The routine practice in the school band came to an end. Mark and Steven smiled at each other, happily talking about the weekend arrangements. Steven was putting his saxophone (萨克斯) into the case when he tripped over a shelf. Unfortunately, it fell and hit his saxophone. Clang! “Oh no!” Steven yelled.
Mark quickly picked up the saxophone, checked it and then handed it to Steven, who stood still, at a loss. Mark helped Steven put away all the things and comforted him with the thought that it was not a new saxophone. Anyway, it already had a lot of dents (凹痕).
“I know. But it’s my grandpa’s. He is visiting us this Sunday.” Steven lowered his head, upset.
Steven’s grandpa used to be a great saxophonist in the national band. When Steven was even a baby, his grandpa always played some famous tunes like “Edelweiss,” “Rivers of Babylon,” “Forever in love” for him.
Staring at Steven in confusion, Mark asked what was wrong. Steven sighed deeply and then showed his concern that whenever his grandpa came, he would ask Steven to play with his beloved saxophone. “Maybe he won’t notice the new dent or maybe he won’t care,” Mark said with a shrug (耸肩). “But what if Grandpa notices the dent? How is he going to react? And how shall I tell him about it?” replied Steven.
On the bus home, Steven thought about all the possibilities. To avoid playing the saxophone, he could pretend that he had a fever. Oh no! He didn’t like lying. He could get his baby brother, Joseph, to take all of Grandpa’s attention. Or, he could turn to mum for help...
When Sunday finally arrived, Steven still had no idea what he was going to do.
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Steven would have been delighted to hear Grandpa’s praise, but actually he was not.
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