I arrived at my mother's home for our Saturday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. I knew they were all made herself. She was preparing for a quilt show on TV. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What's this?” I asked.

“Oh?” Mom said, “That's Mama's quilt.”

    I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had made the pieces together.

 “Grandmother made this?” I asked in surprise. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn't look like any of the quilts she had made.

  “Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” Mom said, “I'm still working on it. See, this is what I've done so far.”

     I looked at it more closely. She had made a line straight(直的). At the center of the quilt， she had stitched a piece of cloth with these words:    “My mother made many quilts. She didn't get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”

“Oh, this is so nice, Mom.” I said. I was sure now that by completing my grandmother's quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.

    When was the last time you saw three men running down a forest trail（小径）in the rain wearing flip-flops（拖鞋）？That's what my friend Brandon, Josh and I were doing last autumn. We were looking for a waterfall（瀑布）.We didn't have much time to get to the waterfall and back, so we were running. We were wearing flip-flops to prevent our shoes getting dirty.

    It was raining, but lightly. It kept us cool as we climbed over giant stones and through a shallow（浅的）stream. We followed red arrows（箭头）and crossed that stream several times, walking on toward the promised waterfall. Time was not on our side, however, and we were forced to turn around. As we started back, we looked at the shallow stream we had just crossed. Where did this rushing river come from? That was when we realized a flash flood was around!

    In the few minutes the water rose at a fast speed. Now there were no big stones to be seen-only what looked like lumps（隆起）covered with rushing water. We had no choice but to move our way back carefully in the rushing water -in flip-flops. We had crossed the stream not once or twice, but six times in search of a waterfall that we never even reached!

    With most of the crossings, we needed each other's help if we didn't want to be washed away by water. Wet all over, we felt relaxed after we made the last crossing.

    "My dad always told me to keep off a river when travelling in the rain." Josh said as we hurried back down the path.

    "Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" I laughed.

    "Would it have made a difference?" came the reply.

    He had a point.

    Alan is in Class Two, Grade Seven. He is 12. His English teacher is Mr. Smith. He is English. His daughter is May. She is 13. Alan and May are good friends. They go to the same school. But they are not in the same class. They like playing sports. After class, they often play ping-pong with their friends. This is May's school ID card. Its number is 2707893. Is that Alan's school ID card?

    No, he can't find his school ID card. If you find it, please call Alan at 3462828. Thanks!

    Then Alice saw a small glass table. There was a little golden key on it. She picked it and put it in all the locks on the doors but it didn't open any of them. She moved a curtain on one of the walls and discovered another door, a very small one. She put the key in the lock. It was exactly the right size! She opened the door and looked through it. At the end of a low passage she saw a beautiful garden. It was full of brightly coloured flowers and fountains.

    "Oh, how beautiful!" she said. "I'd love to go there but I'm too big to get through the door."

    She walked back to the table. There was a bottle on it now.

    "I'm sure that bottle wasn't there before," she said, a little confused.

    She put down the key and picked up the bottle. She read the words "DRINK ME" on it. Alice wasn't a stupid girl. She didn't drink it immediately. First she looked at the bottle carefully. There wasn't a label on it that said "POISON".

    So she put the bottle to her lips and drank.

    "Mmm, ifs nice," she said. It tasted like cherry tart, pineapple, roast turkey and toast-all the things that she liked to eat-so she drank some more. And some more. Soon the bottle was empty.

    "What a curious feeling," she said. "I'm getting smaller and smaller.'" It was true! She was now as small as her cat Dinah.

    "Good! I can go through the door into the garden," she said. But, poor Alice! When she got to the door, she didn't have the key! It was on the table. She couldn't reach it because she was too small now. She sat down and cried.

    After a while she said, "Alice! Stop crying! Crying doesn't help! Dry your tears immediately!"

    When she looked at the table again, she saw a small glass box under it. She picked it up and opened it. There was a small cake inside. It had the words "EAT ME" on it. She put a small piece of it in her mouth.

    "If I grow bigger I can reach the key," she thought. "And if I grow smaller I can go under the door."

    But nothing happened so she finished it.   

    Calabash brothers(葫芦娃兄弟) live in the Calabash Mountain with their grandfather. They are all very brave. They wear different clothes. The red calabash is the other six brothers 'elder brother. He is powerful. His body can be bigger or smaller. But he doesn't have his own ideas. The orange calabash has enhanced hearing and sight. He can see and hear far places clearly. The yellow calabash's body is very strong. Nothing can injure(伤害)him, but he is arrogant(傲慢的). The green calabash is the god of fire. He can eat fire and make fire. The cyan(青色的) calabash can drink water and make flood. The blue calabash is the cleverest of all. Nobody can find him when he makes himself invisible. And the purple calabash has a magic gourd(葫芦). The gourd can absorb(吸收) everything.

    One day a pangolin(穿山甲) broke the cave and two monsters came out.

    They were Monster Scorpion(蝎子精) and Monster Snake. The calabash brothers must fight with them and save the world. Unluckily, their grandfather who helped them beat the monster, was killed by the monsters finally.

    My name is Alan. I'm 12. I am English. My English teacher is Ms. Green, Her daughter is Helen. She is 13. Helen and I are good friends. This is Helen's school ID card. Its number is A-207789. My school ID card number is A-308828. I lost my school ID card this morning. I must find it. If you find it, please call me at 031—5655. You can e mail me at alan@163.com, too.