It was nearly dark, the sun was dropping down the mountains far away. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What's the matter, Tom? How's your trip?" his mother asked with a big smile. “I failed. The mountain is so high and full of big or small stones on the way, I still go ahead. But I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back." Tom cried. “It doesn't matter, you are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance.”his mother said. "But, standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!”Tom said. His father came over and asked, "Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?”"Sure, and there are a lot of beautiful flowers by the side of the road.” Tom replied. “Did you hear the birds singing?”his father asked. "There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet." Tom said. "Did you feel the beauty of nature?”his father asked. "Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colorful flowers made a nice picture." Tom answered. “That's enough!" his father smiled and said, "Please remember, son. For often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Although you didn't reach the top of the mountain, you got a lot on the way.”

 It is true that not every goal will be achieved, not every job will end up with a success, and not every dream will come true. The most beautiful scenery (风景) is on the way.

   “Jamila, I just found one dollar sitting on the coffee table,” said Mrs. Johnson. “Is that your money?”

    Jamila looked up fromthe book she was reading. “Oops, it's mine. I emptied my jacket pockets before Ileft for basketball practice yesterday. I was running late, so I didn't have time to take it up to my room.”Jamila placed it quickly in the back of her book and went back to reading.

  “Jamila, you just put that money into the back of your book. I'm quite sure that you're not going to be able to find it when you need it.” her mother said. “You see, some of your money is in the pencil case on your desk. Some is in the glove hanging behind the door. I think you might also have a few dollars in your bag. You are such a careless girl.”

   “Mom. I'm too busy to take care of my money.”

     Mrs. Johnson smiled,“It looks like it's time for you to get your own bank account (账户).”

   “My own bank account?Is it necessary? Kids know little about it."Jamila replied.

    The next day, Mrs.Johnson took Jamila to a bank and opened an account for her. The banking mangerexplained how the money in the account would increase. “The longer the money staysin the account, the more it will earn(获利),” he added.

     Jamila was surprisedto learn that she could earn money just by keeping her money in a bank account.“I wish I had done this a long time ago.”

    There was once a little grey planet mat was very sad. The people living there didn't look after it. They polluted me whole planet so much with rubbish that there were no plants or animals left.

    One day, a little boy was walking on the planet when he passed a cave (洞穴) and noticed a small red flower inside. The flower was very sick, almost dying, so the boy carefully dug up the flower with roots, soil and everything. Then he started looking for a place where he could look after it. He searched all over the planet, but everywhere was so polluted that there was no place the flower could possibly live in. Then he looked up at the sky and noticed the Moon. It seemed to the boy that maybe the plant could live there. So the little boy put on his astronaut suit, and climbed into a spaceship. He put the little red flower in the back, and they went to the Moon.

    Far away from all that pollution, and with the boy visiting it every day to take care of it, the flower started to grow. The flower was so well cared for that it soon germinated, giving birth to others, and these other flowers spread onto other flowers. Before long, the whole Moon was completely covered with flowers.

    That's why, whenever the little boy's flowers open up, for a few minutes the Moon turns red, like a warning light. Maybe it's telling us that if we don't look after our planet, the day will come when flowers will only be able to grow on the Moon.

    Like many high school graduates, Maggie Doyne didn't go straight to college. She decided to travel and arrived in western Nepal in 2006. A war had just ended there and left many children living on the streets. They were often forced to work at hard physical jobs for little money.

One day, while walking down a country road, Doyne saw a little girl breaking up rocks. She soon learned that 7-year-old Hima sold the rocks to support her family. With deep sadness, she decided to pay Hima's tuition(学费) for school. Encouraged by the changes in the child, Doyne thought, "If we can help one child, why not 10？"

    Doyne felt that the street children's greatest need was a home. She found a piece of land for sale and bought it with $5,000 she saved from years of babysitting (当临时保姆). In 2008 the Kopila Valley Children's Home was set up. With the help from the community, another goal was reached in 2010—the Kopila Valley School. Over 350 children now attend the school and over 50 live in the home.

    Today, Doyne lives in the home and is "mum" to the kids.