A 10-year-old Texas boy is working hard to bring animals joy, one musical tune at a time. He has found a way to combine his ________ for music and dogs while ________ his community.

Yuvi Agarwal plays the piano to ________ dogs at Houston Pets Alive!, a shelter in Houston. Yuvi said he got the ________ to play for dogs after attending a reading program. “Seeing how the dogs relaxed, I realized music has a much stronger impact. So I ________ to basically play music for the animals,” Yuvi said. “________ not deafening drums, but melodious (悦耳的) instruments such as the piano that will reduce their ________.”

“When Yuvi plays the piano, the dogs’ reaction is always ________ — they just all stop and stare, seeming to be so ________ in what he is doing,” Delgado, a worker at the animal shelter, said.“It is a wild ________, actually much better than we have ever ________. Helpful as it has been to play classical music for the animals through the radio, nothing got the animals relaxed like Yuvi’s ________performances.”

The fifth grader has ________ a few months to the work. He is showing there is no age requirement to ________ pleasant change and go after what we love. “We are hopeful of more people getting creative about animal ________ and joining us,” Delgado said.

One summer afternoon decades ago, Dad and I explored a country park on a boat. The blue lake around and the clear sky overhead provided slight relief from the August _______. Sitting back with my eyes closed, I _______ Dad rowing quietly.

Suddenly a(n) _______ buzz(嗡嗡声) came from the right side of my head. I sat up straight and looked around instantly. On my _______ landed a bee marked by bright black and yellow bands on the body. I, frozen in extreme _______, sat there with my eyes _______ as big as saucers(茶托).

“Don’t move and it’ll not bother you.”Dad kept rowing skillfully, both hands _______. “It’s tired and needs _______ for a hot day. Once it’s back to itself, it’ll keep on going.”

“What? Was Dad telling me to just let a terror sit on my shoulder?” Gradually I took _______ and turned my head slowly, giving it a look. There it sat, wings folded neatly against its body. I was ________ by its perfect form. Finally, my curiosity ________ my fear and I relaxed. No sooner had I done that than it began spreading its wings and ________ off.

“I’ve told you,” my father simply said.

My father is no longer alive, but the ________ of that moment has taken root in my heart. For the first time I’ve ________ the fact that we are all one, all part of the same ________, big or small, humans or insects.

Animals help lift my spirits in the darkest of times.

“You should get a cat,” my therapist (治疗师) said. “A cat?” I couldn’t even look after myself. I took a deep _________ and carefully considered the idea of _________ a pet friend into my life.

When Elaine came home, it became increasingly _________ that she didn’t understand “no”, “stop it” or “don’t do that”. I was beginning to _________ my therapist’s advice.

Elaine used my bed as a litter box, and after visiting a vet (兽医), she concluded that she just wanted my _________. She fought tooth and nail to get a(n) _________ of my meals. She’d _________ lick (舔) sharp knives when left unattended and eat anything that fell on the _________.

She stole my heart with her bravery and kept me busier.

I decided to start taking Elaine for _________, I could hardly leave the house before, but my heart couldn’t say __________ to her. Elaine showed me what __________ looked like. She didn’t stop to __________ the possible outcome of a situation; she __________ went for it. If there was a dog nearby, she would run toward __________. She jumped without knowing where she would __________.

And following her journey of adventures every day, I got the same __________ as she created.

Elaine __________ after a medical accident, leaving a cat-sized hole in my heart. I’m no stranger to __________, but that was one of my most confusing emotional experiences.

Our time is often cut unpredictably, unmistakably __________. Elaine was supposed to help me through more of my life. She no longer wakes me up at 5 am __________ for breakfast, but she’s still the reason I get up every morning.