Once upon a time, there was a small town. There lived a man by himself who couldn’t see. He was blind. Yet, he carried a lighted lamp with him whenever he went out at night. One night as he was coming home after having dinner outside, he came across a group of young travelers.

Bob was a small-built child who preferred indoor to outdoor activities. He was mild-mannered and mostly kept to himself. Sitting in the corner of the class, he was very much a loner. Whenever he was made fun of in class, he would turn to his mother for comfort.

At the beginning of semester 2, Bob had a new classmate, Alex, who had just returned to New Zealand. Alex was assigned a seat next to Bob. To his surprise, within weeks, he became good friends with Alex even though they were poles apart in personality. Alex was popular, outspoken and artistic. “Alex is all that I want to be, ” Bob thought to himself. He began listening to the music Alex listened to and having similar haircut. He even quit his drama club and started playing the online games that Alex played. He seemed to have been out of his loneliness.

It was not long before Bob was introduced to Alex’s “cool“ friends. He told himself that he would try all means to be part of the group. He would follow them to the football games and join the art club after school so he could spend more time hanging out with them. Bob followed them around laughing when they told jokes, agreeing when they had opinions—most enthusiastically at the ones he disagreed with. He did not dare to differ in opinions as he would not want them to think badly of him. This continued for several months. At last, Bob felt relieved that he had finally fitted in.

One day, Bob overheard Alex and his cool friends talking “Bob’s such a loser, ” one boy commented in a playful tone. “He just follows you around trying to be you. He copies you; he does not have a personality of his own!” another boy exclaimed. Alex laughed, to make matters worse, he added, "That fellow wears me out. I wish he would leave me alone. He thinks we are best friends. A thorough fool!”

Easton retired(退休) as a school teacher, and he didn’t have enough savings. What’s worse, his wife, Cassandra, had heart disease that needed expensive treatment.

To save his wife’s life, Easton didn’t have a choice but to take up a job, and he found one as a pizza delivery(递送) man at Rooster’s Pizza. On his first day on the job, his co-workers judged him because the sight of an 84-year-old pizza delivery man was undoubtedly a rare one. But Easton didn’t care.

After delivering the first two orders that day, Easton was on his way to deliver the third one, when he realized his car was low on gas. He stopped at a gas station, worried he would be late for his next delivery. Determined to make it on time, Easton grabbed the steering wheel and drove as fast as he could. However, as he reached one of the main roads, a police car stopped him.

When Officer Jenkins and Officer Matthew walked up to Easton’s car, they were shocked to see an 84-year-old behind the wheel of a pizzeria car. Moreover, they didn’t expect an old man to be speeding.

“You see,” Easton said nervously, “I am running late for pizza delivery. We have a policy of delivering pizza within 45 minutes, or I’ll have to pay for it out of my pocket, and I need money for my wife’s treatment. I hope you understand…”

Officer Matthew looked at Easton’s teary eyes and trembling hands and felt deeply sad for him. However, he couldn’t go against his line of duty. They had to give him a ticket anyway. Easton was late for the delivery that day, prompting his manager to deduct(扣除) it from his salary. He was also warned that he would have to leave if he repeated the mistake.

Not losing heart, Easton set out for his deliveries the following day. “Rooster’s Pizza!” he shouted as he rang the doorbell of one of the houses on his list.

When the door opened, Easton recognized his customer was Officer Matthew!

Easton couldn’t believe what had just happened and was surprised by what Officer Matthew did for him.

The Gift of Kindness

Will, a nine-year-old boy, was such a kind soul that he brought home birds with broken wings. Money was very short for his family because his mother was ill. Every weekend, Will would mow his neighbors lawns to earn a little money.

One hot dry morning, on his way to school, Will saw a man sitting on the roadside with his head in his hands. Not far away was his truck. Previously, the man spared no efforts in repairing it, but he failed, exhausted and thirsty. Will came up to him, ready to help.

Hearing Will’s greeting, the man raised his head, looked at Will and asked for some water. Learning that he had even not had breakfast, Will walked into a shop, fingering the money in his pocket. Eventually, he picked up sandwiches and water. They cost all his money! He shrugged, walked back and handed him the food.

