O. Henry was a great writer. His pen name was O. Henry and his real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. When he was about 20, he went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, some people thought he was the thief, so he was sent to prison(监狱). During the three years there, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of the prison, he went to New York and went on writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor people there. And people liked his stories very much.

    Johnny is a lovely fish. He lives in the sea. He is very lonely. He wants to find a friend. And the friend looks like him. Johnny sees an ink fish. The ink fish has eight legs. He doesn't look like Johnny. So Johnny goes away.

    Johnny meets a shark. He wants to say hello to the shark. But the shark opens his big mouth and wants to cat him. Johnny runs away quickly.

    Johnny is tired and hungry. He wants to have a rest. Then he sees a round fish. She says to him." Hello! Would you like to be my friend?"

    Johnny answers," Of course! But you are round, I am fat. You don't look like me." The round fish says," But we are both fishes."

    Johnny thinks and says," You are right. Let's be friends." They become good friends.

    A few days ago, I walked into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry to him, and we were very polite. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye.

    Later in the kitchen at home, as I cooked our meal, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very quietly. When I turned around, I nearly knocked her down. "Get out of the way!" I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I lay in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some flowers there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them herself, pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply, "While meeting with a stranger, I was calm and polite; but with my daughter, I was not patient (耐心的). I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    I quietly went to Betty's bed, "Wake up, my dear," I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She smiled, "I found them by the tree. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue. " I said, "I am so sorry that I treated (对待) you that way today. " And she whispered (悄声说), "Mommy, that's okay. I still love you anyway. " I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers. "

    That day Betty gave me a lesson on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't realize how important family life was. I decided to do better in the future.