A Different View

    At age 14, 15 and 16, the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us. My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection.

    In high school, we joined the gymnastics team, and our 1became even more important to us. We had no fat, only muscle. On the weekends, we would go to the beach, 2 of our flat stomachs.

    One summer day, all my friends were at my house 3. At one point, I was running back to the pool. I 4 on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung (蛰) me. I instantly started to feel 5. That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen. I couldn't walk. I could barely6.

    When my foot started to go numb, everyone became more 7. My foot was not getting enough blood. I had to go to the 8, and my leg hurt as if it were badly broken. I couldn't move. All I could do was think about how soft my middle was becoming. That 9 me more than any concern over my leg.

    That would all 10 when I heard the doctors mention possibly cutting off my foot. It was still not getting the 11 supply it needed. The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.

    Never before did I have such great 12 for my foot. And walking seemed like a 13 from the gods. Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about 14 and who was wearing what. More and more I expected visits from other kids in the hospital, who were quickly becoming my friends.

    One girl came to visit me 15. Every time she came, she brought flowers. She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and 16 the other patients.

    She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking. I would not have given this girl a second 17 before. I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her 18.

    Finally, I was improving and soon I went home. My leg was still swollen, 19 I was walking, and I had my foot! When I would go back to the hospital, I often saw my friend. She was still visiting people and 20 good cheer. I thought if even there was an angel on this earth, it had to be her.

In 2012, I had just recovered from a serious illness when I received an invitation to a writer's conference in Orlando, Florida. My family persuaded me that a(n)1might be just what the doctor ordered, so off I2.

    Arriving in the Sunshine State was rather tiring, but I3to catch a taxi to my4and settle in. The next morning, I took another5to the shopping centre to buy a few souvenirs.6I went to a cafe to have lunch, but all the tables were7. Then I heard a friendly voice saying, "You can8my table."

    I gratefully sat down with the9lady and we had a happy lunch together. As the10drew to a close she asked how long I would be in Orlando. I had already told her that I hadn't11a car, and  hadn't  realized how12taking taxis would he. After a while she said, "My dear, don't use any more taxis. I'm retired and it would be my pleasure to13you wherever you wish." I told her that I couldn't put her to that14,but she brushed aside my protests(反对). She asked me where I was15and the next morning she was waiting at my apartment at the16time to take me to Disney World. She spent some time with me before leaving me to17alone. At the end of the day, she18to take me back to my accommodation. I19her money but she refused to take any.

    I'll never forget that wonderful lady who, through her20, filled my brief holiday in Florida with wonderful memories.

    When I heard the news, tears ran down my face. Some years ago on a hot summer day, a little boy decided to go for a 1 in the lake behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the 2 water, he ran out of the back door. He flew into the water, not 3 that an alligator（鳄鱼）was swimming toward the 4. His mother in the house was 5 of the window and saw the alligator 6 it got closer and closer. In fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her sin as 7as she could.

    Hearing her voice, the little boy became 8 and made a return to swim to his mother. It was to 9. Just as he reached her, the alligator 10 him. From the shore, the mother grasped her little boy by the arms just as the alligator grasped his legs. The alligator was much 11 than the mother, but the mother was much too struggling to let the boy go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her 12, raced from his truck, took aim and 13 the alligator.

    14, after weeks in the hospital, the little boy 15. His legs were scarred by the animal and, on his arms, were 16 scratches where his mother's fingernails scratched. A newspaper reporter, who 17 the boy, asked if he would show him his 18. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious 19, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn't let me go. They are my mother's 20 for me.”

    On a dark grey morning, my mom said in a quiet voice. "Your dad and I have decided that we're moving to Singapore.”

    These words did not1much in my five-year-old brain until the day we had to2 and say goodbye to our close friends.

    Normally，mom always booked our3together. The4of sitting next to a stranger was never something I had to worry about, until now. Booking it late, we weren't given5when buying the seats.

    I was6as I walked on the plane and down the aisle. What I saw was something 7to an alien to me. It was an Indian lady dressed in a traditional Sari and having a massive bindi(额前的人工痣) between her eyebrows. But her8wasn't the only thing that9me away. I made a10 as if I had smelt something sour.

    My mom11walked me to the back of the plane, and12she wasn't any different from me and I should be respectful because it was her13and religion.

    As we got prepared to14, the lady buckled(扣住 )her seatbelt and took out a book from her bag. At that point I am15that the book was in English! After a short sleep, I16to dinner time. I got spaghetti and so did the lady sitting next to me. She was eating the same thing as me!

    Throughout the flight, I17in my young little mind that she was just a human being like me though she looked and18differently, which provided me with a19of being a human being who20all types of lifestyles.

    The stage lights dimmed, and I took a quick look from behind the heavy black curtains into the audience. Blinded by the lights, I quickly 1. It seems that a great number of eyes were looking at me. I took a deep 2 as the music of my dance began to play. I entered the stage and began my 3, the graduation test of the classical Indian dance.

    After a decade of learning this art form, I had 4 been considered ready to take on the most difficult act. The test is the most important event in a dancer's life as it pays 5 to all the factors in one's life that 6 the dance form: one's culture and family.

    The performance is undertaken only by the most 7 and determined students. It is a difficult process that requires much 8. For more than six months, I spent two to three hours every day9 these dances. Many times, I 10 myself to my physical and mental breaking point, but still I would not stop. I could not give up. There was always so much more to do and so much more to 11.

    I 12 a lot about myself in those tiring hours. I learned that I was far too 13 to give up, and I was too proud to prove myself 14 after I had set an unrealistic goal. Even with physical pain and mental 15, I forced myself to meet my 16. Even when I was at the end of my 17, there was always something driving me on, forcing me not to give up.

    Fortunately, I made it. What I had done 18 the success. It was in those hours that I learned what a dancer 19 is. Those time was evidence that I could 20 something I set out to do.

After months of preparation, my husband Bill and I flew to China to welcome our new daughter, our 18-month-old angel "Shirley". But when we picked her up, Shirley missed her Chinese mother so 1 she would barely look at Bill and me. Instead, she'd stand at our hotel room door and 2 for the only mother she had known. 

I was so embarrassed that lunch in a restaurant was out of the 3 . I was afraid people would think I was a "bad mother. " So I 4 our meals from room service. 

One time I chose the noodle plate and tried to use chopsticks for the very first time. The noodles kept 5 off my chopsticks. At this time, Shirley's screaming suddenly stopped. 

Peeking out of the corner of my eye, I saw her sitting in the room corner 6 me attentively. And in no time, a tiny hand came into 7 , took the chopsticks from my big hand. As I looked up, Shirley — with the chopsticks skillfully arranged in her little fingers — began expertly feeding me noodles, without 8 a single one. 

I looked at Bill, who was wide-eyed with 9 . "Do you think she would 10 me?" he wondered 11 . So, trembling with 12 , I asked, "Shirley, will you feed your daddy now?" and 13 to Bob. She nodded "yes" with a big smile on her face!

That meal was definitely a 14 experience. Shirley must have felt that we would 15 without her assistance!