and anxiety sent me spinning — my mother lost her job.

The following days my mother got up early and set out to look for work, but still hadn’t seen it coming. And I noticed that we were running out of natural gas and bills of electricity and water began to pill up. I knew money was tight. One wrong move could send the family into trouble. My mother also wasn’t easy. She wasn’t just a single parent; she was the only parent. My father had been in prison most of his life and I hadn’t met him for a long time. Nevertheless, I’d grown accustomed to the life. My mother did everything she could to give me a good life.

The next day as we searched for our tree in the shop, I struggled to be cheerful as I eyed each price tag. I handed a note of $100 to my mother, but she refused without hesitation, saying “Absolutely not, that’s what grandma gave to you.” I whispered to her “Mom, I don’t want any gifts. All I need is to be with you. I love you forever!” Then I held her by the hand leaving the shop.

Over the next week, my mother crazily applied for jobs as the bank account grew smaller and smaller. We still needed money for rent, food and other daily expenses.

One night, lying on the bed and lost in thought, I decided that it was time for me to do something. At that, I rose up to dial a telephone number.

The next morning, just on the day before Christmas, I noticed a familiar car pull up in front of my house.

At this time, I couldn’t help but cry.

Tom appeared in front of the house with a can of paint and a big brush. He was going to paint Aunt Poly's fence as he was asked to. A deep sadness settled upon his heart. The fence was long and tall. He dipped the brush into the can and moved it along the first plank unwillingly. He did it again and again. The painted part was very small but the whole fence was endless. He felt tired and sleepy and stopped painting.

Just then Tom heard a noise. He recognized it easily. It came from one of his schoolmates, Ben, who would make strange noises as he ate. Ben was walking by and eating an apple. At that moment, a wonderful idea came to Tom and he felt energized. He wanted first to attract Ben's interest and then let Ben work for him. If other boys passed by, he would do the same to them.“Maybe they even need to give me something for getting the chance to show their ability,”he thought.

He quickly took his brush and painted quietly. Ben saw Tom, walked up to him and greeted him with a wide smile.

Continuing with his painting, Tom intentionally did not look at Ben. He wished for his plan to work and therefore, he did not turn from his work. Tom moved his brush gently and slowly, all the while ignoring Ben. Ben went closer and taunted Tom with sarcasm,“Tom, it's unfortunate that you have work to do. I'm going swimming. Don’t you wish you could go too?”

Tom turned suddenly. “Oh, Ben. I didn't see you. What do you mean by‘unfortunate’? It may be work but it may not be.”

“Do you mean that you enjoy it?” Ben asked, feeling puzzled.

“Of course! How often do we get the chance to be in charge of painting a whole fence?”said Tom. Moving his brush and stepping away, Tom looked at the end result proudly.

Tom's idea took effect.

At last, Ben persuaded Tom into letting him paint the fence.

Arthur was a good boy doing his best to grow into a good man. Arthur’s best friend was Kyle. If you couldn’t find Arthur, all you had to do was look for Kyle.

A few years ago, Arthur’s father was a successful businessman. But things went very wrong when his dad’s business failed. The two boys met when Arthur had to leave his expensive private school, which his family could no longer afford, and go to a public school. Arthur’s mom worked at the local bakery (面包烘房) and brought home boxes of baked goods. Just like Arthur’s, Kyle’s family struggled. They lived on a farm where they could not work any longer because Kyle’s dad was too sick, and his grandmother was too old. Kyle’s mom worked in the laundry (洗衣店) and still managed to grow vegetables for the family. The two families helped each other. Arthur gave Kyle’s family the extra delicious baked goods, and Kyle’s mom gave him baskets of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and fruit from the farm.

Things took a turn for the worse when Kyle’s 84-year-old grandmother was seriously ill and had to go to the hospital. Kyle and his family were understandably upset, but worse of all were the hospital bills. Fortunately, she survived.

One afternoon, Arthur found poor Kyle in tears. “What’s the matter, Kyle?” he asked. His friend wiped his tears. “Nothing, nothing at all!” he said. Arthur had his doubts, but he didn’t press Kyle. “Well, then,” he said. “I have good news for you! My Aunt sent me $50, and my mom said I could spend it on anything I wanted!”

“WOW! Does that mean, ...”

Arthur smiled. “YES!” he shouted. “That means I’m buying the robot!” “When are you going to buy it?” “Maybe this weekend,” Arthur said. “Now, how about you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Grandma is turning eighty-five next week, and I wanted to get her a new album (相册) for the old family photos. She loves paging through it, remembering and telling stories. I asked my dad, but he said it was too expensive.” Arthur didn’t say a word. He sat down next to his friend and ...

That night, Arthur asked his mom to join his secret plan.

The grandmother opened the present.