It was Mother's Day and I was shopping at a local supermarket with my son who was five years old, Tennyson. As we were leaving after finishing our shopping, we realized that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground badly. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock. Fortunately, a lot of people stopped to help out.

While we were walking towards the scene, Tennyson became very worried about what had happened to the elderly couple. He said to me, “Mom, it's not much fun falling over in front of everyone.” Seeing that there was a flower stall(摊位)at the front of the supermarket, he added, “Why shouldn't we buy the lady a flower? It will make her feel better.” I was amazed that he'd come up with this sweet idea. So we went over and told the flower seller what we wanted. “Just take it,” she replied. “I can't take your money for such a wonderful deed.”

By now medical staff had arrived, and were looking after the injured woman. There we saw the old man was also in great horror, but he tried to comfort his wife and held her hands tightly to encourage her to be strong. We gave the flower to the woman's husband and I told him it was from my son. At that time, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you very much.” He then turned to me, “You have a wonderful son. Happy Mother's Day to you.”

The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Regardless of being badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tennyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile. And my son bent down his body to the injured lady and tenderly said, “Happy Mother's Day to you, too.”

After a moment, the elderly lady was taken into an ambulance,

One year later,

It was Hoppy’s first day at his new school. He didn’t know anyone yet, but he had seen some cool kids at the beach during the summer.

Billy, one of the cool kids, sat down next to Hoppy at break and started to have a talk. They discovered they shared the same interest, surfing, but Hobby went to the beach with his dad, instead of hanging out there with friends, which was laughed at by Billy. He invited Hoppy to the beach with his friends. Hoppy nodded, happy to have a new friend.

After school Hoppy met Billy and his three friends at the school gate, one of whom tried to punch Hoppy’s stomach as a way of “greetings”. While walking on the street, they met a boy, having trouble with his bike. Billy and his friends started to tease the boy. The boy looked up uneasily about this interest in him and his flat-tyre.

Billy nudged the boy so that he fell on the kerb (侧石) and broke his glasses. Billy and his friends ran off down the street, laughing. However, Hoppy just stood there.

The boy, Gerald, sat on the kerb, crying now. He looked up at Hoppy and begged him not to hit him. Hoppy smiled and said, “I’ve never beaten anyone up. Only bullies (霸凌) and cowards do that. Really strong people keep their fists in their pockets. That’s what my dad says.” Gerald seemed relieved. They walked to Gerald’s house, talking about going to the beach together. Their friendship grew.

One Sunday, Hoppy went to the beach with his father. Billy and his friends were there. Billy called out to Hoppy, complaining about helping Gerald. He spoke in an unpleasant tone, saying his dad was his babysitter. Hoppy smiled and ignored him.

Gerald arrived to see Hoppy. When he saw the boys, his heart sank. Billy and his gang surrounded him. “Hoppy’s tricked me,” thought Gerald, and he started to walk away. Billy ran after Gerald and tripped him. Gerald fell onto the sand, but picked himself up and asked them to leave him alone. However, Billy didn’t stop and tripped Gerald again.

This time Gerald managed a brave smile as he got up and faced the boys.

Hoppy and his dad came up beside Gerald, but Gerald said to them, “Why don’t you go with your friends?”

Years ago, back in the middle 2010s, I moved to a hillside house and drove down to work every morning at about eight o’clock and came home at around five thirty. Each time I drove by, I would see a young boy at about age 15 and a large dog walking along the road. When cars would pass him on the other side, he made eye contact and waved with a toothy smile. I saw him almost every day, walking along the road and waving at cars.   Amazing?

On a rainy day, I saw him, along with his dog, sitting at the roadside. I stopped my car and got out to ask what had happened to him. “Nothing. I just want to take a break,” the boy responded. I then asked if he could need a ride. The young boy, Kevin, said, “I’m not really going anywhere, just walking, thank you anyway, sir.” I used to enjoy walking in the countryside myself, so I thought it wasn’t too odd. “In case of some emergency, or if you ever need a ride or help,” I told Kevin, “flag me down and I’ll do whatever I can.” Kevin thanked me and went on his way. Over the following days, each time we met, I would stop for a while and have a quick talk with Kevin, and his sweet dog Randy.

One afternoon, I suddenly felt a voice inside my mind: “Go back home now!” There was still one hour for work. But I asked for an early leave and drove back faster than usual. Again, I saw Kevin walking along the road. But this time he didn’t have his usual smile and was pacing rather than walking. When he saw my car, he violently flagged me down. As I got closer, I could see he was crying. “What’s wrong, Kevin?” I asked.

“We were just walking but Randy somehow dropped,” Kevin said in tears.

As I drove to the animal hospital, Kevin sat in the back and kept talking to the dog.