Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.

One day, Ali took Zahra’s shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra’s school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.

Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city. When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.

The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache.

For years, putting up Christmas lights had been a family tradition for the Patrick’s household. It was an occasion when they would busily prepare for the celebration of Christmas.

Their Christmas light display was always a highlight of the neighborhood and brought much delight to the whole community. Typically, Anthony would invite the neighbors over as they decorated the Christmas tree in the front yard. Emily, who lived next door and had known Sara’s family for long, often came to admire their wonderland of Christmas lights.

In early December, Anthony would string colorful lights all around their roof until it looked dazzling. On the front lawn, he would blow up a large white Frosty the Snowman and a Rudolph with a glowing red nose. Sara always joined in, along with their warm-hearted neighbors, hanging gifts on the tree and playing “White Christmas” over and over to keep everyone in the spirit.

Yet the bad news came in the midst of the festive mood, before they could finish the Christmas decoration. Anthony fell desperately ill. The symptoms suggested acute heart failure and he was soon admitted to hospital. Sara spent days and nights in the ward, attending to Anthony and praying for his recovery, though the hope was slim. On Christmas Eve, Anthony passed away.

It came as a huge blow to Sara. In the following days, she had to manage the funeral while struggling to figure out a way to cover housing and household expenses, and tackling a seemingly endless list of difficult to-dos. Perhaps hardest of all, she had to persuade herself into accepting the loss of her father. It was too much to take.

When she pulled up to the house after a long day on the go, the only thing that could comfort her were the twinkling Christmas lights, which brought her a spark of hope-it felt as if the brightness of the lights could cancel out some of the darkness of the past days’ misfortune.

Wanting to help, Emily shared their story on a community website.

Touched by their kindness, Sara decided to fulfill the lighting decorations, though Christmas was gone.

It wasn’t fair.

Aminah always studied hard, so there was nothing unusual about her receiving top marks at the end of the year. But Farhan was often playing with the village boys when he should have been studying. To help motivate him this year, their father had promised to buy him a bicycle if his grades improved.

Aminah was sure that even this generous offer wouldn’t change her brother’s habits. But when Farhan started staying home and studying, everyone was surprised.

At the end of the school year, Aminah received top marks as she always did. And, as usual, her parents gave her 100 rupees (卢比) as a reward.

For the first time, Farhan got top marks too. True to his word, their father came home with a bicycle. It was well used, and much of the paint had been chipped (脱落) off. But to Farhan, it was the most beautiful bicycle in their country. Farhan’s friends cheered when they saw it. It was understood that something as precious as a bicycle would be shared with everyone.

Well, almost everyone.

After a few days of watching Farhan and the village boys learning to ride, Aminah and her friends grew bitter. They spent afternoons on the hill just north of the village, sitting in the shade of a mango tree and watching the lazy stream flow at the foot of the hill. They could hear the boys cheering and laughing on the other side of the hill.

“Why doesn’t he let us ride, Aminah?” asked Fatima. Aminah shrugged (耸肩), trying to act as if she didn’t care.

“He and the other boys just want the bicycle all for themselves!” replied Shehnaz. Sarah shook her head. “But Aminah is his sister! He should share with her.” An older sister commanded respect.

As they talked, the boys’ screams grew closer. Aminah looked up and saw her brother on his bicycle at the top of the hill. “Look! I can do it!” Farhan yelled at the top of his lungs. He had finally gotten the hang of it. The boys cheered as he began to speed up.

Suddenly, Farhan lost control of the bicycle, heading in the direction of the girls, toward the stream.

Farhan looked at Aminah, then at his bicycle, then back at his sister.