My dream comes true

The rain had started to fall gently through the evening air as darkness fell over Sydney. The noise was deafening. As I walked towards the track, I glanced around me at the sea of faces in the stands, but mind was focused. The Olympic gold medal was just minutes away, hanging tantalizingly (引诱人地) in the distance.

My heart was beating loudly. I was so close to the realization of my childhood dream and the feeling was fantastic. I knew I would have to push myself beyond my known limits to ensure that my dream came true.

I tried to keep my head, telling myself not to panic, to stick to the plan and run my own race. I knew the Russian girls would set off quickly-and I had to finish this race fewer than ten seconds behind the Russian athlete Yelena Prokhorova. If I could do that, the title would be mine. I looked out along the first stretch of the 400 m track and caught my breath.

My ankle was bandaged against an injury in the long jump just a couple of hours earlier, but I shut out all thoughts of pain.

The starting gun was fired, and the race began. The first lap was good, and I managed to keep up with the group, but I was feeling much more tired than I usually did, and much more than I’d imagined. Both the long, hard weeks of training that had led up to this championship, and the exhaustion from two days of fierce competition were showing in my performance. Mental and physical tiredness were starting to over- come me, and I had to fight back.

Prokhorova had set the pace from the start. It was important that I didn’t let her get too far in front. I had to stay with her. At the bell I was 2.3 seconds behind her. Just one lap to go. One lap. I could do it. I had to keep going. I could see the gap opening between me and the Russian. Thankfully, my foot was holding out, so now it was all down to mental stamina (耐力).

Prokhorova was pulling away.

Then, the moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life—my name in lights.

In our weekly staff meeting, our editor Ashley was not pleased with the quality of our reporting. “Our readership is way down. We need better stories for this Thursday’s school newspaper. Does anybody have any ideas?” she said.

I handed her my article about our basketball team beating Deerfield High School the previous night by one point. “Sports stories are fun,” she said, “but not good enough for the front page. We need something to really get people ‘s attention.”

After our meeting, we left the newsroom together and heard someone screaming, “Perry is missing!” Perry was a big red parrot and had been our school mascot (吉祥物) for ten years. He played an important role in students’ lives, both in and out of class. He had also been a constant presence at school events, inspiring a sense of unity among students.

Everyone gathered around Perry’s empty cage, heartbroken. Suddenly, a student from the crowd came over and showed me a photo. “You’re a reporter for the school paper, right? I happened to take this yesterday,” he said. In the photo was a Deerfield High School basketball player with something large hidden under his shirt around the size of a parrot.

“He must have stolen Perry to get back at us for winning the game!” Ashley cried. We hurried back to the newsroom, agreeing to run the photo on the front page with the headline “Deerfeld Stole Perry.” “This is just the story we need. Everyone will read it,” Ashley said confidently.

After she left, I took a closer look at the photo. The clock in the background read 4:15 pm, but our game against Deerfield hadn’t started until 4:30 pm. Why would the boy have taken Perry before we even played? An uneasy feeling came over me that we might have falsely accused someone.

I went to Perry’s usual caretaker to ask if he knew Perry was missing. ”He’s not missing. He’s retired. He’s ready for some quieter days,“ he said. Learning the truth, I immediately told Ashley and suggested writing a story to say goodbye to Perry.

To my surprise, Ashley insisted on reporting the “Deerfield Stole Perry” story.

On Thursday, the paper came out with the headline “Bye-Bye, Perry” on the front page.

David and George were best friends at school. They sat together in the same school classroom, shared sandwiches during lunch breaks, and had countless adventures together,

As George’s birthday approached, David noticed something that concerned him. It was George’s shoes, the soles (鞋底) of which were nearly worn through. They were no longer as comfortable as they should be, and David could tell that George needed a new pair of shoes and he decided to do something special for his friend on his birthday.

David’s thoughtful plan started with a conversation with his mum. He explained how much he cared for his friend George and how he wanted to gift him a pair of shoes for his birthday.

His mum, a kind and wise woman, agreed that it was a wonderful idea. She also wanted to teach David an important lesson about earning and giving. So, they discussed a plan together. “David,” his mum said, “I think it’s a lovely idea to buy shoes for George. But how about this? I can give you some money for doing extra housework around the house. You can earn the money you need to buy the shoes. What do you think? “David’s eyes lit up, and he smiled widely. “That’s a great idea, Mum! I want to do it. ”

David became a whirlwind (旋风) of activity around the house. He swept the floor, watered the plants, washed the clothes, and even helped his mum with the dishes. His determination to earn enough money for George’s gift shone through his every action.

