I grew up in a big family with my parents, my elder brother and sisters. They did all the things that I should do, including cleaning the house, washing clothes, making the bed and so on, so what I did at home was eat and sleep. As time went on, I formed the habit of throwing my things everywhere. Once my family were out, what a mess my room was! My parents were worried about how I could manage myself when I had to leave home.

That day approached. This summer I was admitted by the best boarding school in our county. It was required that two students share one room. My roommate, Jenny, was a gentle and quiet girl. I was not very neat. On the contrary, Jenny was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Jenny got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

War broke out between us one evening. Jenny came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started shouting. She shouted back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Jenny answered it.

From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away that her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, crying. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart. The only thing that I needed to do was tidy up the room to show my care.

Unknowingly, Jenny sat up.

Alison was a very determined four-year-old girl. She was interested in everything, but drawing especially was her expertise (专长). Her mother Ann bought her papers, colors, brushes and pencils and it seemed that Alison used them up all in a day or two.

Alison showed her drawings to everyone. She especially wanted to impress her father. There is a time when daughters and dads bond strongly, and Alison surely loved her dad and wanted to bond. She wanted to bond very much—but Dad always seemed to be too busy. Ann watched with a heavy heart how Daughter and Dad very seldom played together and how the father reacted to Alison’s attempts to show her drawings to him.

“Yes, honey, that is lovely,” he would barely glimpse (瞥) at Alison’s drawings, and then answer his cell phone or go to his study.

One day, Alison used many hours to draw a really detailed house. It was magnificent (壮丽的). She had drawn individual tiles (砖) and colored them one by one, carefully leaving some space between the tiles. She had drawn curtains in the windows, and herself, Mom and Dad looking out of them. On the lawn was the puppy she so much wanted to have.

“Look, Mom!” she ran to show her drawing to her mother.

“Oh, Alison, this is so beautiful! Your best ever!” her mom said with a smile.

Alison was happy. “I’ll show this to Dad now!” she said. She ran down the hall to the closed door of her father’s study.

“Dad! Dad!” She tried to open the door.

It was locked. Alison’s mom saw the expression of disappointment on her daughter’s face. She reached for the door knob once again.

They could hear him talking on the phone with someone. Then the talking stopped.

“DAD!” Alison knocked on the door, “I want you to see the house I made!”

“I’m sorry, Alison. I am busy,” came the voice behind the door. “Can’t you show it to someone else?”

It was a rainy November morning. Overcome with anger I knew if I didn’t leave the house soon I would lose my temper with my husband, Joe. As rain came down in sheets, Joe offered to take me to work. I struggled into my jacket, seized my bag and teaching plans and ignored him.

He insisted and reached for his boots. I looked at the piles of newspapers and the dirty dishes still on the table. “Don’t you have enough to do？I can take care of myself.” I stormed out, not even kissing him good-bye. Joe shouted after me not to take the shortcut.

Joe and I had been eagerly looking forward to our retirement when heart a attack that past spring forced him to leave his job earlier than we had planned. As the medical bills mounted we realized I would have to continue working full-time while Joe stayed home and took over the housework.

The new arrangement was a disaster. Exhausted after a day of full work, all I wanted was hot homecooked meal and a good night’s sleep. However, what greeted me at the table was a microwave package. Sometimes he would serve oatmeal for several nights in a row. One night when I dragged myself to bed, I was terrified to discover Joe had turned our white sheets blue: He told me he had found out how to save on water, soap and electricity. He patted his blue trousers and announced proudly washing everything together was just the secret.

Ten minutes later, ignoring Joe’s warning I turned off the main route. I thought it hadn’t rained enough to flood the road, but as I rounded the corner water rushed across my path. After a few feet, the car got stuck. I opened the door and water poured in. I hurriedly closed the door. I couldn’t risk walking in this. Almost 20 minutes passed. The car began to shake. I got frightened to death when I heard three long honks.

Looking over my shoulder, I stared into the flashing lights of a truck.

I screamed that I couldn’t make it.