When I was a child growing up in the Netherlands, I often begged my mother to tell me this story about an experience her family had at the end of World War II.

During the terrible last winter of the German occupation, food was scarce in the Netherlands. People were so hungry that they began to eat small animals and many things not normally considered edible (可食用的), including tulip bulbs (郁金香球茎), which could be cooked like potatoes.

For centuries, my mother’s family had owned a highly successful tulip business, which provided jobs for many in our village. But the war shut their business down, and during the winter of hunger, my grandfather, Albert, donated all his tulip bulbs to feed the hungriest villagers. For years, Albert had been trying to grow a black tulip. By careful selection, he was very close. So he guarded these few bulbs carefully to prevent people from stealing them for food.

One day, it was announced that the war was over. But there was much destruction and the Dutch people still faced dangers. My grandfather looked at his pale, thin children and realized that the hunger could continue for a long time, so he made his decision. He seized a shovel (铁铲) and went into the garden. There he found my mother, Vivian, who was just seven years old, looking nervous. Over her shoulder, Albert saw a band of Germans coming toward them down the street. He whispered to Vivian to run inside the house and began digging for his bulbs. But it was too late. Someone had already stolen them. Angry and desperate, Albert ran toward the street screaming, “They have stolen my tulip bulbs!” Vivian, watching from the doorway, cried out and ran to stop her father. Before she could reach him, Albert stumbled and fell, badly hurting his leg.

A little bird landed on the tree branch outside Lisa’s bedroom window. It sang energetically as the first pale yellow rays of sunshine appeared.

“Oh, my god, what is that noise?” Lisa complained to herself, pulling her bed sheets over her head to ignore the sound. It was no use, and she knew it. The loud sound showed the coming of the day. Lisa’s mom knocked twice on her door, and then came in with a smile. “Time to get up, Sleepyhead,” She whispered. “The early bird catches the worm, you know.”

“Ugh,” mumbled (含含糊糊地说) Lisa into her pillow. “What does that even mean?”

“It’s just an expression, Honey”, her mom replied. She gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek and urged her to get out of bed. Lisa rolled over and slept for a few more minutes.

With her mom’s repeated urging, Lisa had no choice but to get herself dressed. She went unwillingly downstairs for breakfast, ate slowly, and missed her bus. When she finally got to school, she failed to get a place in the Chess Club. She also missed the first part of math class, so she didn’t understand the lesson and had to get extra help at lunchtime. Her teacher gave her extra homework to make sure she knew it. As a result, she missed her favourite library time. This day was no fun.

The next morning, Lisa was woken up by the same loud noisy song. Instead of ignoring it, today Lisa walked over to the window and opened the curtains. “Well, hello there, little fellow,” she said when she saw the pretty bird outside, still singing happily. As she watched, the bird stuck its beak (喙) into the wet ground, and pulled out a wiggling (不停摇摆) worm for breakfast.

“Today I am going to be the early bird,” thought Lisa.

At lunchtime, Lisa finished her lunch early and had time to go to the library. 

In the faraway land, there was a beautiful kingdom with its unique rule. The rule said, everyone may become the king, with all of his rights to govern the country for five years. After that he must be caught, his body will be tied and he will be thrown away to a remote island where the jungle is thick and there are plenty of wild animals and no human.

Then, one by one, people became the king. The first man said, “OK, I’m ready to be the king.” And he became a king for five years. What he did in his five years was enjoying his position. He threw big parties, went to many beautiful places, married many women, collected many luxurious things and did other things that pleased himself. Those were all he did, and he never prepared anything for his future.

Every other king was the same until a young man came and declared his wish. By the constitution (宪法) he was granted his wish. He would be the king for five years before being thrown away to the island. But he thought that even if he had a happy and free life in the five years, his life as a king would come to an end at last. He was always thinking.

And not very long after that, he made a surprising decision.

Finally, the time came when the king had to be thrown away to the island.

No Crown for me

“Will you come with us, Susan?” cried several little girls to a schoolmate. “We are going to the woods; do come, too.”

“I should like to go with you very much,” replied Susan, with a sigh, “but I cannot finish the task grandmother set me to do.”

“How tiresome it must be to stay at home to work on a holiday!” said Rose, one of the girls, shaking her head. “Susan’s grandmother is too strict.”

Susan heard this remark, and, as she bent her head over her task, she wiped away a tear, and thought of the pleasant afternoon the girls would spend gathering wild flowers in the woods.

