I worked at a local station of the Berlin fire department. We got an alert (警报) around 8:25pm that Friday and rushed to the fire engine, where the printout from the dispatcher (调度员) said there was a nine-year-old boy locked in a safe.

I asked myself: if it were a safe, would it be airtight? I was aware that it might already be too late by the time we arrived. I had to plan for a bad outcome. On the other hand, if we were in time, how long would it take us to open the safe? I knew it would be an incredibly difficult task. It’s what safes are designed for—not to be opened.

It took less than five minutes to reach the property. When I saw a woman crying on the street,

I knew the situation was serious. She was the boy’s mother and she led us into the basement. She told us the boy was alive and we started talking to him; he was very calm. We asked how it had happened: during a game of hide and seek with his five-year-old brother, he had thought the safe would be a good place to hide.

The boy’s parents had got the house from his mother’s father. The unlocked safe had been there when they moved in and was in an area they didn’t use much. The boy’s little brother had shut the safe, then, when he couldn’t open it again. The only person who knew the combination was the boy’s late grandfather.

From the outset, the biggest priority was getting oxygen to the boy. We got oxygen from the hospital. The boy said that he could feel a thin stream of air. I asked his parents if anyone had opened the safe before and they said no. So we had to guess a six-digit code (密码). We started typing them in—but we had to wait 10 minutes between each attempt before we could try again. So quickly we tried them all. No luck.

We were fully prepared at this point to open the safe by force, starting with a drill.

Then, just as we started to make the first cut, my workmate typed in the correct code.

My wife and I were at a wonderful birthday celebration yesterday for a dear family friend, and the party was filled with many friendly faces, some of whom I had not seen for a while.

Among those faces was a man, who is now an accomplished and highly-regarded lawyer. I interacted with him in a professional sense about 20 years ago. At that time, he and I worked closely together over a period of about six months. We spent some time together, and I got to ask him lots of questions during that time. I don’t think about that time of my life often anymore, but every time I do, I think of him fondly. He was smart, competitive and a great guy.

When we ran into each other yesterday, it became a wonderful opportunity to catch up with the old days. We spoke a lot about the life 20 years ago. We also talked about kids, family and updates on professional pursuits... all the usual stuff. After seeing him, the memories of that time came back vividly. At that time, we were working together on the preparation for a case he was going to handle. We had many conversations about how to prepare for the case. And how he and I got through the difficult period came to my mind immediately.

On the way back home from the party, I thought about the many conversations we had. And then I remembered that he had sent me a book that he said was very important to him but unfortunately, I placed it in the basement without reading. So when I got home, I went into the basement, where I kept all sorts of things from my life.

And thankfully, I was able to find the book.

Immediately, I found his address and drove to his home.

Samuel, aged 49, was resting on the glass wall which encircled the tiger at the time. After a long wait, the opportunity to face the tiger arrived. Samuel was uncertain if the large cat could recognize him after his five-year absence because of his wife’s new job in another city.

Samuel has had a lifelong craziness with animals. Born and raised in a forest-surrounded area, he often brought home animals he had not seen before. Thus, when Samuel announced to everybody that he had been planning to become an animal keeper, nobody was shocked.

Nothing pleased Samuel more than being employed by someone close to his birthplace, who was a zookeeper. He finally did something that made him happy each day. Furthermore, this job paid well enough for Samuel! This made the situation even better!

Luna, the zoo’s sole (唯一的) female white tiger, liked Samuel. Samuel liked it too. Nobody could comprehend their extraordinary relationship. Luna seldom approached humans. When Luna was younger, it was mistreated at the hotel’s tourist attractions. When the zoo rescued Luna, it made no attempt to interact with anyone. Samuel was able to break through Luna’s fearful shell with a lot of support and patience.

Luna was going to have a baby as part of a plan to save white tigers. Luna had a rough pregnancy (怀孕), but its delivery was terrible. As Luna struggled, Samuel looked after it for hours. Unfortunately, Luna died during her delivery. Samuel was not able to stop crying over its death, but he needed Luna’s children out as quickly as possible!

Luna was taken to a veterinary hospital (兽医院). Samuel wandered outside, waiting for word. The veterinarian soon presented Samuel with a baby tiger. But who would look after it? As its mother passed away, Samuel took on the responsibility. He had been caring for the baby’s mum all along, and now the baby, which Samuel named Blanca.

However, things did not go well as expected.

Five years later, Samuel persuaded his wife to return home.

At 6 pm in the mall on Christmas Eve, I was tired from my part-time job as an elf (精灵) helping Santa with kids’ photos to earn money during the December of my sixteenth year.

Everyone was very busy. I looked over at Shelly, our manager, and she gave me an encouraging smile. Instead of angrily shouting at her workers, she always positively encouraged us and stood behind us. Under her leadership, we had achieved the highest number of mall photo sales in California.

I knew it was a difficult holiday season for her —she was experiencing a family crisis. I hoped she knew how great she was and what a difference she had made to her workers and all little children coming to have their pictures taken.

Our Santa booth(摊位)was open until seven. At six, things started slowing down and I finally took a break. Although I didn’t have much money, I really wanted to buy a little gift for Shelly so that she’d know we appreciated her support.

I got to a store just as they locked the door. “We’re closed!” cried the tired clerk. I looked around, noticing all the stores had already closed. I was really upset. I had been working all day and had missed buying her a present by one minute.