As days turned into weeks, David saved penny by penny. His mum was impressed by his hard work. She knew that her son’s surprise for George would not only make his friend happy but would also teach David the joy of giving.

Finally, George’s birthday came and David invited George to his home celebration.

George was so moved by the gift he received.

Cynthia was a primary school student. She was curious about everything. She made efforts to get a good grade in every subject. She was a kind-hearted and outgoing girl. At school, she was always ready to help her classmates. At home, she helped her mum do some housework. She was never a concern to her mum, Mrs. Anderson.

However, Mrs. Anderson noticed a change in Cynthia these days. There were more quiet moments. Mrs. Anderson saw Cynthia looking out of the window, lost in thought. She also learned from her teacher that Cynthia wasn’t as focused on school as before. A sense of worry rose in Mrs. Anderson’s heart and she wondered about what was behind Cynthia’s unusual behavior.

Before going to bed, she started talking with Cynthia, asking about her day. However, Cynthia just said that nothing in particular happened. Mrs. Anderson’s concern grew. She decided to keep a closer eye, hoping to uncover the challenges her daughter might be facing.

One day, while cleaning up Cynthia’s bedroom, Mrs. Anderson discovered something unexpected — on her desk lay some books on how to treat injured birds. It was quite surprising. Cynthia had never told her about this. It also amazed Mrs. Anderson. She had a deep love for nature and birds and she could always find inspiration in their freedom and the beauty of their songs. She couldn’t help but wonder what had inspired her daughter’s newfound interest in birds.

The next morning, Mrs. Anderson saw Cynthia walking quietly into the backyard with a first aid kit in hand.

Mrs. Anderson couldn’t help but walk out.

It was a sunny afternoon in June of 2023 when Anthony Perry stepped off the train at Chicago’s 69th Street station. The 30-year-old, a former railway worker, was on his way home.

On the platform, two men were throwing punches (拳). Then the unthinkable happened: The pair tumbled over the edge and onto the tracks. One man ended up on his back, resisting the beat.Suddenly,he was unresponsive and lay there unconscious. In panic, the other man rushed backward, jumped back up onto the platform and disappeared.

“Help him!” an old woman wailed. “Please, someone!”

Perry couldn’t just stand there and watch. He sprang into action. He knew that every second counted. With a firm determination, he jumped onto the tracks. The other people on the platform watched nervously as Perry carefully made his way to the victim.

Perry examined the man’s body. He looked dead, but luckily he was still breathing, though weakly. What mattered most was to move the man to a safe place at once. The train he’d just gotten off was still stopping, thankfully. But had the train driver seen him? Would it start up again?

Perry silently prayed in his heart: “God help me get him out of here.” He picked the man up on his back and took a few steps forward.

“Be careful.” cried the warm-hearted old woman.

Perry forced a smile, steadied himself and moved more cautiously to the platform.

With all his strength, he carried the man to the edge of the tracks. The other people around made a concentrated effort to pull the man to the platform.

Suddenly, the whistle sounded that the train was about to start again. Shock! Perry was still there. People all around quickly offered the hands to pull him up. Luckily, they made it!

What was worrying was that the man didn’t wake up.

Finally, the ambulance arrived, along with the police car.

On a sunny afternoon, the off-duty registered nurse, Samantha Baxer, at St. Mary’s Hospital was on her way to a store for mothers and babies with her best friend Kieran Horn, preparing to buy some necessities for her unborn baby — she was six months pregnant (怀孕的).

Samantha was in such a good mood at that moment, just like the white clouds in the blue sky, because as a nurse, she seldom had time to relax. “She was always on-duty and putting everybody first before herself.” Kieran said.

Suddenly, terrible things happened. A loud crash came into her ear, followed by people screaming. A car crashed at the comer of West Broad Street and West End Drive in Henrico. The damaged car rolled round and round, and finally stopped at the side of a telephone pole. “Jesus!” passers-by stood there stunned. Seeing this, two police officers and a citizen soon rushed towards the car, positioning their body weight against the vehicle to keep it from moving.

“Help! Help! The driver is bleeding heavily!” A man shouted anxiously. Samantha’s heart was in her mouth, and her professional ability sent her rushing to the scene of the accident, even if she didn’t know whether anyone was alive or not. Although she knew that pregnancy might cause trouble to her actions, she did not hesitate because she knew that every second could make a difference between life and death.