During the war, my husband was stationed at an army camp in a desert in California. I went to live there in order to be 1 him. I hated the place. I had never 2 been so unhappy. My husband was ordered out on a long-term duty, and I was left in a tiny shack(棚屋) alone. The heat was 3-almost 1250F even in the shade of a cactus(仙人掌).4 a soul to talk to. The wind blew non-stop, and all the food I ate, and the every air I breathed, were 5 with sand, sand, sand!
I was so sorry for myself that I wrote to my parents. I told them I was 6 and coming back home.I said I couldn't stand it one minute longer. I 7 be in prison! My father answered my 8 with just two lines-two lines that will always sing in my 9 - two lines that completely changed my life:
Two men looked out from prison bars
One saw the mud, the other saw the stars
I read thosetwo lines 10 I was ashamed of myself. I made up my mind I would find out what was good in my present 11; I would look for the stars.
I made friendswith the natives, and their 12amazed me. They gave me presents of their favorite artworks which they had 13to sell to tourists. I studied the delightful forms of the cactus .I watched for the desert sunsets, and 14 for seashells that had been left there millions of years ago when the desert had been an ocean 15.
What brought about this 16 change in me? The desert hadn't changed, 17 I had .I had changed my 18. And by doing so, I changed an unhappy experience into the most amazing 19 of my life . I was excited by this new world that I had discovered I had looked out of my self-created prison and 20 the stars.
