When I was a baby, my parents gave me anything I wanted. Then my dad died when I was two and a half, and I got even more stuff as my mom, friends and family gave me more and more to try to make me feel better. But when I was seven, my world changed.

That was when the real estate market(房地产) crashed. My mom had thought that buying houses was a good idea as a way to invest her money to take care of us. After the crash, I went from the kid who got an iPod when his tooth fell out and who had the coolest house to hang out in, to literally, having nowhere to stay.

After the real estate crash, when I would ask for a new toy, or bike, or even to see a movie my mom would say “maybe for your birthday” or “I’m sorry honey, but we can’t really afford that right now.” I didn’t know it then, but my mom had grown up in a family where money was never a problem, so this change was as big for her as it was for me. My constant requests for toys and video games were not helping my mom, who was to deal with her feelings about our new crisis—our financial situation. But I wasn’t used to hearing “no” so for a year or two I kept asking.

Then something happened that would change my way of thinking forever. My mom had been working really hard all year, just to pay for the necessities, like our water and power bill. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday I said that I wanted a new video gaming system. I didn’t know that it was expensive. All I knew was that my friends had them and that I wanted one too.

On my birthday, I believed that I would get what I wanted when opening the presents.

From then on, I learned the difference between what I wanted and what I needed.

Early one weekend morning. I was sleeping like a log when the telephone rang. It was Grandma. She invited us to her home in the countryside. After a quick breakfast, Dad and I drove to Grandma's.

Once we arrived, we were both thrilled by the breathtaking landscape. The plum trees in the backyard were ripe with fruit, while millions of wildflowers colored the valley. Grandma prepared delicious lunch including her special homemade apple jam, which was my favorite. Talking and laughing, we didn't even notice that it was late in the afternoon. Though somewhat cooler than it had been that morning,Grandma suggested that we take her homemade wooden boat for a tour along the nearby river.

Seated in the boat, looking up at the sky. I felt like the clouds were greeting us cheerfully from above. In the vast fields, the golden trees were like brides in the sun. The breeze skimmed over the surface of the field, carrying the sweet smell of the flowers. "It is so nice to spend some quality time with family." Dad murmured. "It feels like we're on an adventure." I added. "It's been so much fun!"

While we were admiring the splendid setting around us. the weather started getting hot and humid again. At first, we ignored this change, but when dad looked up at the sky, he saw dark, low clouds were approaching us. Then a fierce gale（大风）sprang up. Lightning flashed within the black clouds, followed by a roar of thunder. "Row!" Dad shouted, trembling, "A tornado（龙卷风）is coming!"

Up until last week, I would say that absolutely, positively, undoubtedly you should stay away from an unfriendly person. But now I'm not so sure.

I was going to a sports-and-nature day camp, and almost everything about it was fantastic: the activities, the food, the teachers, and almost all of the kids. The reason I say "almost" is because there was this one girl, Elizabeth, who was always annoyed, impatient and seemed determined to ruin a fantastic time.

When I saw her sitting alone in the burning sun at lunch one day, I said, “Want to join us under that nice shady tree over there?”

Elizabeth said, “No, I really don't.”

When we needed another person for our volleyball team and a boy called Jasper invited Elizabeth to play with us, Elizabeth said, “I' m pretty sure that if I wanted to play volleyball, I'd already be playing volleyball.”

After a few more unfriendly comments like that, I decided to keep away from Elizabeth. I mean, if she wanted to have a terrible time, that was one thing. But there were only a few more days of camp left, and I wanted to make the best of them.

Well, you know how just when you decide to do things one way, life decides to do things the opposite way. It so happened that we were going on a nature hike and our teacher paired everyone up with a partner. Guess who my partner turned out to be!

“I can't believe how warm it is,” I said, trying to make small talk as we started out. “Do you like hot days like this?”

“I honestly don't care about things like the weather,” Elizabeth whispered.

I smiled nervously, trying to think of a new topic. “What do you like to do for fun?”

“I like to walk in peace and quiet,” Elizabeth replied.

“OK,"” I said, taking the hint (暗示).

And that was that. We had the quietest, most peaceful hike in the history of the universe.

Until—

“Hey!” I said. “Why is that bird in the middle of the path?”

“My grandpa slipped and broke his arm the day the camp started,” Elizabeth answered, checking the bird.

I grew up in a small town where elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my house and in an age, not so long ago, when we children could go home for lunch and find our mothers waiting.

Our lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly practiced my lines（台词）with me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped on stage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained patiently that she needed a narrator (叙述者，旁白员) and had written a narrator’s part to the play, and asked me to play the role of the narrator. Her words, kindly delivered, still hurt me especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn’t tell mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my upset, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard. It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine（ 藤 ）was turning green. Under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions（ 蒲 公 英 ） appearing unexpectedly through the grass in bunches (簇，串）, as if a painter had touched our landscape with small amounts of gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one of the bushes. “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling a blossom up by all its roots. “From now on, we’ll only have roses in this garden.” I immediately argued, “But I like dandelions. All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions.”

