A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, immediately announces she never did care for pie.

—Tenneva Jordan

I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited. I was too old for that. At age eleven, as the oldest and my mom’s “grown-up” girl, I had to keep myself cool. I was in middle school after all. But when I got every chance and I was alone. I checked each present under the tree. I read every tag(标签)and felt every package, guessing at the contents within. I examined each gift so often that I could tell which present went to which person without even looking at the tags.

It had been a tough year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and scattered(撒)presents, she would sigh and warn us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be disappointed.” Christmas had traditionally been a time for my parents to spoil us. In the past, the presents would pile up and spill out from under the tree, taking up a lot of space of the living room. I had heard the phrase, “Giving is better than receiving”, but thought that whoever had said that must have been out of their mind. Getting presents was the whole point! It was the reason why I couldn’t get to sleep on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, we eagerly waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and let the wrapping paper fly. Some of us made weak attempts to wait and watch while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed, we lost our self-control.

“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a package. I looked at it, puzzled. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I recognized this one. But it was not mine. It was my mom’s. A new tag had been put on it, with my name written in my mother’s handwriting.

“Mom, I can’t…”

“This is your present and it belongs to you,” said my mother.

That Christmas is quite meaningful to me.

Chuck and his elder brother Peter lived with their dad Kyle and their grandfather Stan. One evening, Chuck and Peter asked their grandfather about the number one activity on his bucket list(人生愿望清单). “I was going to rebuild my dad’s farmhouse and maintain it. It’s a shame I could never do it, ” he sighed. Stan worked hard as a car mechanic, but his earnings were never enough to maintain such a huge farm.

Months passed and there was no mention of the farm again. Stan and Kyle continued working in their car repair shop, while Chuck and Peter worked downtown. On Stan’s 75th birthday, Chuck and Peter decided to give him a surprise.

“Grandpa, ”Chuck started, “this year we decided not to give you a cake for your birthday. ”“Ah, wait and see, Grandpa. I think you’re going to like this a lot better than a chocolate cake, ”Peter added.

At that moment, Peter excitedly brought out his laptop and flashed a 3 D model of a modern farmhouse. Kyle and Stan stared at the computer screen. “What are we looking at?”Stan asked his grandsons. “We know how much your dad valued his farm and how much you wanted to honor him by maintaining it. Chuck and I raised money to fix the farmhouse and the farm, ” Peter said with a smile.

Stan covered his mouth with his hand. Tears instantly streamed down his face. “You’d do that for me?” he cried. “Grandpa, you’re the best grandfather on earth, ” Chuck told him. “We do absolutely anything for you. There’s nothing else you need to say but to assure us that you’ll help us rebuild the farm, Grandpa! You too, Dad!”

Kyle and Stan nodded their heads. “Absolutely. When we’re done, I’ll throw a barbecue party! My dad said that if I ever get to maintain the farm, we should throw a barbecue party, ” Stan said excitedly.

Every day after that, Chuck and Peter set out to work on the farmhouse.

That Sunday, they decided to host a barbecue party and invite their neighbors.

“SAI BABA! Sai Baba! Sai Baba! Hahahaha!”

“Today is a big day! We have a celebrity visiting our city! Hahahaha!” Rani’s cheeks burned with embarrassment and tears filled her eyes as she pushed her way to the door of the school bus through the crowd of boys laughing at her. It wasn’t the first time she’d been called Sai Baba after the famous Hindu holy man(印度圣人) with his trademark afro(爆炸式卷发) towering over his head.

But this time had to be the worst. Rani jumped off the school bus, and anger flooded in as she rushed home in the drizzling rain. Why did her hair have to be like a giant cotton candy balloon just when she wanted it to behave? Why? Why? Why? It annoyed Rani as she opened the door.

“Rani, is that you?” Mama called from the family room. Suddenly Rani’s cousins, Amit and Sumit, came running toward her. “How many eggs does Rani have in that ne st on her head?” joked Amit. “Let me get that wig(假发) off Rani’s head!” shouted Sumit. Before she could think, Rani turned around and went out back up the road she’d walked down minutes before. She made her way down a narrow mud path into a clearing(空地). She threw her schoolbag on the ground and breathed hard.

“I hate my hair!” she cried. Throwing herself on the schoolbag, she bitterly remembered the time she’d spent trying to smooth her hair, with no luck. Before long, she fell asleep.

“RANI! RAA-AANI!”

Rani woke up to Mama’s calls. She sounded anxious. “I’ll never go home,” she promised herself. Mama let Amit and Sumit make fun of me. Papa would never have done that. He would listen to me and stand by my side. Before she knew it, the darkness began to fall.

Paragraph 1: Suddenly, someone or something was making its way into the clearing.

Paragraph 2: The next moment Papa was sitting beside her.

When school was over, the students were informed that there was no school on Monday-the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off,” said the teacher. An extra day of fun suited Flora just fine. She loved   breaks and expected to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Flora off, she ran into the house happily.

