On a sunny day, three teenagers were walking along a city street planning a robbery. Their names were Harry, Tom, and Jack. They were on their way to a bar. But suddenly, Tom saw a bank with fake security cameras. Harry thought it was a good bank to rob, so they caught a bus back home and thought of a plan.

Harry wrote a note to hold up to the bank employee: “Give me all the money or I will kill you. I’ve got a gun and I’m not afraid to use it.”

Tom got some fake guns, and Jack took his mother’s car keys so they could have a getaway car.

The next day, Harry, Tom, and Jack set off for the bank. Harry gave the note to a clerk at the bank while Tom put one gun in each of his hands and pointed them at the clerk. Jack waited around the back of the bank with their getaway car.

The clerk said, “Fine,” and gave the teenagers the money. But suddenly, an alarm went off because the clerk pressed a red button under the desk. Many police officers came inside from every direction. Tom got his guns and pointed them at the police. Harry ran past a policeman and went around back where Jack was. Then Tom threw his guns up in the air, all the police officers looked up at the guns, and Tom ran around back just as Harry had.

When Harry and Tom got to Jack, they all jumped in the car and raced away.

Harry, Tom, and Jack spent half a year in Fiji with three million dollars. They bought ice cream sundaes and surfboards and lived happily.

But that was not the end of the story. The police were looking into the robbery.

After a while, the three teenagers had to get up their courage to open the door. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long overcoat, with collar turned up to his ears, hurried across from the opposite side of the street. He went directly to the waiting man.

“Is that you, Bob?” he asked, doubtfully.

“Is that you, Jimmy Wells?” cried the man in the door.

“Bless my heart!” exclaimed the new arrival, grasping both the other’s hands with his own. “It’s Bob! I was certain I’d find you here if you were still alive. Well, well, well! —twenty years is a long time. How has the West treated you, old man?”

“It has given me everything I asked it for. You’ve changed lots, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall by two or three inches (英寸).”

“Oh, I grew a bit after I was twenty.”

“Doing well in New York, Jimmy?”

“Moderately. I have a position in one of the city departments. Come on, Bob; we’ll go around to a place I know of, and have a good long talk about old times.”

The two men started up the street, arm in arm. The man from the West, his egotism (自我) enlarged by success, was beginning to outline the history of his career. The other, submerged (埋) in his overcoat, listened with interest.

At the corner stood a drug store, brilliant with electric lights. When they came into this glare each of them turned simultaneously (同时地) to gaze upon the other’s face.

The man from the West stopped suddenly and released his arm

“You’re not Jimmy Wells,” he snapped. “Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man’s nose from a Roman (鹰钩鼻) to a pug (狮子鼻).”

“It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one,” said the tall man. “You’ve been under arrest (被捕) for ten minutes, ‘Silky’ Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over our way and wants to have a chat with you. Going quietly, are you? That’s sensible. Now, before we go on to the police station here’s a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the the window. It’s from Patrolman (巡警) Wells.”

The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

“Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted (被通缉的) in Chicago. Somehow I couldn’t do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job. ——JIMMY.”

How time flew! Bob was released from jail. Stepping out of jail into the cold wind,

He turned around and surprised to find a familiar-looking man.

I was a writer, but yesterday the boss told me he decided to fire me. That was wrong, because I created many great articles for our company. I didn't want to let the news upset my children, so I invited my wife to a restaurant we often went to.

I walked into the restaurant, surprised by how empty it was. Not too long after, I saw Carrie walk in. “Where are the kids?” I asked. "At Mother's." Carrie said. "So what did you want to tell me?" she asked curiously. "Well when I tell you, you can't break down." I said. She nodded hesitantly.

“Well, ... my boss said ...he would fire me if I couldn't come up with a good story.” "What! You've been working there for 5 years since your best friend Jack left there. Although later Jack tried to invite you to work with him, you refused. You could basically run the place!” She shouted. "I know, I know.” "How can he just fire you like Jack?” She looked at me with worry in her eyes. "What about the kids? How will we pay for the house? How will we ..." I cut her words off and promised. "I'll find a new job. Any job will do as long as it pays." Suddenly a man across the diner said, "My friend is looking for a new writer ... someone that can really tell and show the story.” "Where can I find him?” I asked. "He's got a shop down the street with a big yellow sign on the top." he says. "Thank you so much!" Carrie said thankfully as we left the restaurant.

“There!” Carrie pointed to a big yellow sign reading, "The Daily Dispatch". "I've heard about this place!” I said turning to Carrie. ^t4This is the worst newspaper company here!” I complained. “Well I guess I should go in for an interview. A bad job is better than none." I sighed. "George, I don't want you to do something you hate." “Well at least I can make some money if I have a job."   said.

As I stepped in the door, the strong smell of ink hit me right in the face.

As I sat down in a shabby （破旧的）chair, I heard a breaking sound.

My best friend Carla Hernandez called me on Thursday afternoon. She asked me to meet her in the park near the playground five minutes later. She said she had a great idea! This worried me because Carla’s great ideas almost always meant big trouble for me!

I rushed outside and jogged to the park. When I saw Carla, my heart sank because her huge dog Perro was with her. I liked everything about Carla except Perro. I’d never had a pet, so I felt uncomfortable and nervous around animals. I was embarrassed to say that I was afraid of Carla’s dog. Carla smiled. “Isn’t this the perfect location for a pet show?” she asked. “All the kids in the neighborhood can show off their pets’ talents and demonstrate the things they do well. There are plenty of comfortable benches (长椅) for our parents and friends to sit on. And since you don’t have a pet to enter into the show, you will be the announcer.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, “but that’s impossible! Crowds made me nervous and unsure. Besides, I didn’t like animals, remember?” “That’s nonsense,” said Carla. “There’s nothing to be concerned about because you’ll be great!” Carla encouraged me to be brave and confident. But just then, Perro leaped up, slobbered all over (毫不掩饰地表示喜爱) me, and almost knock me down. “Down, Perro! Stay!” I shouted. Perro sat as still as a statue. “Wow, you’re good at that,” said Carla. She thought I was talented at giving orders to pets, and asked me to get started with her immediately because we would have a lot to do.

By Saturday morning I had practiced announcing each pet’s act a hundred times. I felt my heart pounding by the time the audience arrived. The size of the crowd made me feel even more anxious. When the show began, I announced the first pet, nervously. It was a bird named Butter whose talent was walking back and forth on a wire. When Butter finished, everyone clapped and cheered. So far, everything was perfect.

I was beginning to feel calmer and more relaxed.

This was a disaster, and I had to do something.