No Crown for me

“Will you come with us, Susan?” cried several little girls to a schoolmate. “We are going to the woods; do come, too.”

“I should like to go with you very much,” replied Susan, with a sigh, “but I cannot finish the task grandmother set me to do.”

“How tiresome it must be to stay at home to work on a holiday!” said Rose, one of the girls, shaking her head. “Susan’s grandmother is too strict.”

Susan heard this remark, and, as she bent her head over her task, she wiped away a tear, and thought of the pleasant afternoon the girls would spend gathering wild flowers in the woods.

Soon she said to herself, “What harm can there be in moving the mark grandmother put in the stocking? The woods must be very beautiful today, and how I should like to be in them! ”

“Grandmother,” said she, a few minutes afterwards, “I am ready, now.” “What, so soon, Susan?” Her grandmother took the work, and looked at it very closely.

“True, Susan,” said she, laying great stress on each word. “True, I count twenty turns from the mark, and, as you have never cheated me, you may go and amuse yourself as you like the rest of the day.”

Susan’s cheeks were red, and she did not say, “Thank you.” As she left the cottage, she walked slowly away, not singing as usual.

“Why, here is Susan!” the girls cried, when she joined their company. “But what is the matter? Why have you left your dear, old grandmother? ” they asked.

“There is nothing the matter.” As Susan repeated the words, she felt that she was trying to deceive herself. She had acted a lie. At the same time, she remembered her grandmother’s words, “You have never deceived me.”

“Yes, I have deceived her,” she said to herself. “If she knew all, she would never trust me again.”

The little party had reached an open space in the woods.

“Now, Susan.” said Rose, “Put on the crown of flowers, for you are to be our queen.”

“There’s our guide,” I said to the bus driver. He stopped and opened the door to let me off. “You must be Becky.” she said.”My name is Anne.”

As the tour director for a group of forty-three. I quickly confirmed with Anne the sites we would like to see during the next four hours: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House.Most importantly, we discussed when and where to let everyone have a break. It was not a simple matter for so many people. Then we climbed aboard to begin our tour of Washington D.C..

After introducing Anne to the busload of waiting tourists, I handed the microphone to her and made my way toward the last seat. The conversation with a guide usually ended there since she stayed busy engaging guests. My job was to ensure nobody got lost. But on that day, we managed a brief chat in the shade of a tree by the lawn.

“Where are you from?” Anne asked.” Alabama. Are you from Washington.D.C.?” “Well, I live here now, but I was born in Ohio,”she said.“ I was born in Ohio, too.” “Where did you grow up?” she asked in surprise. “ Middletown,” I answered. “Me too!”“Why did you leave home and come here?” I asked. “My father is an orthopedic(骨科的)doctor and he came here for further study……” “An orthopedic doctor? Sorry to interrupt you, but what’s your father’s name?”I felt like I couldn’t breathe at the moment. “Edward Cooper,” she answered. “ Mr.Cooper! My doctor’s name was Edward Cooper,”I said. “That’s really my dad!”Anne exclaimed.

My parents had told me a story. I was born without the left arm, and my left leg turned inward. Then an orthopedic doctor placed a cast from my hip to my tiny toes magically. Thankfully, my leg straightened out and grew strong. By ten months, I could take my first steps.

Steve grabbed his bat and glove. “See you later, Mom. I’m going to Paul’s.” With these words, he raced out the door and slammed (砰地关上) it behind him. Summer vacation just began. The boys planned to play baseball every day, so they could make the freshman team.

Seeing Paul waiting outside, Steve lifted his bat onto his shoulder and asked, “What are you doing? Where’s your stuff?” Paul shook his head, “I have to clean Mr. Thimpson’s garage before I can go. With his broken arm, he can’t do it himself. My mom always volunteers me to help the Thimpson’s. They’re kind of old.” “Okay,” said Steve. “I’ll help you. We’ll get done quicker working together.”

The boys went down the block to the Thimpson’s and got started. They put boxes that were scattered (散落) around the garage floor on shelves before they swept. As Paul lifted a big box onto a shelf, it fell off and with it fell an envelope. He picked up the envelope and found it wasn’t sealed. He opened it, inside which were lots of one hundred dollar bills. Gasping in astonishment, Paul pulled out a handful of bills and showed them to Steve.

“Where did you get that?” asked Steve. Paul pointed to the shelf, explaining, “It just fell down when the box fell. There’s got to be a couple of thousand dollars here.” He looked past Steve to the opening garage door. “Nobody is around. If I take some, I bet no one will ever know,” added Paul, uncontrollably picturing the bat and glove in McGroger’s Sports Store that he had longed for.

Steve frowned and shook his head. “Are you crazy? That’s stealing.” “Well, I do a lot of chores for them and don’t get paid. It’s not really stealing; it’s kind of payment for my hard work.” Paul defended himself. “Forget about it. You’re better than that.” Steve grabbed the money from Paul’s hand, stuffed it back in the envelope and put the envelope back on the shelf. “Come on! Let’s get done and go to the park,” Steve urged.

“Hello, boys. Mrs. Thimpson baked you a chocolate cake.” Mr. Thimpson appeared and invited them in.

As they wolfed the cake and were about to leave, Mrs. Thimpson stopped Paul.