“How was school, Flora?” asked her mom.

“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”

“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Flora’s mom with a laugh.

Flora slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. It rained most of the day, so Flora enjoyed playing video games inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketbal1 for several hours. Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Flora was so looking forward to. But Flora was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Flora that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Flora couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday, a day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Flora rubbed her eyes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.

“Flora, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Flora’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Flora asked her parents, “Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”

“Yes, Flora. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”

Flora felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.

Things began to change as she was doing the chores.

Ariana Porter was very excited. The next day would be a new day and a new beginning, well, kind of. The next day Ariana would go to a boarding school! There would be no little sister to share a room with, with peace and quiet. She ate her favourite homemade curry(咖喱粉) for the last time that year. Then, she curled up(蜷缩) in her clean bed and shut her eyes.

The next day, Ariana woke up, jumped into her best clothes and flew downstairs. After a quick breakfast, the whole family lined up and said goodbye to her. Ariana’s little sister tried to hug her, but she shrugged off(不予理睬) Liliana. And off she went to boarding school happily.

However, when Ariana got there, everyone looked unwelcoming. A teacher showed her to her dorm(宿舍). It was cold and dark! A few days later, Ariana got several letters. The rainbow one was from her little sister and another from her parents. Ariana couldn’t even be bothered to open them. She just threw them into the main hall’s fireplace when nobody was around.

Every day, Ariana tried to make friends. It was an all-girls school. Unfortunately, she had no luck. She tried to give girls gifts, she tried to be friendly, but they shrugged her off just like she did to her sister. Two months had passed since she began trying to find new friends, but without success. Ariana felt more and more lonely. Something was missing in her life. Something indescribable. Something, or maybe someone.

Week after week went by and then, one day, holding yet another batch of mail, Ariana’s heart trembled. She realized what she was painfully missing, her FAMILY. Whenever she was down, whenever she needed help or comfort, they were there for her. Always. This time she opened the little rainbow envelope and smiled. Reading it filled her heart with joy. Ariana couldn’t reply, for the school didn’t allow that, so she decided to hide the letters under her pillow. The pile grew larger and they were so important to her, for the letters gave her the greatest comfort when she was away from home.

Months passed and then she was eagerly waiting for the day when the school year ended. No more dorm life and unfriendly girls. Ariana skipped to math class excitedly, but couldn’t concentrate. She dreamed about going home.

The term came to an end eventually and Ariana began to pack things up.

Just when Ariana was out of her dorm, she realized she had left something important to her in it.

My mom only had one eye. She ran a small shop at a market and collected old clothes and some other things to sell for the money we needed. Once during elementary school, it was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed (尴尬) and wondered how could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school, my schoolmates asked me, “Your mom only has one eye?!” and laughed at me.

I was so angry with my mom and wished that she would just disappear from this world. So I said to my mom, “Why don’t you have the other eye?! You’re only going to make me a laughingstock (笑柄)!” My mom did not reply. I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, I felt so good to have said what I wanted to say. Maybe it was because my mom hadn’t punished me, I didn’t think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

For the words I had said to her earlier, there was something hurting at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my one-eyed mom and our poor life. I told myself that I would become successful in the near future, so I studied very hard. Later I got accepted by the Scoul University, I left my mother and came to Seoul to study. Then I got married there.

I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I am living happily as a successful man. I enjoy the life in Seoul because it’s a place that doesn’t remind me of my mom and my past. This kind of happiness was getting bigger and bigger, until one afternoon someone knocked at my door.

It was my mom! And still with her one eye!

“My son, I’m so sorry that I only have one eye.” my mom said.

My 12^th birthday came at last. What a wonderful feeling it was to know that I turned twelve and that I might possibly get the thing I wanted most.

I saw my mom and dad coming towards me with a small box wrapped up (包装) with nice pink paper with flowers on it. When I removed the paper and opened the box, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had got a cell phone! I ran to give my mom and dad the biggest hug ever, and said, “Thank you! I love you!”

“You’re welcome. We knew this was going to make you happy. But we give you this not only because you have turned twelve but also because you are doing well in school. We expect you to keep getting good grades.”

I said confidently that I would. As soon as I got to school the next morning, I was showing off my phone and asking everyone for their number. It was cool how I got so many contacts (联系人) on the first day. It felt like I didn’t even exist in that class any more. I didn’t pay much attention to the teachers because I was too busy on my phone. I texted my friends, surfed the Internet for stories or played games.

Luckily, I didn’t get caught using it. I had formed a habit of secretly enjoying my phone in class. But I was pretty sure that the teachers did notice that I stopped paying attention to them, because a week later we took a test and I failed. What’s worse, my parents had to sign the test.

I had to show my parents the test paper when I got home.

My mom added, “Let us help you keep your cell phone until you’re old enough.”