It was about 10:15 pm when Janice Esposito drove her minivan from Station Road onto Montauk Highway. And then—wham! Out of nowhere a car hit her minivan pushing her backward some 100 feet onto the railroad tracks. She sat in it, slightly injured but mostly panicked by the impact.

Meanwhile, Pete DiPinto,64, a volunteer firefighter, was getting ready for bed when he heard the sound of car crashing coming from not far outside his bedroom. He grabbed a flashlight and, still in his pajamas (睡衣），ran out of the door. “Any firefighter would have done what I did，” he told MyNBC5. “We’re always on duty. ”

The first car he came upon was the one that had hit Esposito. Once DiPinto concluded the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Esposito’s minivan on railroad tracks. And then he heard the bells signaling an oncoming train.

DiPinto rushed to Esposito’s minivan and knocked hard on the driver’s side window. “Honey， you’re on the railroad tracks，” DiPinto shouted “We have to get you off right now!” But Esposito just looked at him， her eyes unfocused. “I don’t know where I am，” she said He pulled the handle hard， but the door was damaged arid jammed shut The train， traveling at 65 miles per hour， was heading toward them. DiPinto ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. He grabbed Esposito’s arms， helped her out and speed-walked her to safety a few feet away. Within about six seconds, the train bumped into the minivan. “It was like a Hollywood movie，” he said.

But this one had a twist. “Last night, the hero arrived in pajamas, not in a fire truck，” people said.

Ben opened his book and studied the instructions to build a toy boat. His best friend Isaac raced around the yard. Ben always worked hard while Issac just wanted to play and have fun.

Six years later, at sixteen, Ben was taken on as an apprentice (学徒) ship builder. For the next few years, he worked hard and paid attention to everything he was shown. The manager of the shipyard approached Ben one day. “I’ve had my eye on you, Ben. You’re one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. You have gone from apprentice to lead worker to foreman. Although you are young, we are promoting (提拔) you to supervisor (监督员) over the entire yard.” Ben shook the manager’s hand. A sense of pride filled his chest.

Over the next several years, Ben continued to work hard. He created his own ship building company and built a famous ship. He was proud of himself for working to make his dream of becoming a respected shipbuilder come true.

One evening, Ben happened into a butcher shop. There with a broom in his hand was his old friend Issac. Upon seeing Ben, Isaac threw the broom behind the counter. “Ben, it’s so good to see you. What have you been up to?” Ben explained what he had done over the past years. Hearing that Ben was his own master of shipyard, Isaac lowered his head. “I sweep the floors at the butcher shop at night. And, I sleep in the back room because I can’t afford anything else. I’ve been doing this since I’m 16.” “I see,” said Ben. “Well, we’re going to do something about that.” Ben handed Isaac his card. “Come to my yard on Monday morning, and I’ll make you an apprentice ship builder. But I warn you, you must work and move forward on the job, or I will have to fire you.”

Tears welled up in Isaac’s eyes. “I’ll be there. And, I’ll make both of us proud.”

For years I wanted a flower garden. I’d spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together. But then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. Five children. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was tight, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I’d have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden.

I wasn’t sure, though. I mean, gardens do cost money, and after all these years I was used to living on a pretty lean tight budget(财政紧张).

Then, one spring morning, on Mother’s Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns(按喇叭) as they drove by. I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow(垂柳), because I saw things blowing around on all its branches. Then I put my glasses on—and I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!

I went outside to look. It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached: “I owe you eight hours of digging time. Love, Marvin.”

Marvin, my first son, kept his promise. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen-foot bed(花坛，花圃) for me. My other children bought me tools, a sunflower stepping stone(踏脚石) and gardening books. We built a garden together.

That was three years ago. My garden’s now very pretty, just like what I wanted. When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don’t seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they’re right there with me. When I think about what my children have done for me, I get tears in my eyes every time. I’m still not sure whether money grows on trees. But I know love does!