When we lived on a farm, a black-and-white Border Collie mix showed up at our gate one day. My young son Alec fell in love with this dog instantly, and within an hour, he had named him Oreo.

Within a day, I could see how he would make a house in a mess. The great outdoors itself barely seemed enough space for him to run. When he was let out of his fence, he became a mass of black-and-white fur rushing all over the place at breakneck speed. He never seemed to be tired of running, of jumping on people, or of barking. His high energy was entertaining, but also wearing (令人疲惫的). So it was usually my husband Gary’ s job to leash (栓链子) him up for walks.

One day in late summer, Gary, Alec, and I walked with Oreo to the edge of the field and loosed the leash. He took off on his normal run across the juicy, green fields and soon disappeared over the top of a hill. My family walked on the path along the fence at a much slower pace, looking for four-leafed clovers (四叶草) when suddenly we heard barking behind us.

We turned to see two unfamiliar dogs speeding toward us, and they did not look friendly. Ears back, teeth bared, they flew toward us over the dirt path. Gary pushed Alec and me toward a tree with some low-hanging branches. “Get Alec in the tree,” he ordered as he picked up a heavy stick. Heart pounding, I lifted Alec onto a branch, and Gary squared off (摆好架势) to face the attacking dogs and give us time to get into the tree.

Suddenly, a black-and-white ball shot over the hill and hit the bigger of the two dogs.

I was still hoping Goldie might come back. But it was the day after the race and there was no sign of her. I was sitting in Grandad’s garden, staring into the sky.

“Come on, Goldie, come on, Goldie.”

Sometimes racing pigeons turned up days after a race. They got lost, or hit bad weather. But that never happened to Goldie. She always came home, right on time.

I had known Goldie ever since she was an egg. I had known her since she was a pink baby pigeon. I helped Grandad look after her. I had held her in my hands after a race and felt her little heart beating. She was beautiful. She had got shiny green and blue feathers on her neck.

“Come on, Goldie.” I couldn’t stop saying that. I had been whispering it ever since I woke up. But it wasn’t working. It wasn’t bringing Goldie back.

What was I going to do? I wanted my Grandad to get better. I wanted him to come out of hospital. But when he came out, he’d come straight to his pigeon cage to see Goldie. “Where’s my champion racer?” he’d ask me.

Suddenly I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I remembered what Grandad had said about the falcons (老鹰) in the old quarry (采石场). I hated those falcons. They probably killed Goldie. I could feel myself getting really angry. My fists were bunched up. Now I knew exactly what to do.

It only took five minutes to run to the old quarry. My chest was burning when I got there and I was gasping for breath but I didn’t stop. I slid down through the trees to the quarry floor.

I wanted to get those falcons. I wanted revenge (复仇), for Goldie. I wanted to be able to tell Grandad, “Take it easy, Grandad. You don’t have to worry any more. I’ve taken care of those falcons for you!”

But I couldn’t see any falcons. Where was their nest? I looked around the quarry walls. That must be it. It was on the deepest side of the quarry.

“I’ll get you, falcons!” I shouted to the nest. My hands were bleeding. But I didn’t feel the pain. Finally I was there.

“Got you!” I reached out my hand to sweep the nest away but I saw the baby bird, so lovely and so gentle. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Music is playing an important part in our study and daily life.

In a word, music should make life better and help people become happier.

Once there lived a girl named Melanie. The little girl was living with a dream. She wanted to be a ballet dancer. Her body was very flexible and she had a strong will power. Melanie’s parents never knew of the great dancing skills their daughter had until one day, they saw the little girl dancing with the beautiful steps of a ballerina.

“Isn’t it strange? Melanie is dancing so well without any formal training!” the mother said.

“We must give her ballet lessons to help her improve her skills,” her father said.

The following day, Melanie’s parents took her to a local dance training school. The teacher asked Melanie to dance. The little girl was happy and showed some of her favorite dance steps. However, the teacher didn’t seem interested in her performance.

“That’s OK. You can leave now!”the teacher said.

Melanie was shocked to hear this. So were her parents. They couldn’t believe their ears.

“The girl is common. She does not have the possibility to become a ballerina, ”the dance teacher said. “Don’t let her waste her time dreaming of becoming a dancer.”

Disappointed, Melanie and her parents returned home. Tears rolled down Melanie’s face. Her dreams were broken within a matter of minutes. Without confidence, Melanie never attempted to dance again. She completed her studies and went on to become a teacher in school.Life was good and she kept herself busy with family and work. However, whenever she happened to pass the school’s ballet room, memories of childhood dreams danced before her eyes.

That school year God blessed me with two trusted children—Tom and Mary. Whenever I went out for training, programs or personal matters, I left everything to them.

However, the peace was ruined when one day I lost one thousand pesos (比索) in my bag. I always kept my wallet near me. I only chose my trusted students to get near my things. I kept the door of my office closed every time I went for my classes. My spine trembled upon my seeing my money was no longer there. I scanned my wallet, my secret pocket and everything in my room. But all my attempts were in vain.

I was angry. That morning before my class ended, I appealed to everyone to help me catch the “thief”. At 4:00 in the afternoon that day, I reminded them about my warning of returning my money before investigation took place. Then suddenly, a boy called Larry said, “Miss, look at the paper on the floor!”

My heart beat wildly when I saw the crumpled paper which I thought useless. I replied to them immediately upon holding the paper. “Yes, here it is!” I showed it to them. They urged me to open the paper. I opened it and to my surprise, I saw the one thousand pesos! I felt relieved. Then, a letter appeared among the banknotes.

“Miss, I am sorry that I stole the money. I returned it. Do not tell my classmates that I returned the money and do not mention anything about it in class, because it hurts me. Thank you, Miss. But I can’t tell you why I stole your money.”

Oh my God! My brain flashed the handwriting of my trusted boy—the “thief”. I was sure this was Tom’s handwriting.

8-year-old Evan was standing by the sidewalk when he noticed Mrs. Carter opening her shop again.

Several days ago, when Evan was passing by her store, he saw a closed sign on the store’s door. When the shop remained closed for not just two days, Evan was worried he’d never be able to get his “dream job”.

85-year-old Mrs. Carter was a woman selling flowers for a living and Evan had befriended her when he helped her cross the street one day.

Now seeing her again, Evan ran up to her and greeted her. “Can I help you today, Evan? Do you want flowers?” Mrs. Carter asked. Evan smiled, “I’m looking for a job! Can you please hire me?”

“A job?” the elderly lady laughed, thinking Evan was too little for that. But Evan proudly replied he knew many things, like making sandwiches and helping his mom get grocery bags from the car. Mrs. Carter laughed and asked Evan how much money she would have to pay him if she hired him.

Evan shook his head. “All I want is a big bouquet (花束) for my mom. Her name is Stacey and her birthday is one week away. Mom says we should work hard for what we want. I want to work hard for that bouquet. Can you hire me?” Evan asked. Mrs. Carter was impressed and nodded.

Then for a whole week, Evan would come to Mrs. Carter’s store in the evenings and help her, and having Evan around relieved Mrs. Carter’s boredom while she was working. Some customers thought Evan was lovely and entertaining, so they bought more flowers. Mrs. Carter’s business became better.

A week later, on Evan’s last day on the job, Mrs. Carter was emotional. They had grown close for working together, and Evan had become like a grandchild to her. While making a huge bouquet for Evan’s mother, Mrs. Carter secretly placed one envelope into the bouquet. The envelope contained $200. When handing him the bouquet, she said, “Will you come to see me someday, Evan? I’d be delighted to have you here.”

“I will!” Evan smiled and waved goodbye to Mrs. Carter.