“Do you mean that every flower has its own beauty?”asked my mother thoughtfully.

Having learned what had happened, Mom patted me on the back gently and said,“But you will be a beautiful narrator.”

My father asked me to chat with him for a while. Actually, I was unwilling to listen to his talking endlessly as he always did. My father was a lawyer, but I never wanted to go to law school or follow his path through life.

As was expected, he cleared his throat and started to say, “Er... What... What do you really want to do in the gorgeous(灿烂的) future?”

I was silent for a moment playing with the cell phone. I kept thinking, “Should I tell him my true thoughts? What if he gets angry? What if I let him down?” later I replied, “Well, I want to be a writer.”

I guessed this may be not the answer he would expect. But surprisingly, “Interesting idea!” he answered. I was shocked, speaking in a low voice with hesitation.

“Are you serious, dad?”

“Well, you need confidence and good preparations, and you still have plenty of time. You need to find out what you really enjoy now. Look, it’s late. Let’s take the boat out tomorrow morning, just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs (螃蟹) for dinner, and we can talk more.”

Early next morning we packed up the equipment and set off for the coast. We didn’t talk much, but enjoyed the sound of the seabirds and the sight of the coastline.

There were no big waves and blinding sunlight at that time. “Let’s see if we are lucky,” he said, picked up a web basket with a rope tied and threw it into the sea. We waited a while, then my father stood up and said, “Give me a hand with this,” and we pulled up the crab cage onto the deck.

To our joy, the cage was filled with dozens of soft shell crabs. Squatting (蹲) down, we watched them for a moment. At first they fought against each other to climb out hard, trying to escape. Many were pulled back into the cage. Later, some gave up, but there were still some crabs trying to escape again and again.

“Do you forget to bring your homework to school!?” my math teacher asked. I nodded my head and said in a low voice, “Yes, sir.” What a mistake I had made! I had completed my math homework. But when I headed for school, I forgot to put it into my schoolbag. Now my homework is still lying on the desk at home.

“You will have to get a zero then,” my math teacher said. I was shocked. I had never received a zero in a math class before. But the school had rules, and the teacher had to let everyone follow them. I was immediately worried about my final math average, which was based on my homework and the tests. Would I get a C or even a D at the end of the term? If so, what should I do?

My next class was a gym class. As I walked down the hall with my classmates, all those feelings rushed out in hot tears. I wiped them away as quickly as I could. But when we entered the gym and sat down on the floor, it was clear to everyone around me that I had been crying.

My gym teacher, Ms. Brown, was an athletic teacher, often with a smile on her face. Ms. Brown was nice and compassionate (有同情心的). She loved her students and often came to help if the students were in trouble.

During that gym class, my mind was affected by the math homework and I was worried about my final math average. So I failed to devote my attention to Ms. Brown’s direction. And clearly, I was sad. I guessed that Ms. Brown found there was something wrong with me. When it was near the end of the gym class, she walked to me.

She sat down to comfort me.

I felt relaxed and decided to work harder at math.

Goal!

Seconds later, the referee blew the whistle. Came over.

“We won!” Jordan shouted out, leaping into the air.

“Championship game, here we come!” said Tara, slapping hands with Devin. “Can't wait till Thursday.”

Devin grinned. Thursday would be huge-the big soccer game in the afternoon, and the school's autumn concert in the evening. Ms. Poltis had chosen Devin to sing brief solo (独唱).

“Great work,” Coach said as the team gathered. “Be here by 6: 30 on Thursday to warm up.”

“Six thirty?” Devin said. That didn't sound right.

“It's a night game,” Coach explained. “Under the lights.”

“Playing at night will be so cool,” Tara said. “Under the bright stadium lights.”

Devin's heart sank. The concert was at 7: 00. Same time as the game. He couldn't possibly do both.

Devin's teammates were super excited. They were on the edge of a title, and Devin was a big reason why. He led the league in scoring, and his soccer knowledge made him like a coach on the field. He couldn't let his team down by skipping the game.

That night, Devin lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Finally, he turned on his light. He picked up a sheet of paper from his desk. After reading the words, he shut his eyes and sang them:

“No matter how hard the struggle, I will never let you down...”

The solo was only four lines in the middle of a song the entire choir(合唱团) would sing. Devin knew the words by heart, but the thought of singing alone made him shivers(颤抖). Sometimes he was nervous about taking part in sports, too, but that always went away as soon as a game started. He'd never sung a solo before. It was a relief to know he didn't have to now. The soccer game was perfect excuse. His team was perfect excuse. His team was counting on him.

But so was Ms. Poltis.

Devin crawled back into bed. It was a long time before he fell asleep.

In the morning, Devin hardly ate any breakfast.

At school, he went straight to the music room.