As I rode out of the grocery store on a scooter cart (滑板车). I got funny looks from the other shoppers. People didn’t know what to make of a 15-something, able-bodied high schoolgirl riding a cart clearly designed for the elderly or disabled.

The scooter cart wasn’t for me, but for my 80-year-old grandmother, who waited in the car until I brought her the scooter.

My grandmother came to us last weekend. Mom said she was old now so it wasn’t suitable for her to live alone. This morning, she asked me to go shopping with her. This made me remember what a special treat it once was to be with her when I was a little girl.

We headed into the supermarket together for our regular grocery shopping adventure. It turned out that shopping with my grandma wasn’t all smooth sailing. She always seemed to want to get away from me. Perhaps she was embarrassed by me. Maybe she just wanted a little freedom. Whatever the reason, often, the moment I turned-my back, Stevie McQueen raced away in her cart, heading for parts unknown. I sweated, trying to follow her closely.

Then we came to the fruit part. She raised her eyes and looked up at me, “Dear, can you get me some apples?”

“Sure,” I replied. “I’ll be right back, so don’t go anywhere.”

I left her looking at bananas, but. in the 30 seconds it took me to gel the apples, she was gone. I searched the produce section for her between the towering packs of fruits and vegetables but it was fruitless.

Anxiously, I turned to a shop assistant for help. She came running back, “Your grandmother is in the bakery (烘焙间). She wasn’t hurt but the bakery was in a mess.”

Grandma just hit the cake table.

Seeing thus, I realized something changed.

There was a girl called Cary, who was a new student in Esmarth Vil, a primary school in a small town.

She was the most hardworking girl at her school. Her marks were higher than the others. She was the best, but nobody wanted to be her friend. Her classmates didn’t want to play with her and some even laughed at her. Cary’s teacher Jared didn’t know that.

One day, Jared set an exam and Robert, a boy who was the king of all the students, signed his exam paper using Cary’s name, and changed Cary’s name for Robert’s quickly after Cary handed in her paper. It wasn’t noticed by anybody. When Jared returned all the exam Papers, everybody was shocked. Cary failed the exam, but the others seemed to be happy with that.

The next day, when Cary arrived at school, all the children wanted to be with her and invited her to play with them. Although Cary was surprised, she was happy to play with the other children. During their fun time, Jared suddenly appeared to inform Cary that there had been a mistake, and she hadn’t failed.

Jared explained to the students what had happened and punished Robert. After that, they all   stopped playing with Cary again.

Cary couldn’t stop crying this time and ran to ask her teacher why she couldn’t make friends with good school performance.

Jared was sorry to know what had happened to Cary.

After hearing Jared’s story, all the children decided to change themselves.

My father had been a sales trainer who taught presentation skills. He traveled across the world for work and competed in tennis tournaments on the weekends. “Life is good,” he would always say, with a twinkle in his eyes.

Everything changed during my second year of high school. A sudden stroke (中风) left my dad with severe physical and neurological deficits. He was unable to move the right side of his body. But the most serious problem, amidst so many others, was his loss of speech.

The stroke resulted in a disorder called aphasia, which damages someone’s ability to communicate and understand language. It was like my father was a prisoner in his own body, unable to do and say exactly what he wanted.

The aphasia also caused my dad to say things he did not mean. He would sometimes cry in the middle of a funny movie and laugh when something tragic happened. I found myself going through embarrassment whenever we were in public. My father would wave his cane like a weapon and shout incoherent yet harmless phrases at passersby. It upset me. I hated the stares and hushed comments, even though he did not notice.

One afternoon, I came home to find my dad watching an old video. It was a video of my father and me playing tennis. What used to be such a simple pleasure was now impossible. We watched in silence until I couldn’t hold my grief any longer. I found myself shaking and crying. At any time, he could have another stroke. There was no promise of tomorrow. I felt overcome by fear, both for my family and for my father.

Father’s lips moved while he watched me cry. He clearly wanted to say something, but was powerless. I wondered what he wanted to say to inspire me to face up to the darkness we were going through.

I finally found my answer when one day I took my dad to the park, rowing a boat as we did a few times before. “You …and… me!” he managed to say.

Shocked, I wanted to hear more.

“Yes. Life is good.” I whispered back, completing it for him.

Julie glanced across at her cousin, Mira. She was showing off a bright pink prom (舞会) dress to Aunt Clara, who examined the dress with a smile. “Aunt Clara? Will you look at the dress I’d like to get?” Julie asked. “Unfortunately, I can’t afford to buy two expensive dresses, Julie,” Aunt Clara turned. Julie hung her dream dress back and followed her aunt and cousin to the cashier.

