The
Wish
KELLY CHANG
CONTENTS Page About the Author……………………….. 1 Introduction …………………………… 2 Chapter 1
The Blind………………… 3
Chapter 2
Slim Hopes………………. 6
Chapter 3
Shock…………………… 11
Chapter 4
New Eyes………………… 15
Chapter 5
Misfortune……………….. 19
Chapter 6
The Wish………………..
Picture References…………………..
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Words checked = [1623] Words in Oxford 3000 = [93%] -1-
About the Author Kelly Chang was born in 1991 and lives in Kaohsiung R.O.C. She is now a fourth year student who majors in English and minors in French at Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages also in Kaohsiung. She likes to read books about relationships between family members. This was her inspiration to help her write her first novel, “The Wish”. It is a story of a men’s life which hopefully will heave a lasting impression on the readers.
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Introduction In a quiet village, Nanwar, life of villagers seems steady and peaceful. Herb, a kind and hard-working boy living in the village, originally had a carefree and a happy
family.
However,
Destiny
is
sometimes cruel. An unexpected accident changed his life‌ This novel belongs to inspirational and motivational and was written in the third person. It is an adaptation of a real story from a friend of the author’s teacher.
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Chapter 1
The Blind
“Help! Help!” a villager shouted, “The Honeys’ house is on fire! Help!” Nanwar, a small village that is located at the foot of Brown Mountain, was especially bustling in this midnight. There was a house on fire and all the villagers were busy putting out the fire. “I am sorry…” Herb seemed to lose his wits after he heard the words coming out from the doctor’s mouth.
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Their house was almost completely engulfed in flames There were only fifty families living in Nanwar and all of them were involved in the farming industry. The Honeys is not an exception. Mr. and Mrs. Honey were pig farmers. They have lived here since their only child, Herb Honey, was born. Herb is a kind and hard-working boy. Originally they had a carefree life and -5-
were the happiest family in the world. However, a sudden fire change their life. Mrs. Honey lost her life in this accident. Although Herb and Mr. Honey were saved, his father was disabled and Herb became blind. “What should I do now?” said Herb when he came back home with his father from the hospital.
Chapter 2
Slim Hope
“Why don’t you go to a big hospital to undergo an operation?” The neighbors -6-
always suggested, “If you have normal vision, you can better your life.” “Well, I know. But I don’t have enough money”, was the fixed answer Herb replied. The fire left a half-destroyed house and a pigpen with thirteen pigs for the Honeys. Thus, their life was in poverty and distress. Herb took on the heavy family responsibility and supported his handicapped father. He started to learn how to be a farmer. For a blind person,
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everything seemed difficult even though it was just a common, easy, simple job. Nevertheless, in order to undergo the operation as soon as possible, Herb never feared
hardship
and
never
became
dejected in learning. With the help of ardent villagers, he overcame many obstacles and was skilled in everything that a pig farmer should do. Also, he gradually became able to function as a blind person. Due to his frugal ways these years,
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Herb had deposited enough money for an operation. One day, Herb was working at his pigpen as usual. He was thinking about the conversation that he had with his doctor. “How about next Thursday? If you have the operation, the success rate is over ninety-nine percent,” said the doctor. “Well, let me take time to consider this. I’ll…” Suddenly, Herb heard someone shouting.
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“Herb, your father fainted! Hurry, hurry to the hospital.” When Herb heard this, he put down his work immediately and rushed to the hospital. Herb’s father scalded himself when he poured himself a cup of tea. He fainted as a result of the wound. “The condition is serious. It will need surgery,” a doctor told Herb. “Doctor, please save my father! PLEASE! PLEASE!” pleaded Herb.
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“Okay, I’ll do my best,” the doctor said. Then, he went to the operation room quickly.
Chapter 3
Shock
It has been seven hours since Mr. Honey was sent into the operation room, but the surgery still proceeded. Herb knelt down and prayed to God for help. One hour later, the door of the operation room opened all of a sudden. A doctor came out and said, “The surgery has been successful. We will send the - 11 -
patient to our intensive care unit because he is still not out of the woods. We need to be cautious about this critical phase. Mr. Honey must be hospitalized a few months for further observation…” Herb went to the intensive care unit to visit his poor father whose body was wrapped in gauze and laid on a hospital bed. Mr. Honey woke up three days after the surgery. Although Herb couldn’t see anything, he still meticulously took care of his father. However, Mr. Honey was
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weaker than before and his condition was getting worse day by day. Herb spent all his saving on caring for his father. “NO! You can’t do this to me…DAD. No, don’t leave me alone!” Mr. Honey eventually left his blind son and died. After holding his father’s funeral, Herb pulled himself together and resumed his job as a pig farmer. He promised himself to be able to see one day. Day after day, Herb was doing the
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same thing: feeding the pigs, talking to the pigs, cleaning the pigpen, and selling pork.