Soon she said to herself, “What harm can there be in moving the mark grandmother put in the stocking? The woods must be very beautiful today, and how I should like to be in them! ”

“Grandmother,” said she, a few minutes afterwards, “I am ready, now.” “What, so soon, Susan?” Her grandmother took the work, and looked at it very closely.

“True, Susan,” said she, laying great stress on each word. “True, I count twenty turns from the mark, and, as you have never cheated me, you may go and amuse yourself as you like the rest of the day.”

Susan’s cheeks were red, and she did not say, “Thank you.” As she left the cottage, she walked slowly away, not singing as usual.

“Why, here is Susan!” the girls cried, when she joined their company. “But what is the matter? Why have you left your dear, old grandmother? ” they asked.

“There is nothing the matter.” As Susan repeated the words, she felt that she was trying to deceive herself. She had acted a lie. At the same time, she remembered her grandmother’s words, “You have never deceived me.”

“Yes, I have deceived her,” she said to herself. “If she knew all, she would never trust me again.”

The little party had reached an open space in the woods.

“Now, Susan.” said Rose, “Put on the crown of flowers, for you are to be our queen.”

The day I heard that the Rainbow Bookstore was closing after fifty years of business, I was heartbroken. The bookstore was a place where anyone in the neighborhood could drop in and connect through their love of books.

When I hurried to the store, I saw the books were being packed into boxes. Sighing deeply, the store’s elderly owner, Casey, told me how it was becoming difficult to run an independent bookstore. Most young people preferred reading e-books on tablets. Customers were being attracted by chain stores and online discounts. I tried to think of some words of sympathy, but I had to admit that the Rainbow Bookstore couldn’t stay in business much longer.

Childhood memories came flooding back. A bunch of us kids would frequently drop by the store after school, looking at the new books, or just chatting with old Casey. He knew every book in the store and would always pick the perfect one for us. We spent hours reading, seated on the store’s old, but comfortable furniture. Casey encouraged us to share our ideas and comments on the books by writing them on a large board in one corner of the store.

When I left the bookstore, it was becoming cold and dark outside. I turned to wave goodbye to Casey, but both he and his bookstore were already hidden in a thick mist. It made me realize that the bookstore and all that old Casey had given to the community could soon disappear for good.

A few months later, I was back in the neighborhood from my vacation and was surprised to see that the Rainbow Bookstore was still there and open for business. Its old brick outside hadn’t changed, but inside it was like a different world. Clearly, the Rainbow Bookstore was in good and creative hands.

I was told that the community had decided to work together on a campaign to save the Rainbow Bookstore. The campaign had been led by Jennifer Oakley, a saleswoman who had grown up in the neighborhood and who was helping Casey run the bookstore.

With Jennifer’s help, the bookstore was being turned into a different place.

I suddenly saw Casey, who was reading readers’ comments on the big screen, and joined him.

It was a cold, sunny December day when I set out for a run in Moab, with my dog, Taz. As a professional athlete I often went for training runs by myself, and had done this particular route before. So what happened next was just bad luck.

About an hour into my run along a remote canyon trail (峡谷小路), I hit a patch of black ice. I found myself slipping down the rock face, which became steeper (陡峭) and steeper until suddenly I was in free fall. I just remember thinking, I’ve got to land this somehow.”

I fell 60 feet into the canyon, landing on a four-foot square ledge (岩架); if I’d missed it there’s no way I would have survived. I could feel my legs, but I was in sharp pain. Taz had managed to find his way back to me, so I knew there must be a way out of the canyon, but I couldn’t stand or even crawl.

I became focused on getting out of the canyon. I shouted for help, but there was nobody around; it was the middle of December, in the middle of nowhere. I intended to drag myself to the bottom of the ravine (山峡). Every inch was an effort. It took me five hours to go quarter of a mile.

Eventually it got so dark I couldn’t see where I was going, and I decided to stay where I was for the night. All I had on me were my jogging clothes, a water bottle, a couple of energy gel packets, and a shower cap which adventure racers often wear to prevent heat loss.

At night the temperature dropped below freezing. I couldn’t go to sleep or I would die of hypothermia (失温), so I stayed awake doing mini-crunches - lifting my head a few inches, over and over. Taz stayed with me, providing some warmth.

The next morning, I felt myself growing weaker.

Hours later, Taz returned, alone. Then I heard an engine in the distance.