Back home, Julie ran downstairs to the basement (地下室). She didn’t have a room of her own, but rather a corner of the basement. She opened her cookie box and smiled sadly as she looked at a photo of her dad and mom, then removed the stack (堆) of birthday and Christmas cards from her grandma. Her grandma didn’t have much, but she’d send Mira and Julie a card and some cash every year. Once she’d gathered the notes, she counted just over a thousand dollars! “More than enough for my dream dress!” Julie whispered.

Julie ran upstairs. Mira was parading her dress in the sitting room while Aunt Clara looked on proudly. Julie watched them for a moment, and her heart ached. If only her mom were still alive, Julie turned away from the happy scene and walked out the front door. Once she had her dream dress, she could join the prom. A few hours later, Julie returned home with her shopping.

Julie sat up in shock when she woke the following morning. Her new dress was gone! She was about to head upstairs to search for it when she spotted something moving in the yard that caught her attention. As she ran out, she found Jewel was tearing up the dress. Julie shouted in frustration and anger. It didn’t matter if she got the dress back from the dog now because it was already ruined (毁坏). Her dream dress was gone, and she couldn’t afford to replace it.

Tears stung (使……感觉刺痛) Julie’s eyes. Julie grabbed her dress and jumped on a bus. At the third stop, she jumped off and ran down the block.

Julie knocked on a familiar door and waited.

On the day of the prom, Julie wore a new dress made by her grandma.

English was always easy for me, but that changed the first day I walked into Mrs. Johnson’s class. I’d heard rumors from former students that she was strict and demanding that her class was impossible to pass, and that I was crazy for even wanting to take it. Consequently, I was extremely nervous.

On the first day of school, Mrs. Johnson stood in the front of her classroom, smiling, while she waited for the class to settle down. Her long, curly, red hair and clear blue eyes made her seem full of life. You could tell she had so much knowledge that it just wanted to overflow and spill (溅出) all over the floor.

“This course is Advanced Writing Course,” she said. “I’m not exaggerating when I say this class will be difficult, but if you trust me, I’ll guide you.”

She explained her grading system was different from what we were used to and that we’d better forget about the so-called good grades we had got before. She guaranteed that our writing would improve once we understood the new writing skills which she would teach us.

“Writing is an art,” she said. “You can’t just put words on a piece of paper and sign your name on top of it. Instead, what you put your name on is out there to be judged.”

I’d never thought about it that way. Every time I rushed to finish an essay and wrote my name on top, it was still my writing, my words, out there for everyone to read.

She hoped that if we wanted to be good writers, we had to remember writing really was an art, and that it might take a long time to perfect.

Even though I thought I was doing fine in her class, my writing grade was terrible. I began to doubt myself and even thought about quitting the writing class. That was when I realized I needed to find out what I could do to improve my grade.

So I went to Mrs. Johnson’s office after class.

The after-class instructions continued for months until the Year Writing Contest came.

When the final school bell rang, Eli walked home as usual. His trip took him across the playground, past the T-shirt factory, and across the main street. From there, Eli often cut through a blank lot (空地) where a house used to be. The house burned down years ago, but there were still flowers and trees to show that people used to live there. Everything was usual, but everything was immersed (沉浸在) in Eli’s sadness.

At that time, Eli watched a blue jay (蓝松鸦) fly into the old maple tree at the blank lot. The bird sat on a low branch and screamed loudly. It was as if the blue jay knew that he was sad, for he had failed his math test again. And he wrote a letter to Aunt Lucy. But Aunt Lucy did not reply to him.

When he got home, there was something in his mailbox. He found it was from Aunt Lucy, who lived in a different town. Upon opening it, his eyes widened with delight. It was a letter he looked forward to and a book! Eli read the letter.

Dear Eli, You told me that you didn’t do well in math. I hope you don’t give up and don’t get discouraged by a few failures. Because you once told me that you wanted to be a math teacher when you grew up and helped more children. I gave you a book. It’s about a great scientist you liked, I hoped you, like him, had been studying hard and sticking to your dream.

Love,

Aunt Lucy

After reading Aunt Lucy’s letter and receiving her encouragement, Eli’s sad mood improved a lot. Eli took the book and rushed to show it to his father, saying that it was the best gift he had ever received. His father smiled, noting Eli’s happy smile. Touched by Aunt Lucy’s thoughtful present, Eli felt an immediate urge (强烈的欲望) to thank Aunt Lucy right away. So with his father’s help, he decided to call Aunt Lucy.

Eli called Aunt Lucy but couldn’t get through.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.