A 4×l00m Relay Race

Yesterday evening, my partner John and l went to the levee（堤坝）where we would take running training. Ahead of us was a very tall man with a plastic bag who seemed to be unable to walk steadily. John said, “You keep running.1 will check on him. ” I tried to continue on but then turned around only to find that the man had fallen and was lying on his back with John at his side.

John was holding his hand. I saw the man’s stomach go from quick breaths to one of ease.   A few minutes later, the man calmed down. Then, John told him, “We are going to come back this way. If you are still here, we will check on you again.” The man said that he was fine but he was going to have a rest for a while.

We ran on for 10-15 minutes or so and turned around. Many people had passed by. I told John that the man would not be there because for sure someone else would help him. John ran ahead to see if he was still there. When I got to the spot, John was leaving and told me, “He is fine, let’s go on.”

The man in the meantime tried to climb up the levee and fell again and as he sat there, I walked down. I said, “Hi, my name is Mia, what’s your name?” Laughing and looking at me, he said, “My name is White.”I continued, “I find you have trouble walking. Do you want any help?” He said, “I’m practicing walking, because I had a serious traffic accident one year ago. Luckily, I have recovered from the pain.” Hearing his words, I felt astonished and asked him how he could make it. He told me it was his positive thoughts that helped him overcome all the difficulties.

I wanted to go on talking with him and asked whether we could walk together.

It was getting dark and we wanted to accompany him to return home.

With New Year coming , the weather was becoming colder. I was second grade then, 7 years old. One day, on my way home from school, a lady gave me a piece of paper saying that the neighborhood was asking people to give New Year presents to those who needed them. When I showed my mom this paper, she encouraged me to take part in it and spread kindness to others less fortunate than us. She said we would become “Neighborhood Angels”.

Several days later, my mother said, “Get ready, and we will go.” “Where are we going?” I asked my mother. “ I will drive you to to Boots Department Store to buy something you think would be suitable for a neighborhood present.” she replied. As we went into the store, my mother   gave me $20 to pay for the present. Then she said, “I’ll see you outside in the car.” She left me alone to do the shopping. I was not used to buying things on my own, as I had always been with one of my parents before. Everything seemed very strange and confusing to me, but I carried on. I asked myself what I should buy and for whom. Suddenly, I remembered the poor boy called Jack who lived in our neighborhood. I used to see him often without a jacket during the freezing winter months, so I decided, then and there, to buy him a warm jacket.

I looked at many jackets and eventually chose a heavy blue one. The price was just within my spending limit. The assistant at the checkout asked , “Is this for someone?”, as I paid for the jacket happily. I said it was,and she wished me a Happy New Year. I felt as if I were a real “Neighborhood Angel”.

That evening, my mother helped me packed the jacket in beautiful paper.

My mother and I waited breathlessly for Jack’s front door to open and finally it opened. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________