Last Saturday, David was taking a walk in the park near his home when he noticed a woman with a boy of about eight years old. When David passed them, he heard the woman yell, “How stupid you are! You′re good at nothing.” David stopped and looked at the little boy. The boy said nothing. He just stood there, looking upset.

David was reminded of his English teacher Mrs. Brown in middle school. After he entered middle school, David lacked self-confidence because he was often made fun of by others.

He was told that he was good at nothing, which David believed. But one day it all changed.

In an English writing class, Mrs. Brown asked them to read a novel and write a new essay for the novel after finishing reading. A few days later, David handed in his story. He didn′t give it much thought. But the next day, to his surprise, the comment “well done” from Mrs. Brown came into view the moment he turned to the page where the story was written.

When David saw that, he almost burst into tears. He never expected to be praised one day. He suddenly gained some self-confidence.

That day, after he returned home he wrote a short story and gave it to Mrs. Brown the next morning. And again he was praised.

David became very interested in writing. He often wrote short stories and asked Mrs. Brown to read and correct them for him. Mrs. Brown always pointed out the mistakes he had made and gave him good advice to improve them. One year later, David joined the school newspaper and became an editor of it. He was no longer the boy who lacked self-confidence. He gained his confidence and was hopeful about his future.

He succeeded in entering college and kept writing. Several years after graduating from college, he had his first book published. With more books coming out, he became famous as a writer in his country. And he owed his success to Mrs. Brown′s encouragement. Without her encouragement, his life might be very different now.

Inspired by his own life story, David decided to do something for that boy.

The mother was ashamed when she heard that. She realized that she shouldn′t have called her son stupid, which would make him lose confidence in himself. So she said, “Thank you for your advice. I′ll never say such things to him again. Instead, I′ll find out what he′s good at and encourage him.” The woman then left with the boy. Looking at the back of the boy, David felt happy, hoping his action could make some confidence to the boy.

Tom lost his father when he was very young, leaving his mother to care for him and his sister, Cathy, alone. Tom knew his sister desired to have a bike, so he had been saving his pocket money.

Tom shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. $24.52 was all that he had saved. The bicycle Cathy wanted was $90! How on earth was he going to get the rest of the money? He knew that all of Cathy’s friends had bicycles. It was hard to hang around with her friends when she was the only one without a bicycle. He thought about what he could do. There was no need to ask his mom because he knew she had no spare money.

There was only one way to get money, and that was to make it. He would have to find a job. But who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had opinions on most things. “Well, you can start right here,” said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing.” That was the beginning of Tom’s odd-job business. He worked every day after finishing his homework. He forgot the number of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the money increased and he knew that he would have enough money for the bicycle which Cathy was longing for.

The day before Cathy’s eleventh birthday, Tom counted his money and found $94.32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle Cathy wanted. It was red, which was her favorite color.

At Cathy’s birthday party, Tom showed her dream bicycle.

“Where did you get the money for the bike?” Cathy asked Tom after the party.

Hurriedly, Melissa came running to Rocky’s house out of breath. “Come with me quickly! There is a dog near the shrubs behind my house which is barking loudly. I think something is wrong with him. Let’s go and see what happened,” said Mel.

After putting down the book he was reading, Rocky went with Mel and saw a small dog trying to untangle himself from the shrubs. Being unable to set himself free, he thought barking would help him. Seeing this, Rocky and Mel immediately helped him out and he walked with a limp. Just then, Jason, Jenny, and Lindsay walked towards them.

“Hi, whose dog is this?” asked Lindsay, “We don’t know. I heard him barking and called Rocky to help him come out of the shrubs,” replied Mel. “He has cuts on his body and is bleeding,” observed Jenny.

“What should we do?” questioned Mel. “He hasn’t got a collar around his neck so I suppose he is a stray dog. Let’s hand him over to the center for stray animals,” said Jason.

The friends took him to the center. The vet treated his wounds and gave him some milk. When the friends were about to leave, the dog looked at them with sad eyes and barked softly. Jason went to him and said, “Rest up, old fellow. We will come to visit you soon.”

A few days later, the friends visited the center and met the stray dog. He ran to them barking happily. They played with the dog that they named Bruno. After half an hour, the friends returned home.

The next morning, Rocky said, “Today is ‘World Animal Day’. Let’s go and meet Bruno.” The friends walked to the center and saw that Bruno was wearing a collar with the words “Brave Bruno” written on it. They were all surprised at this and wondered why he was wearing such a collar.

The manager told them about the special collar.

“Wow, Bruno, you are the best dog ever,” said Mel.