I sat in my parents’ car. Mom had insisted I go with her to pick up Dad from work. Across from Dad’s office is a bike store. That was the day my eleven-year-old eyes first saw the purple BMX Mongoose bike. From that day on, all I could think about was that bike. I even drew pictures of the bike in class. Every evening afterward, at five thirty, I eagerly went along with Mom to get Dad.

And every day I told my parents, “I want that bike!” But they disagreed and replied that I had already had a perfectly good bike at home. I’d argue it was old and ugly, thinking that my happiness depended on that purple bike. Days later, I found the store had sold that bike. I knew I’d never be happy again.

A week later, returning home from school, I tripped over something. Lying in the weeds near a river and some wooded lots, was a bike — the exact bike from the store. “Hey, whose bike is this?” I shouted, scanning the area. No one replied, and there was no one in sight. Maybe its owner didn’t want it any longer. I couldn’t leave it lying in the weeds. So I took it home and hid it behind the garage. Every day after school, I sat there, admiring it. But I didn’t feel like riding and didn’t feel as happy as I had thought. Thinking about the bike made my stomach tighten and uncomfortable.

A few days later, during lunch at school, my friend said, “Did you hear about Tyler, in the other fifth-grade class? He lost his new purple BMX Mongoose bike he had just gotten for his birthday. He left it by a river while playing in the woods. It got dark, and he couldn’t find it.”

“I’d never go off and leave a new bike like that. He doesn’t deserve to have that bike,” I replied. My friend added, “Kids say he’s nice. And they say Tyler is upset because his dad worked overtime to buy the bike for him.” For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about Tyler.

After school, I returned home and dragged to my room.

“I know Tyler’s house,” Mom said. “I’ll drive you there.”

Charlie was a little boy of ten. He was such a good boy that everyone loved him a lot. Due to his father’s job, his family shifted to a new city, where he was admitted into a new school. As Charlie was a good boy, most of his new classmates became his good friends soon. The teachers also praised Charlie for his intelligence and good behavior.

But there was one boy in the class who did not like Charlie at all! His name was Bill and he was a very naughty boy, so no one liked him at all. He found that Charlie was a quiet boy, so he started making trouble for his new classmate. But Charlie still kept quiet and did not complain to the class teacher. When Charlie’s parents learned about Bill, they wanted to go to school and complain about this naughty boy’s behavior. But Charlie stopped them and said, “Mom, Dad, please do not worry. Everything will be all right.”

Days went by and the time came for the annual sports meeting at the school. Charlie was also good at sports and he was participating in a number of events. Bill was participating in the sack race (套袋跑), though he could not run very fast due to his fat body. When Bill saw that Charlie won first prize in the 100-meter race, he felt very jealous (妒忌的) and decided that he would not let it happen in the sack race.

As planned, Bill tried to push Charlie while jumping on the track during the sack race. But he lost his balance and fell down! His leg was badly injured and he could not even stand up by himself. But as he was unpopular among his friends, no one turned up to help him!

Charlie noticed what had happened.

Charlie took Bill to the school doctor.

One snowy day, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blinding snowstorm. A farmer sat down to relax by the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud knock, something hitting against the window. He looked outside but could not see anything. So he ventured outside for a better view. In the field near his house he saw, of all the strangest things, a flock of swans (天鹅).

They were apparently flying to look for a warmer area down south, but they were caught in the snowstorm. The storm became too blinding and violent for the swans to fly or see their way. They were trapped on his farm, with no food or shelter, unable to do more than wave their wings and fly in aimless circles. He had sympathy for them and wanted to help them.

He thought to himself, the barn(谷仓)would be a great place for them to stay. It was warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he opened the barn door for them. He waited, watching them, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

However, they did not notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. He moved closer toward them to get their attention, but they just moved away from him out of fear. He went into the house and came back with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread trail to the barn. They still did not catch on.

Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried to drive them to wand the barn. They panicked and scattered into every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn, where there was a warm safe shelter. Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed, “Why don’t they follow me? Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm? How can I possibly get them into the barn to save them?”