Henry Wang Hengle, Grade 8, BASIS International School Shenzhen “How are you, Sawyer?” I inquired the dog cheeringly, and he answered back with a hearty bark. At about mid-afternoon, the dog and I reached a cottage by the road and stopped. The cottage was thatched over with straw and there was a neat row of roses planted just on the window sill that beamed and shown with light. The outside of the walls was plastered over with thick white paint that seemed to reflect the sunlight like a precious diamond just discovered and burnished. The house looked very welcoming and friendly. Even though last night’s wanderings were still clear in my mind, I decided to visit the house to relieve the pain in my stomach and probably to get a bit of warmth. “Come,” I said again to the dog, and we walked to the front porch together. Knocking on the wooden front door, I waited in the beam of the afternoon sun together with Sawyer, who pawed anxiously. The front door opened, and an old lady with silver-white hair of about 60 years old appeared. She looked kind, her wrinkled countenance smiling. “She looks rather like my grandma,” I remarked silently to myself. “How are you, my dears? How may I help you?” “Very well, thank you very much,” I rejoined smiling. “Oh, great!” the old lady smiled kindly as she looked at my visage, “May I inquire your name?” “Jack, madam, Jack. And you, madam?” “Oh, just call me Miss Alice, dear,” replied the old lady in turn. “Well, Miss Alice,” I explained, thinking how nice her name sounded, “I am on a journey finding hope for myself and the world.” “Oh dear, what a nice reason to travel, to find hope!” the old lady remarked. “Yes, Miss Alice,” I said, feeling for the first time on this trip and indeed the first time in my life that somebody actually cared for me, “I am on a journey to find hope.” | 