Lian gazed awesomely at the enormous redwood trees towering overhead. Her family had toured many fantastic historic sites during their vacation to Northern California. Visiting the splendid redwoods, something Lian had always wanted to do, was the icing on the cake.

Lian’s father, Mr. Yee, interrupted her thoughts. “Shake a leg everyone,” he said, clapping his hands quickly. “We don’t want to miss our flight.”

Lian and her older brother Shing hurried back to the family’s rental car. Their mother was already in the front passenger seat, anxiously tapping her fingertips against the window. Lian knew her mother was worried about missing their flight home. Mrs. Yee had wanted to stay close to the airport during the last morning of their vacation, but everyone else wanted to see the giant redwood trees. She finally gave in.

Mr. Yee slid into the driver’s seat. “We have two hours before we need to check in at the airport,” he said, checking his watch. “Traffic of the city shouldn’t be a problem at this time of day. We’ll have plenty of time to spare.”

Lian admired the trees as they drove through the park. Shing’s attention, however, was focused elsewhere. “Hey, Dad, I think you were supposed to turn there,” he said, pointing over his shoulder at a road marker. “Good catch, Shing,” replied Mr. Yee. It took several minutes to find a place to turn around on the narrow road. They retraced (折回) their route and tried again. This time, Lian and Shing kept their eyes wide open watching for markers. They successfully exited the park.

Lian and Shing were chatting quietly when they heard a loud“Bang”. Lian’s side of the car suddenly sunk low to the ground. Mr. Yee calmly slowed down and pulled the car to the side of the road. “Everybody stay in the car,” he ordered. He turned on the warning lights and got out to inspect the car. “The axle(轴) is damaged,” he sighed.

It was a morning in late August. Down the shore (岸) line of a lake, my father was fishing by a bank of trees. He liked to fish, away from distractions and noise and other people. He was also a wildlife officer, traveling all over the province to protect nature from humans.

But I was still new to fishing. “Dad, where should I stay?” He simply pressed his index finger to his lips, pointed to a shady spot by a large rock and shook his head gently. I knew he wanted me to be quiet.

The place where we were fishing was near a protected wetland. Songbirds, ducks and Canada geese flew by, touching down briefly on the water’s surface before they flapped their wings and flew back into the sky. White clouds passed in front of the sun, blocking its warming rays from time to time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a few big loons (潜鸟) gathered together near the shoreline. What were they doing there? Loons usually travel alone, but here were five. Maybe it was a family? One loon, wailing (哀号), swam away from the group, toward me.

“Dad? Come here!”

My dad turned a bit toward me but didn’t move, until I urged him again.

“Look at that loon. It’s swimming toward us,” I said, pointing toward that strange loon.

Just then, the loon let out a big laughing sound. It stopped in the water near shore, not ten feet away from us. It was so close that we could see its beady red eyes. Strangely, the bird’s wings were held tight against its black -and-white body, its neck wrapped (缠绕) around by a thin line. Fishing line maybe? Was there a hook (钩子) on the line, too?

“It needs help. It’s trying to get our attention!” With these words, my dad was ready to get into the water. “But... Look at its long beak (喙)! It could easily hurt us with it.” I didn’t follow him.

“Go get the scissors from the tool box,” my dad was shouting.

“Take it easy! The bird won’t hurt you!” encouraged Dad.

On the Saturday morning, I could see rays of sunlight as I said good morning to my brother, Willie aged six while I was nine. Breaking up for a summer holiday, I felt at ease and plotted (暗中策划) our own delightful day.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Mum smiled at me. “Get yourself dressed, Shawn. Run out and collect some firewood. I’ll fix you some hotcakes.”

I slipped on my clothes, grabbed the ax and headed straight for the outhouse. There father sat freely with a bottle of beer in hand. During the summer holiday, he would find time to take us to catch some fish for supper. However, his fishing pole missing, we could have no choice but to try something different.

I walked with my chin up as I thought about what a great day this was going to be. Willie and I were going to ride our bikes into town, and I was sure we’d find some empty bottles, maybe enough to buy some ice cream, my favorite while Willie had a preference for sweets. With the birds bouncing (跳动) up and down in the tree, I thought it was going to be a great day.

Everything done, Mum’s hotcakes were waiting for me. Willie finished his breakfast in a flash.

“Mum, can we go now?” I asked, as I swallowed down the last forkful of hotcakes.

“Now, Shawn, you be careful. Willie hasn’t gone out on the roads much, so you let him ride ahead of you. Keep a good eye on him. OK?”

“Take care, Willie,”I screamed when we cycled towards a mountain called Andover, the peak of which was the perfect spot to find empty bottles. Stark’s Store paid cash, two cents each, and we thought we were rich every time Mr. Stark handed us our reward in real money. Cycled up the mountain was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

Amy’s youngest child, 2-year-old Jenna, wouldn’t go to sleep until Amy read her a story while rocking her. Rocking and reading became their favorite nighttime routine.

Jenna awoke one night screaming in pain. Hospital tests later revealed that she had cancer, but luckily she had a successful operation.

During Jenna’s first week in the hospital, Amy stayed with her day and night. The nurses put a rocking chair in her room so they could continue their nighttime routine. After Jenna was asleep, Amy got some rest in the hard armchair by Jenna’s bed. Jenna was doing well, and Amy began sparing time to help her husband Joe take care of their little boys. She would go home in the evening, have dinner with the boys, and then return to the hospital until Jenna was asleep. Then Amy would come home for the remainder of the night.

It was pouring rain one evening as Amy hurried home to make dinner. By the time the meal was done, the roads were dangerous. Joe stood nearby as she looked out of the kitchen window. He firmly stopped Amy from going out in such weather.

“Joe,” Amy cried, “I have to read Jenna a story and rock her. She won’t be able to sleep if I don’t.” “Honey,” he said, “be reasonable. What if you have a bad car accident? The roads will be better tomorrow. Then, you can go.”

Amy finally nodded and called Sally, a middle-aged nurse who worked a twelve-hour shift from 8 am to 8 pm. In tears she told Sally that it was the first time since Jenna was born that she hadn’t rocked her at bedtime.

Sally comforted Amy in a calm voice. She promised that she would go in to see Jenna before she left and tell her that when she woke up her mommy would be with her. “Thank you, Sally,” Amy said.

When it was time to go to bed, Jenna couldn’t find her mom and got panic.

Just when her tears welled up, Sally came in.

The next morning Amy opened the door, finding Jenna was sleeping peacefully in Sally’s arms.