Louie, a pet parrot, saved a whole family. He __________ the sleeping Klein family in the middle of the night as flames swept through their home.

“Louie is a true __________,” Barbara Klein recently told news agency South West News Service (SWNS). “If it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t have been __________ at that time. He started shouting ‘Fire’. He had never said that word before in my __________. When I woke up, the fire was starting to spread across the living room floor.” Unluckily for the family, Louie didn’t __________. Barbara said, “He was like our babies, so it’s __________.”

Barbara took her five-year-old granddaughter __________ and ran out of the house. Her husband Larry also made it out, but was severely wounded when escaping from the burning building. “He ran to the kitchen and tried to __________ the fire out with water,” Barbara told SWNS. “After we left, he ran back into the house and insisted on __________ the pet but with no __________.” The Kleins suffered great __________ in the fire. Their house was in __________ along with its contents and the parrot Louie passed away.

“People have __________ with clothing and someone donated an apartment for three months,” Barbara said. “The man who donated the apartment also __________ us with a baby parrot. We call him Louie Jr to __________ Louie.”

Ariel decided to _________ herself in nature the day before she turned 30, so she rode her bike to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, New York on November 5 to take a hike. A mile into her walk, she _________ a gorgeous female mute (哑的) swan near the water’s edge. Ariel, 30, who _________ volunteered at the Wild Bird Fund rehab (康复) center in Manhattan for five years, knew that mute swans can be _________. But as she approached this one, it didn’t move.

She was certain that the bird needed medical attention. Ariel put her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, carefully picked it up, and held it in her arms. And then a thought _________ her: What can I do now?

Her best bet was the rehab center, but that was across the East River and clear on the other side of town. How was she going to _________ a 17-pound swan on her bike all that way? _________, some puzzled strangers driving by offered her, her bike, and the swan a _________ to a nearby subway station.

On the subway, no one seemed particularly annoyed by the _________ passenger. Ariel says: “One guy was sitting right in front of me on his phone. I don’t know if he __________ there was a swan in front of him”.

Ariel called the rehab center on the way, and Tristan Higgin, a(n) __________ manager, picked her up at the subway station and drove the bird, bike, and __________ to the facility. There, staff members determined that the swan might have lead poisoning, caused by swallowing __________ used on fishing lines.

While recovering, she made a boyfriend at the center — another injured swan. Sadly, even with all that TLC, the swan __________ a bacterial infection. Two months after Ariel came to her rescue, she __________. It’s a disappointing ending, but the real story is just how far some people are willing to go to save a swan in the big city. In all, Ariel traveled two hours by foot, car, and subway (while dragging her bike). “That’s the perfect summary of who she is.” says Higginbotham.

Growing Roots

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t _______ lives, he was planting trees.

The good doctor had some interesting theories on planting trees. He believed in “No pains, no gains”. He never _______ his new trees, which was _______ many people. Once I asked why. He answered that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you water them, each following tree generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things _______ for them. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water. I came to understand that he meant deep roots were to be _______. I planted a couple of trees a few years back and I took good care of them. Two years of _______ has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows, they shake and tremble their branches. Funny things about those trees of Dr. Gibbs’. The lack of water seemed to _______ them in ways comfort and ease never could.

I used to pray for my sons that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to _______ my prayer. I know my children are going to meet _______, and I’m praying they will be strong. The prayer for comfort is seldom met. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the winds blow, they won’t be __________ away.