The man received the supplies gratefully and they shared the brief meal while introducing themselves. Allan, a boss with a small factory who delivered goods by himself, smiled,” The delivering job is so tiring that nobody seems to want it. By the way, thank you for your food. I’m sorry that I forget to take money with me today. I’ll..”

“It’s OK. My mom always says we should be kind to the world, and the world will be kind to you!” Will shrugged, “As for the job, don’t worry. There must be someone wanting to take it.”

“Perhaps. Today, I feel kindness in the world like your mom says. Maybe she is the one the world has been kind to.” Allan commented.

Will lowered his head, explaining quietly his mother’s situation and his father’s just being out of work because of the bankrupt of the company. Will pointed at a house. “My dad says we’ll have to sell it to pay for mom’s treatment. Sometimes, I hope the world could be kind to our family soon.” Tears rolled down Will’s cheeks and Allan patted his back gently. But soon, Will wiped his face, shouldered his school bag, waved goodbye to Allan and rushed for school, never imagining he would see Allan ever again.

Allan stared at Will’s fading figure, lost in thought.

After school, Will saw the truck parked in front of his house.

Hearing the good news, Will turned overjoyed.

Charles Rose lived in the country with his father, who taught him to read and to write. Mr. Rose told his son that, when his morning lessons were over, he might amuse himself for one hour as he pleased.

There was a river near by. On its bank stood the hut of a poor fisherman, who lived by selling fish. His careful wife kept her wheel going early and late. They both worked very hard to keep themselves above want. But they were greatly troubled for fear that their only son should never learn to read and to write. They could not teach him themselves, and they were too poor to send him to school.

Charles called at the hut of this fisherman one day, to inquire about his dog, which was missing. He found the little boy, whose name was Joe, siting by the table, on which he was making marks with a piece of chalk. Charles asked him whether he was drawing pictures.

“No. I am trying to write,” said little Joe, “but I know only two words. Those I saw upon a sign, and I am trying to write them.”

“If I could only learn to read and write,” said he, “I should be the happiest boy in the world.”

“Then I will make you happy said Charles.” I am only a little boy, but I can teach you that.”

“My father gives me an hour every day for myself. Now, if you will try to learn, you shall soon know how to read and to write.”

Both Joe and his mother were ready to fall on their knees to thank Charles. They told him it was what they wished above all things.

So, on the next day when the hour came, Charles put his book in his pocket, and went to teach Joe. Joe learned very fast, and Charles son began to teach him how to write.

Some time after, a gentleman called on Mr. Rose, and said, “Charles did not always amuse himself. I often see him go to the house of the fisherman. I fear he goes out in their boat.”

The moment the gentleman left, Mr. Rose went in search of his son.

The next day, his father took him to town, and gave him books for himself and Joe, with writing paper, pens, and ink.

One holiday, my cousins and I decided to play a trick on my grandma. We planned to do it —not because we didn't like her. She was the sweetest grandma a kid could ever have, and we really loved her. We decided to play the trick just wanting to have some fun. And at that time, to our mind, it was just a harmless little kids' trick.

Early in the evening of that holiday, we began our trick. We secretly walked up to her doorstep with a can of red paint. Grandma was hard of hearing. So we didn't have to worry about being very quiet. Every time we thought about how funny it would be to see Grandma try to pick up a gift that was just painted on her doorstep, we couldn't stop laughing. It didn't take long to finish painting the gift two red roses. It wasn't very artistic. But for us little farm kids and an old woman with poor eyesight, it would do.

As soon as we were satisfied with the painting, we knocked on the door and ran to hide behind bushes and trees to watch the fun. There was a lot of giggling going on as we waited for Grandma to open the door. When she finally appeared, she stood in the doorway for a minute. She looked into the darkness, with her gray hair pulled back tightly into her usual style, wiping her hands on her usual white apron. And she said, “Who could be knocking at my door this hour of the night?” Hearing it, my stomach and cheeks ached from trying to hold back the laughter. Then she looked down at her doorstep. Even from fifteen meters away, we could see the joy that shone in her eyes when she spotted the red gift at her feet.

“Oh, how wonderful!” she called out happily. “A holiday gift for Grandma! I thought I was going to be forgotten again this year!”

Grandma bent down to pick up her gift.

At that moment, I regretted playing the trick and wanted to do something to make up for it