On my way back to the Santa booth, I saw Nordstrom was still open. Fearful that they would also close at any moment, I hurried inside and toward the Gift Gallery. I found other shoppers were all well-dressed and wealthy; I was a poor teenager in an elf costume. How could I find anything under fifteen dollars in such an elegant store?

A saleswoman came over, asking if she could help me. Then, everyone in the department turned around and stared. Quietly, I said, “No, that’s okay. Just help somebody else.” She looked right at me, smiling, “But I want to help you. By the way, I’m Stephanie.”

I had to tell her who I was buying a gift for, and then admitted I only had $15.

By now the store was closed, but she stayed to help me wrap the hat.

It is exciting and enjoyable for one to experience both being fired for being honest and being rewarded. It was a pleasant Tuesday morning. Sunray Mart, a high-end (高端的) supermarket opened its doors to its customers. 60-year-old Billy had just started his first day on the job as the store’s sales associate (业员), and he couldn’t have been happier. Getting a job at 70 was quite challenging, and Billy could not thank his fate enough for somehow bringing him this work.

Wearing a warm smile, he began his work. After a while, he noticed one customer, a man in a clean black suit, approaching the store manager at the checkout....

“Excuse me, young man,” the customer greeted the manager at the billing desk. “Could you please tell me how much this toy costs? I left my glasses in my office, so I can’t see the price clearly. Would you please help me out?” “It’s $ 800, sir!” the manager took a look and said.

Billy was quite surprised and raised a brow (额头). He had just arranged the toys from the collection the man had wanted, all of which cost at most $ 200. So Billy lifted the exact toy from the lower shelf to double check its price and learned that it was actually $ 200, not $800 like the manager had claimed. Without further hesitation, Billy decided to correct the manager and approached the two men at the checkout, “Excuse me, sir, I think there’s been a mistake... That toy costs $ 200, not $ 800,” Billy said, pointing to the toy box his manager held.

Billy’s manager frowned (皱眉) and was clearly frustrated as he stared angrily at him, “apologize on behalf of my new sales associate,” the manager rolled his eyes and turned to the customer. “He’s new here, sir... and is probably a bit confused about the items listed for sale, The toy is $ 800.” Billy realized that his manager was trying to cheat the customer.

But Bill could not openly oppose (反对) him.

All of a sudden, the man Billy “helped” appeared from nowhere.

Cindy nervously glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. Five minutes before midnight. Her parents were still out there celebrating their 15th anniversary.

“They should be home any time now,” she thought as she put the finishing touches on the chocolate cake. It was the first time in her 12 years she had tried to make a cake from zero, and to be honest, it wasn’t exactly an artistic success. The cake was... well, lumpy. And the coating was bitter, as if she had run out of sugar or something which, of course, she had.

And then there was the way the kitchen looked. Imagine a huge blender(食物搅拌器) filled with all the stuff needed for chocolate cake -including the bowls, plates and tools. Now imagine that the blender is turned on. High speed. With the cover off.

Do you get the idea?

But Cindy wasn’t thinking about the mess. She was anxious for her parents to return home from their date so she could present her anniversary gift to them. Picturing her parents’ surprised faces when they saw the cake, she could feel a wave of excitement washing over her. She turned off the kitchen lights and waited excitedly in the darkness, hoping to give her parents a big surprise. Time seemed to her to be crawling with feet of lead while she anxiously awaited her parents’ arrival. When at last she saw the flash of the car headlights, she positioned herself in the kitchen doorway, her heart thumping like a drum. By the time she heard the key sliding into the front door, she was THIS CLOSE to exploding.

Assuming Cindy was already sound asleep, her parents tried to steal in quietly, but Cindy would have none of that. She turned on the lights dramatically and trumpeted “Ta-daaa!” She gestured grandly toward the kitchen table, where a slightly off-balance chocolate cake awaited their inspection.

When our youngest sister was born, my little brother Tom was six and I was eight. I had always been the “Big Sister” and he had always been “The Baby”.

Our sister’s arrival was a complete surprise to both of us. In those days no one worried much about sibling rivalry (兄弟姐妹间的较劲), and no “experts” told us how to deal with another child in the house. We had wise and loving grandpa and mom, however.

I was excited about the baby and loved to hold her and help care for her. Tom’s feelings were quite different! He just looked at her and left, preferring to spend the evening in his room. When I went to his room to talk to him and try to get him to play games with me, he just looked away. “Why did they have to get that baby?” Tom asked.

Later that night, Grandpa came over to see the new baby. As he held her, he said to Tom, “You know, she’s a lot like the baby lamb I’m raising on the bottle. I have to take care of her and feed her often, just the way your mom does with the baby.” Tom said, “I’d rather have the lamb.”

Grandpa heard and said, “Well, if you’d rather have a lamb, maybe we could trade your little sister for it. I’ll give you a day to think it over, and if you still want to trade tomorrow, we’ll do it.” I thought I saw him wink at Mom, but I knew I must have been mistaken because Grandpa never winked at anyone.

After Grandpa left, Mom read to Tom for a long while. Tom kept looking at the baby, and Mom asked him to hold our little sister while she went to the bathroom. When Mom came back. Tom was gently touching the baby’s smooth black hair, and as he held her hand, she took hold of his finger.

“Mom, look! She’s holding my hand!” Tom smiled.

“She’s a day older now. I think she’s worth five lambs now,” Tom said.