A few weeks before Thanksgiving one year, my husband and I decided to invite a guest over for the holiday. I called a senior centre and they suggested Ilse. She was a stubborn 78-year-old lady, who favoured sequinned(亮片的) T-shirts.

On Thanksgiving, within minutes of arriving, Ilse welcomed the glass of wine my husband offered with a wide smile. By the end of the evening, we felt as if we were old friends. The more time I spent with Ilse, the more she became like a surrogate (替代的) grandma. So when her only son Ralph died, I realized she was too upset to be left alone and helped her hire a caregiver. For me, she was like a family and I was the only one left in her tribe.

Each time I stopped by her apartment, Ilse seemed more disconnected than the time before. Late one afternoon, when I called her, I was unable to understand what she was saying. I drove her to the emergency room, where the doctor confirmed she had suffered a mild stroke. During the next few days, I dropped by her apartment, but she was no longer the energetic, stubborn Ilse I knew. At the end of the week, I received an early-morning phone call from her caregiver. “Please come over now,” the woman said, her voice matter-of-fact. “She’s passed away.” When I arrived, I saw Ilse lying on her bed, motionless, her eyes closed. I sat on the edge of the bed, too shocked to cry.

Jane was waiting in the corridor outside her class. She had two exams that day and physics was the first. She really hated physics. Her friend Terry looked at her from the front of the line, and then looked away quickly.Terry is a straight A student. She didn’t have a problem with physics. She didn’t have a problem with anything… Miss Perfect!

The two girls hadn’t talked to each other for two weeks. “Hi, Jane, it’s your favorite exam today,” said Maya, laughing as she joined the line. Terry was looking at Jane again. “So what’s wrong with her?” asked Maya. “I thought you were friends.” “Yes, so did I,” said Jane. “Two weeks ago, she said she was busy going to the hospital to take care of somebody. I wanted to lend a hand, but she told me she could handle it herself. She promised to help me review for the physics exam , and guess what she did. She ignored all my calls and texts!” said Jane angrily. “Are you listening to me?” Mr. Richard was talking to the class and the other students were going into the exam room. Jane gave Maya a worried look and followed them.

Jane couldn’t answer question number five. She looked up and saw Terry sitting two rows in front of her. Jane couldn’t believe it! Terry was holding her phone on her knee under the table and reading from it. Is that how Terry always got such good grades? She felt really angry at Terry, but she didn’t know what to do. She thought about telling the teacher, but what would everyone else think of her? “Stop writing and put your pens down,” said Mr. Richard as he started to collect the exam papers.

Jane wanted to talk to Terry at lunch time, but she couldn’t find her anywhere. The next exam was history. That was Jane’s favorite subject but she wasn’t feeling good. She didn’t know what to do about Terry. “It wasn’t fair!” she thought. “Terry was getting good grades by cheating all the time.” thought Jane. Just then, Mr. Richard walked past her table. “Mr. Richard, I ..., I saw Jerry with her cell phone in the physics exam…”

Jane was sitting behind Terry again in the history exam that afternoon.

Jane was walking towards the school gate, when she heard footsteps behind her.

A Fortunate Escape

Max, Ben and I were walking home together while I bit into the brown beef burger I had grabbed from a shop nearby. “Truth or dare, Ben?” Max questioned. It was a game we usually played to amuse ourselves on the lengthy, boring journey home. Ben wanted a dare. “Well, Ben, I dare you to carry my bag all the way home!” Max commanded.

As Ben pulled the heavy bag up his shoulder and adjusted the bag belts, he noticed that Max’bag was partly open. When he quickly turned it around, an object flew out of the bag, and over the fence of our neighbor’s house.

“Oh, no,” Max shouted, “I think that was my English homework!” Stretching his hand out and trying to crawl (爬) under the fence to get the paper, Ben found that it was just out of reach.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to climb over the fence to get it,” Ben complained. He was barely able to climb up, using small gaps in the wooden fence as handholds, as the fence was nearly as tall as him, and low enough for something to be thrown over it.

Sliding down the fence, Ben grabbed the valued piece of paper, complaining about injured self-respect. Just then, a loud and terrifying bark cut his words short.

“Woof, woof!”

Our neighbor, Mr. Mason, owned a German Shepherd (德国牧羊犬), known for its fierceness, which guarded the house. It was something we had overlooked, too focused on getting back Max’s homework. Ben’s legs trembled uncontrollably and his face turned a deathly white as the German Shepherd advanced slowly on him like a wolf approaching its target.

Max and I stared at it, frozen with fear. Ben backed up against the fence, attempting to climb up, but a loud bark stopped him in his tracks. I desperately searched my mind for a silver of an idea about how I could assist Ben. Should I climb up the fence and help Ben? Or could I do something to distract the dog?

Searching the road for stones, my eyes landed upon a brown object.

Afterwards, the three of us made our way home again.