Hope in my arms

    Last year, I was invited to participate in a carnival（嘉年华） for Tuesday' s Child, an organization that helps children with AIDS.

    All the children that had 1 at one special room could paint a square on a piece of cloth. Later the squares would be sewn(缝) together to2 a quilt. The quilt would be presented to a man who had devoted his life to the   3 and would soon be retiring.

    The kids were given paints in bright colors and asked to paint something that would make the quilt beautiful. As I looked around at all the squares, I saw pink hearts, blue clouds, orange sunrises and red flowers. The pictures were all bright and 4. All except one.

    One boy was painting a heart, but it was dark and lifeless. It lacked the bright colors that his fellow artists had used. I asked why. He told me that he was very5 and so was his mom. He said that his sickness was not ever going to get better and 6 was his mom's. He looked7into my eyes and said, "There is no hope in my life."

    I told him I was sorry and I could understand why he had made his heart a dark color. I told him that8 we couldn't make him better, we can give 9, which can really help when you are feeling sad. I told him that if he would like, I would be happy to give him one so he could see what I meant. 10, he crawled(爬上) into my lap（大腿）. I thought my own heart would burst for this sweet little boy. He sat there for a long time. Finally he slipped 11to finish his coloring.

    As I was getting ready to12 home, I felt a tug (猛拽) on my jacket. Standing there was the little boy,13. He said, "My heart is changing14. It is getting brighter. I think those hugs really do 15." On my way home I felt my own heart. It too had changed to a brighter color.

A conversation with a Stranger

    Last Sunday I sat on the bus talking with excitement and so ready to spend time in London with one of my best friends from college. As I took the window seat and wore headphones over ears, I almost didn't 1 the elderly man sitting beside me.

    Half an hour passed and I was still absorbed in my own world.2 the elderly man asked me a question, a simple question 3 the bus's Wi-Fi connection, which turned into a two-hour 4. In fact, it directly 5 my personal life.

    We talked much about my dreams, my fears and my life. I 6 more with this stranger on the bus than I have with any friend or family member in months. Maybe it had something to do with me just being 7 to let anyone I know close to me. I was 8 that the stranger was not only so deeply interested in getting to know me, but also just as willing to 9 me to my greatest abilities. He listened carefully to every word I said and gave some useful10 at times. Instead of politely11 his head when I mentioned my major, he told me that my strong liking seemed to be psychology, but not the one I was studying. He said that he knew I would face difficulties if I studied psychology and that he fully understood my12 for the failure.

    The elderly man made me 13 the plans that I had laid out(安排) for my life with just that simple statement. He helped me realize that my neatly 14 plan for the next five years of my life wasn't all that neat, but actually complex and filled with 15.Most of all, he helped me 16 the anxiety and told me not stay away from it because of my fear for the unknown. I 17 a lot from talking with the elderly stranger.

    Several days later, he emailed me, saying, "I think you're 18 for great things no matter what you decide to do." The email was filled with words of 19. In a few hours a stranger showed me a sense of kindness that made me realize that life is sometimes 20 but it is going to be okay.

    It was Australia Day. We had spent the afternoon 1with friends. When we arrived home, the message bank on my mobile phone was flashing. It was our 2, Annabel, who had just been left at a boarding school over 500 kilometers away. Annabel's 3 voice greeted us: "Hi, Mum and Dad, I've 4 my phone!” After just four days at school her main means of 5 had gone missing at an Australia Day celebration. We realized the chance of finding the phone were 6 for we hadn't installed (安装) the Find My Phone app.

    The next morning, my mobile beeped (发出哔哔声) loudly. When I replayed the 7 a kind voice announced that she had something that 8 my daughter and could I please call her back.

Annabel had 9 my number on the inside of her phone's case —- 10 thinking! "I'll take it to work 11 you see if anyone can pick it up,” she kindly offered after I 12 that my daughter was at boarding school and I lived a six-hour drive away.

After tracking the people I 13 who lived nearby, I was out of luck —- no one was able to 14 the phone.

    Later I decided to ask our angel (天使) to post the 15 to my daughter. But to my 16, this angel, who had already spent a busy day at work, was making a two-hour round trip on a Saturday night, especially to 17 a phone to a complete stranger.

    I gave her 18 and she delivered the phone into the hands of my daughter. The only word of her explanation was: "I've got four 19 of my own. I know how a mother 20."

    Little was road testing his mountain bike outside of Columbus, when his riding partner, Dixon, stopped suddenly. Something in the distance moving among the trees had 1 her attention. It 2 to be a five-month-old dog.

    "He was really thin and had a 3 leg," Little told CBS News. The cyclists fed the dog and 4 their water. They realized that the dog was coming with them, although they had no 5 how they could be. They were more than seven miles from downtown and riding bikes. "We couldn't 6 him," Little told the Ledger-Enquirer. "Out there, he was going to 7 others' food."

    Little had an idea. He carefully 8 up his new friend and slipped (使滑入) the dog's hind (后面的) legs into the back 9 of his cycling clothes. Then he put the dog's front paws (爪子) over his 10.

    "He was injured, so he wasn't trying to 11," Little says. "It was also 12 that we were there and ready to help."

    They came to a 13. There they got more water and food for the dog. That was when Shaw passed 14. The dog 15 her, licking (舔) her, Shaw found the dog was lovable and, after learning what had happened, 16, "I am keeping this dog. "

    Shaw named him Columbo 17 the town where they'd met and scheduled a (n) 18 on his broken leg. Today, Columbo is living on a farm with a horse and a six-year-old boy to keep him 19. As Dixon said, "He is the 20 dog alive."

    Once upon a time there were two brothers who lived near each other. One day, they had a 1 because of some small things. And neither was willing to 2 each other.

    One morning, there was a knock at door of the elder brother. He 3 it and found a man standing beside the door. "I'm a carpenter (木匠). I'm 4 a few days' work. Perhaps you would have a few small jobs I could help with."

    "Yes," said the elder brother. "I do have a job for you. 5 at that farm across the small river. It is my younger brother's. We had a quarrel, so I won't like to see his 6 anymore. I want you to build me a 8-foot 7." The man said, "I think I understand the situation. Don't worry. I'll be able to do a job that makes you 8." So the elder brother was very glad and left for the town nearby.

    In the evening, the carpenter had just 9 his job when the elder brother returned. But he was 10 to find, instead of a fence, before him, stood a 11, which went from one side of the river 12 the other! On the other 13 of bridge, was his younger brother.

    "Do you know the name of the bridge?" The carpenter asked.

    "No," the elder brother was 14.

    "OK, I can tell you. Its name is understanding and 15," the carpenter smiled.

    Suddenly they began to understand 16. Surely, between two brothers there should be a bridge rather than a 17. Standing on the bridge, they 18 each other's hands with 19 in their eyes.

    "Could you stay another few days? I've a lot of other work for you," said the elder brother. "I'd love to 20 on," the carpenter said. "But I have many more bridges to build."