1 . In the old-fashioned town of Willowbrook, two friends named Emma and Liam shared an intimate bond. They were inseparable and spent every moment together, laughing, exploring, and creating unforgettable memories.

One cold winter morning, as the first snowflakes gently fell from the sky, Emma woke up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat. She tried to brave it and get ready for school, but her body felt weak and achy. Unwillingly, she called Liam to let him know she couldn’t make it to school that day.

Liam was concerned when he heard the tiredness in Emma’s voice. “Don’t worry, Em. I’ll take care of everything at school for you,” he assured her. Feeling grateful for Liam’s understanding, Emma forced a smile and replied, “Thank you, Liam. You’re the best friend anyone could ask for.”

After school, Liam hurried to Emma’s house, carrying a meal he had prepared for her. He knocked on the door, and Emma’s mother welcomed him with a warm smile. “Oh, Liam, you’re such a thoughtful friend,” she said.

“I brought some soup and tea for Emma. I hope it will make her feel better,” Liam replied, some concern in his eyes. Entering Emma’s room, Liam found her curled up under a blanket, looking pale but relieved to see him. “Hey, I brought some comfort food to cheer you up,” he said, setting the food on her bedside table.

Emma’s eyes lit up, and she smiled weakly. “You didn’t have to, but thank you. This means the world to me,” she whispered. Sitting by her side, Liam kept her company, chatting softly and making her laugh despite her illness. The warmth of their friendship enveloped the room, bringing a feeling of comfort to Emma’s tired soul.

As Emma regained her strength, she realized just how lucky she was to have a friend like Liam. His unwavering presence and kindness had made her recovery easier and brighter. Their friendship grew stronger with each passing day, and from that moment on, they knew they would be there for each other through thick and thin.

2 . Julia Whelan climbed into the double-walled, foam-insulated booth in her home office near Palm Springs, Calif. In preparation, she had stopped drinking alcohol the night before, had avoided dairy since waking at 6 a. m. and had run through the humming and vocalizing of her warm-up exercises. Her glass jar filled with water, her Vaseline lip therapy at hand, she was ready to work.

Whelan, 38, the comforting, confident female voice behind more than 400 audio-books, is so sought-after that six months’ notice is required. Once she has taken on a project, she reads through the book once or twice, deciding on themes to highlight when she gets into the recording booth by using different tones and accents, and emphasizing certain words. “Narrating a book really is a performance,” she said, “and it can be harder to do than acting, because I can’t use my eyes or facial expression to communicate something to the audience.”

Her narrating voice, slightly different from her regular speech, is crisp and low-pitched. There is no singsong, no up speak, “I have an absolute affection on her voice, with a detached but not uninterested tone that makes her a very persuasive storyteller. When I listen to Julia read my stories, it sounds like she is calling you over to tell you a great story.” said Olivia Nuzzi, New York magazine’s Washington correspondent.

Flynn, an American writer and film maker, decided against rereading the book Gone Girl, opting instead to listen to the narration when preparing to write the screenplay for the film adaptation. “Julia gave me the benefit of listening to Amy and seeing the world through her eyes,” Flynn said. Just before the pandemic, Whelan began her writing Thank You for Listening. She learned about her writing when she experienced it as a narrator. “There is something about it that changes when you’re performing it,” Whelan said, “I read the book out loud during every stage of its revisions but it’s different when you sit down and have the microphone in front of you. When I finally am inhabiting all the characters, the story comes to life.”

3 . Rebecka Peterson, a high school math teacher, is the nation’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Her first year of teaching wasn’t without its ______ , but she remembered why she was there and wanted to bear those ______ thoughts in mind. So she ______ the One Good Thing blog.

It was ______ and fun, really. Every evening, she would write on her blog, ______ one good thing she experienced that day. She gave her blog the tagline: ”Every day may not be good, but there is on good thing in every day.“

She encouraged her ______ to do the same in their handwritten journals. Just a few minutes a day to ______ something good that happened—that would be enough, she ______ . She believes that it will make them happier and more ______ to learn.

