It was my tenth birthday and I would have the biggest party ever. The guest list began with a few close friends. But in the two weeks before that special Friday night, it had quickly grown from seven girls to a total of seventeen. Nearly every girl in my fifth-grade class had been invited to come to my house for a big celebration. I was especially happy when each guest I invited excitedly accepted the invitation. But as I later realized, I would truly treasure only one gift I received that night.

The family room was filled with shouts and laughter. We had just finished a game and were lining up for a dance when the doorbell rang. I hardly paid attention to who might be at the door. What did it matter? Everyone I liked from school was there, in my family room.

“Judy, come here for a minute,” Mom called from the front door.

I walked toward the front door, and then stopped. My mouth dropped open and I could feel my face turning red, for there on the front porch (门廊) stood Sarah Westly — the quiet girl who sat next to me in music class — and she was holding a gift.

I thought about the growing list. “How had I forgotten to invite Sarah?”

I remembered that I only added a name to the list when someone had shown an interest in me. But Sarah had never done that. Never once had she asked me about my birthday party. Never once did she step into the circle of kids surrounding (围绕) me at lunchtime. And once she even helped me carry my schoolbag while I held my science project walking to our third-floor classroom.

I guess I had forgotten to invite her simply because she wasn’t pushing to be invited. I accepted the gift from Sarah and asked her to join the party.

“I can’t stay,” she said, looking down. “My dad’s waiting in the car.”

“Can you come in for a little while?” I nearly begged (恳求). By now I felt pretty bad about forgetting to invite her and did want her to stay.

“Thanks, but I have to go,” she said. “See you Monday.”

I had no choice but to say goodbye to her.

Now, I realized that Sarah was my true childhood friend.

My little sister, Meg, said that she wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore and she’d be OK staying with Aunt Lily in the country. “As long as you’re there, Mike,” she had said. Still, Mum was worried. Meg had never slept away from home, away from the city. So I told Mum I could handle everything.

Even though we were only staying overnight, Meg had brought six books — all about fairies (仙女). After we unpacked, Aunt Lily invited us to pick some flowers. As we followed her through the forest, Meg held my hand tightly. But once we reached the sunlit grassland, she let go. “Butterflies!” whispered Meg. She screamed with delight when one flew near her.

Maybe I had nothing to worry about, I thought. I still remembered when I was here last summer, I found some amazing insects, like fireflies (萤火虫) and walking sticks which I’d never seen in the city.

“Fairies are magical. See these beautiful flowers they grow!” she kept telling absolutely everything she knew about fairies. I was glad that if she kept it up until bedtime, then maybe she’d fall right to sleep.

Meg did keep chatting, right through supper. Then the sun began to set. “Does it get really dark out here at night?” she asked. Her eyes were fixed on the window.

“Sure, but we’ve got plenty of lights inside,” said Aunt Lily. She leaned over and gave Meg a warm smile. But I could tell she was still worried. “I could read to you.”

I hadn’t even finished a page when her bottom lip started shaking slightly. “Mike,” she said, her eyes starting to fill. “I want to go home.” I quickly searched through her book for something to keep her from crying.

The book fell open to a page that was dog-eared from use, a page that was obviously one of Meg’s favorites. The text read: “Among the trees deep in the forest, the lights of fairies gleam (闪烁).” Aha! How could I forget those “tiny fairies” — fireflies out there?

“Meg, there’s something outside I want to show you,” I whispered.

“Hurry up you guys, or you’ll be late for school!” called Mom. We dashed downstairs and had a quick breakfast. I was eating my favorite — very sweet cereal, and Sara was having eggs. When I rose to have my bowl washed, Mom whispered, “You know you need to be cautious today when you’re walking Sara to school. It’s your job to assure me she gets there all right.” Then she cast me a very serious look. I thought to myself, wondering why Mom was making such a big deal out of this. I was Sara’s first day of kindergarten, but I could manage it. It wish Mom wouldn’t treat me like such a baby.

“Goodbye, Mom!” Sara yelled. She ran out the door, and I went behind her.

“Be careful!” my mom yelled.

“I will!” I said back and ran outside. Sara was skipping down the front walkway to the sidewalk.

I grabbed Sara’s hand. “Are you eager and excited for your first day of school?” I asked, trying to sound like a grown-up. Sara smiled and nodded her head yes. Meanwhile, my mom was staring at us through the window. “When will she stop treating me like a little kid?” I thought. “I’ll show you the way.” I said, I felt proud to be the elder sister. We walked past beautiful gardens and big, leafy trees. Suddenly, I heard a growl and saw a dog walking towards us. He was big and fierce looking with long sharp teeth. “GRRR!!!” the dog growled. I didn’t see its owner or anyone who could help us. My hand became sweaty and Sara stopped walking. “I’m scared, Julie,” she said. I didn’t want her to be scared. I wanted to seem brave. “Everything will be okay,” I said.

