“Open this one!” Chloe cried, handing her older sister a package from under the Christmas tree.

Laila opened it. “Cute,” she said, pulling out the velvet（天鹅绒）pillow Chloe had made. “It’ll match my dorm room.”

“I sewed it without help,” Chloe announced. “And look, I put two special pockets for you to put...”

But Laila was distracted. “That reminds me,” she interrupted Chloe. “Mom, can I take the sewing machine（缝纫机）back to college with me? I’m helping with costumes for a play.”

As Laila and Mom chatted, the pillow fell to the floor. Chloe stared at it. Would the pillow end up in the giveaway pile? Would the time spent sewing be ignored?

Her throat tightened. “I’m going to the kitchen to get more cider,” she mumbled.

For most of Chloe’s life, what had seemed fun to Chloe had been pesky（讨厌的）or babyish to Laila. But after Laila left for college, things changed. She often phoned Chloe complaining how hard it was to be away from home. But now she was treating Chloe like the pesky little sister again.

“There you are!” Mom said, rushing into the kitchen. “We’re due at Grandma’s in 30 minutes. We’ll have to open the rest of the gifts later.”

Chloe quickly changed her clothes, sneaked the pillow out to the garage and stuffed it into the giveaway pile. The specially chosen photo of the whole family in one pocket would never comfort Laila when she was homesick.

For the rest of the day, Chloe’s stomach felt as if it had a rock in it. Laila had spent the whole holiday with the grown-up cousins. She’d hardly said a word to Chloe! Well, the next time, Chloe would simply ignore her when Mom asked her to answer Laila’s phone.

“Where are you going?” Laila asked as Chloe headed upstairs. “To my room,” Chloe said coldly. “But you still have a gift under the tree!” Laila reminded her. Chloe shrugged. Laila grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room. She handed Chloe a package. “I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.”

Chloe unwrapped the package halfheartedly and found inside it lay a phone.

She rushed to the garage and returmed excitedly with the nearly-abandoned pillow.

Mama and I spent morning s cleaning up the dirt that blew into our house. Mama said all dust was due to the drought. It was dust y everywhere. Dust covered our clothes. We had to wash the dishes before each meal. We rarely drove the automobile because Papa feared the dust from the road would ruin its front lights and horn (喇叭).

When my sister, Faye, and I walked to school, we wore handkerchiefs over our mouths so we didn’t breathe in the dirt. On days when the air was so bad that they closed the school, we stayed home and helped Mama put wet sheets over the windows. But the dirt always found a way in.

Last Sunday, there was no dirt in the air, only bright spring sunshine and a clear blue sky. After church, Papa headed out to the field to check on the cattle while Mama started dinner. Faye and I played in the yard. The temperature suddenly dropped—it felt good. The heat had been building since dawn.

Then Mama shouted from the house, “Iris, you and Faye get inside, real quick now!”

I looked to the west and saw a huge black cloud of dust. All the birds flew away. “Faye, go with Mama!” I shouted. “I’ll warn Papa.”

Faye sprinted toward the house. The storm hit so fast, I barely saw her climb the porch steps. Fine sand beat my face and in an instant the day turned into night. I stumbled over our bicycles left carelessly in the yard. I screamed for Papa, hoping my voice would lead him back.

The dirt and sand stung my skin like a thousand bees. I needed to get to shelter. Covering my face with one hand, I felt my way toward the automobile and opened the door. Dirt flew in with me as I pulled the door closed. Papa was still out there! I needed to help him find the automobile.

Staring at the automobile, I got an idea.

Papa nodded, “Good. We’ll wait out the storm here.”