During her eleven years in teaching, Peterson has ______ that some students find math difficult. But her efforts to make it ______ made her the 2023 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. From there, she made the ______ to win the nation’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Peterson has travelled around the country, talking to teaches about bringing ______ back into Classrooms. Her goals include emphasizing the positive experiences students have not only with math but with learning ______ . She hopes her stories will attract new teachers to the profession and give ______ to current ones.

The day began as usual, with my husband, Alan, entering his office in our home to catch up on paperwork and participate in conference calls. He had worked his way up the corporate ladder (阶梯) and now managed multiple stores for a national restaurant chain. From my spot in the kitchen, I could hear him speaking on the phone to his boss. Suddenly, I overheard words that seemed unusual. When he exited his office moments later, my fears were confirmed. Alan was fired. I hugged my sweet husband as my heart sank, and my mind raced. What were we going to do? Would we lose our house if we couldn’t afford to pay our mortgage (房屋抵押贷款)?

“We’ll be fine,” he said.

“I know,” I responded.

But, frankly, neither one of us was very convincing.

I wanted to go back in bed and pull the covers over my head, but I had to get to my own job. So, I quickly showered, dressed, and made my way to work. I was a few hours into my shift when I received a call from the surgeon’s office. I had been noticing some strange lumps (肿块) in my neck, and he’d been in the process of performing several tests to figure out the cause.

“It’s lymphoma (淋巴瘤). You have cancer,” he stated, way too matter-of-factly. I distinctly remember my precise response, “What?” I must have misheard. It sounded like he said I had cancer, but that was completely funny. I was a healthy runner.

Cancer was out of the question. Wasn’t it? The surgeon repeated those terrible words. It was true: Cancer was in my body.

Alan pulled me into his arms when I arrived home, and I cried as he held me tight. “Someday in the future, we’re going to write about today,” he whispered in my ear, “and we’ll call it Worst Day Ever. But we had to be strong and do something.”

We both got right to work.

It eventually paid off and good news came.

I was moving as fast as I could, stepping carefully from rock to rock along the uneven jetty (防波堤). “Too slow, sister!” I heard my brother Sam yell as he jumped with ease.

I’ll show him and attempted a double jump. What a mistake! My left foot came down hard between the edges of two gray rocks, scraping (刮伤) my ankle. “Ouch!” I yelled.

I tried to pull my foot out, but my shoe was stuck. I bent closer to the rock, and that’s when I saw it: a shiny, square shaped stone attached to a shining gold chain. It was just lying there on the wet sand, and a few seconds later it was in my pocket.

“Why do you look strange?” my brother asked once I’d freed my foot and caught up to him. “I don’t look strange,” I said. Sam looked at the sun. Could he tell I was hiding the most perfect discovery of the summer? I kept turning the treasure around in my pocket, pushing each corner of the square stone into my finger. I was excited, but I didn’t want Sam to notice. He liked to tell everybody my business.

“Ryan kept the paper napkins (餐巾) from the Andersons’ barbecue!” he had once announced. They were stamped “R.A.” Those are my initials! “Ryan saved the mini cola bottle from the carnival!”

My family calls me their “little collector”. Some mean kids at school call me “trash (垃圾) girl”.

Sam and I walked along the main street. Through the window of the candy shop I could see tubes of colourful jelly beans. A sign on the window’s glass read LOST: Gold and blue necklace. Verry special. If found, call Chrissy at 555-9924.

Chrissy had drawn a crayon version of the necklace at the bottom of the poster. The necklace looked different from the one I clutched (抓) in my pocket, I decided. Rounder, bluer. The poster appeared old and weathered. It must have been put up months ago.

Once home, I placed the necklace into my box, attracted by it.

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in a café across from Chrissy.