“GRRR!!!” The dog stepped closer and we could see it was the size of a small horse — with red eyes and sharp teeth.

I was trying to make my voice sound calm.

I told Mom what had happened.

It was the Easter holidays, and school was closed for two weeks.For me, the Easter holidays were so boring that it was impossible to find something fun to do. My mom had suggested that I do some studies since the promotion test was coming up. However, I didn’t follow my mother’s suggestion. Instead, I went outside to seek out my friends to play with. When I had successfully contacted some of my friends, none of them seemed to be much in a playful mood, but one friend Jimmy agreed to play with me. He suggested we go down to the river and just relax there. The river was not far from my home, and we arrived there quickly.

Just relaxing on the river bank with nothing but some waste logs (木头) , it wasn’t fun for us at first. Clearly what was on our minds was to jump into the river and just take a swim in the clear cool water. So we took off our clothes down to our underwear and walked into the shallow part of the water. The water was truly cool and refreshing and we were starting to have fun then, playing and laughing, as we splashed the cool water onto each other’s faces. Then we started to chase each other around on the river bank and then we ran straight into the river. We were having so much fun that we didn’t notice danger was around the corner.

Before Jimmy could know it, and before he could do anything to keep his balance, he lost his footing on a tree branch, which was in the shallow part of the water, and slipped, bringing his whole entire body into the deep water. He tried to resurface from the water but found it extremely hard to keep his head above the water.

I was scared to see him struggling in the water but I knew I must rescue him. I took a deep breath to keep calm. Looking around, I found a waste log, so I threw it to him immediately and asked him to hold it. At the same time I yelled for help, hoping someone could come to our rescue. Luckily, my mom heard my cries, rushed out of the house and raced towards us. She jumped into the water without hesitation and reached out her hands to pull him. Several neighbors also quickly joined the rescue.

Finally, Jimmy was pulled out of water by my mom and the neighbors.

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Alexander sang all the time. He simply liked singing and practiced it all the time. He sang in the shower, and he sang while he walked to school. Personally, Alexander believed his voice was imperfect. “There will be tryouts for bays’ choir this weekend in our school.” he heard Kevin announcing in class.

Everyone around school knew Kevin had a fantastic sing voice. More importantly, warm-hearted and helpful, Kevin was always generous to give someone a hand.

With the tryouts in mind and an initial surge of interest, he kept imagining himself as a member of the boys’ choir, his heart thudding (砰砰直跳). However, he would explode with anxiety when he thought of singing with others. After school, walking slowly, he debated (反复思考) whether to attend it, for fear of being a drag (拖累) on others. “It would be nice if I could solo(独唱) he thought to himself. Just then, out of the rom walked Cevin, whose eyes brimmed with smile. Kevin patted his shoulder and whispered,” Let’s sign up together. “Inspired, Alexander signed his name.”

The next morning, Alexander came to the tryouts. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the building, and then noticed the other boys who were all practicing delightfully. Alexander was seated on the chair alone, looking at other competitors nervously and not knowing how to join them.

Later, the choir director walked in and declared: “The whole selection process includes the individual performance and the group singing” Immediately things started. When Alexander’s turn came, his voice filled the room, loud and clear. He felt satisfied when he was done. After a short pleasure, however, the fear of singing with others flickered across his mind, casting him a surge of gloom.

Then came the group singing.

On the weekend, I went shopping and after walking around for a while, I felt tired so I decided to get a cup of coffee. As I was making my way to the coffee shop, I noticed an older gentleman rather poorly dressed sitting on a bench nearby. I knew from first sight that he was in need of some kind of help. He had a little lunch put in front of him and was wholeheartedly enjoying it. It was also rather clear that he had a problem with his right eye and probably couldn’t see out of it. I wasn’t thinking about it any more, and then joined the line, waiting to be served. 

Then it happened---one of the most beautiful gestures I have ever seen in my life.

There was a young man in front of me in the line who was also waiting to be served. As the young man approached the counter to place his order, he noticed the older gentleman sitting on the bench nearby. Without hesitation, he turned back to the cashier and asked if they could provide a free cup of tea for the elderly man. The cashier was surprised by his sudden request, hesitating for a moment and nodding in agreement.

The young man then went on to pay for not only his own drink but also another one, which he handed to the older gentleman with a warm smile. The older man looked up, surprised and grateful, as the young man sat down beside him on the bench. They began to chat, and I couldn’t help but feel touched by this simple act of kindness.