It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. It had not rained in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. If it did not rain soon, we would lose everything. On this day, I witnessed(目睹) a wonder.

    I was making lunch when I saw my 6-year-old son, Billy, walking very slowly toward the woods. Minutes later he came running out again, toward the house. Soon after, I saw him walking toward the woods again. This went on for an hour. Finally I walked out of the house quietly and followed him.

    Billy cupped both hands in front of him as he walked, careful not to drop the water he carried. Leaves slapped his face but he kept walking into the woods. Then I saw an amazing sight. Several large deer stood in front of him. Billy walked right up to them. I saw a tiny baby deer lying on the ground. It was dying of thirst, and it lifted its head with great effort to drink the water in my boy's hands.

    When the water was gone, Billy ran back to the house. I followed him to the tap. Billy opened it and a small trickle(细流) came out. He knelt down, letting the drops slowly fill up his "cup".

Now I understood what was going on. The week before, he tried giving water to our horses but I told him not to waste water. Now when he stood up and turned, I was there in front of him. His eyes filled with tears, "I'm not wasting," he said. I joined him with a small pot of water from the kitchen. I let him walk to the baby deer alone while I stood at the edge of the woods. As tears rolled down my face, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... as if the sky itself was crying.

    O. Henry was an American writer. He wrote lots of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy, he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for a long time, but he learned everything he wanted to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas. There he did different jobs. He first worked in a newspaper, and then he has a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was suspected (被怀疑）. Because of that he was sent into prison（监狱）. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the poor life there. People liked his stories, because although simple(简单), to the reader's surprise, the stories would finish with a sudden change at the end.

    Nick was born with no arms or legs. There was only a small foot on his hip(臀部). He can't do the easiest things like washing his face or brushing teeth, but he can type, pick things up between his toes (脚趾)and even kick a ball.

    Nick grew up in Melbourne, Australia. He wasn't happy at school because his classmates often laughed at him. At the age of 10, he even wanted to kill himself. But later, he changed. He tried to look at good things around him. When he was 17, a friend encouraged(鼓励) him to give speeches. From then on, he began to travel around the world and give talk about his life. He thinks it can help others. Up to now, he was been invited to more than 50 countries and given thousands of talks.

    Now Nick is 32 years old. He lives in California with his wife, Kanae, and their 2-year-old son.

    When you are sad, think of him. At least you have arms and legs.

Unforgettable trip to Shanghai

    I will never forget my school trip to Shanghai. It was so great!

We got there by train. The train ride wasn't boring, because we talked and studied along the way. When we finally got there, it was quite late. I was too tired to call my mom, although I missed her a lot.

    The trip lasted six days. During the first day, I learned how to fold a blanket by myself. On the second and third days, my classmates and I did a lot of things. It rained heavily on the fourth day. We played a game called “Utmost 60 Seconds". It took our group only 41 seconds to finish it. We won the game. I was so excited that I called my mom that day and told her how happy I was. We returned to Changchun on the sixth day.

    My trip to Shanghai was unforgettable (难忘的). I learned how important my mom's love is. I also learned some life skills that I would use for the rest of my life.