Herb fed his pigs and talked to them everyday. When Herb again deposited two million dollars for the eye operation, it was four years later. Then, he took the money to see the doctor. “Doctor, I have already prepared the
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fee for the operation. Can I undergo an operation immediately?” asked Herb. “I am sorry, Mr. Honey. According to the report of your physical examination, your optic nerves are dead.” “Do you mean the operation is impossible? So…I will be blind forever,” Herb murmured with a calm voice. “I am sorry, Mr. Honey. Your decision has come too late.”
Chapter 4
New Eyes
Herb was extremely depressed when - 15 -
he knew his eyes couldn’t be fully recovered even if he had an operation. He started to abandon his pigpen, his hope and also himself. He secluded himself from other people and lived unhappily and depressingly everyday. “Hello, anyone at home?” a girl asked gently standing in front of Herb’s house. Herb answered and went to open the door. “Query, are you Herb Honey?” asked the girl. “Yes…who are…you?” Herb said.
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“Hi, my name is Josie. Nice to meet you, Mr. Honey.” As a matter of fact, one of Herb’s neighbors wrote his story and sent it to a broadcasting station. Josie is an active, clever and optimistic girl. Although she is a cripple, she never feels inferior. One day, when she was listening to the broadcast, she was touched by Herb’s story and decided to help him. “I work in the Government Social Welfare Department. I come here to help
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you and be your friend,� Josie said with a bog smile. Josie visited Herb, and chatted with him everyday thereafter. Sometimes they would have an intimate talk. Because of these daily conversations, these two people discovered that they had congenial tastes and their relationship was getting warmer and closer day by day. Finally, they fell in love with each other and then decided to get married. They held a simple marriage. Josie
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became Herb’s wife and also his new eyes tolerate all his sadness and brought him new hope.
Chapter 5
Misfortune
In the house of these newlyweds, the air was full of happiness everyday. The wife was like an angel; she prepared the meals for her family and meticulously took care of her husband. Herb felt he was the happiest husband in the world. They had three cute, clever, and healthy
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children. The Honeys lived in comfort for years. “With this happy and easy life, what more can I ask for from life!” Herb always soliloquized complacently. Nonetheless, the human’s fate was sometimes inevitable and cruel. “Sweet, you can’t … you can’t do this to me. No…NO! I can’t live without you!”
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Josie often accompanied Herb to take a walk. Last month, the village was flooded from a sudden downpour. The broken glass cut Josie’s leg when she walked in the water, so she was infected with a contagious disease. Herb took his wife to many hospitals to cure the illness, but his efforts to save his wife’s life were futile. After Josie died, the Honeys life - 21 -
became hard and miserable. “Herb, keeping a child is more difficult than keeping a pig. Why don’t you send your children to an orphanage? This is the best way for you and your children,”
the
neighbors
suggested
sympathetically. “Should
I
send
them
to
an
orphanage?” Herb asked himself.
Chapter 6
The Wish
“Herb, after I die, you need to look
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after our children well. Even though life will be hard, you can’t send them to an orphanage.” “Okay….I won’t send them to an orphanage… I …I promise.” Herb suddenly remembered Josie’s last words. “No, I can’t. I can’t send my children to an orphanage. I have given Josie my promise. I CAN’T!” Thus, every time when someone told Herb to send the children to an orphanage,
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he always replied loudly, “I can’t do this terrible thing. It is unfair to them and I can’t break my promise to my wife.” Caring
for
three
children
single-handedly left this blind man no time for working in his pigpen and causing his life great confusion. Year after year, the innocent and cute three children were growing up. They became docile, kindhearted and filial. Herb moved to the city in order to give his children the opportunity to have a better
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education. “Good night, Dad.” “Good night, my sweet.” Now, this elderly pig farmer only had one wish. He hoped that when his children complete
their
education
and
were
independent, he could come back to Nanwar to live in that house which was full of memories. ~THE END~
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References (cover page picture)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/world/ middleeast/11road.html
(pictures in text)
http://www.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Dads/Mem oirs/1PigPen.jpg
http://www.brunswickme.org/fire/2007.Even ts/scraggislandburn.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tokaris/20733 5658/
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