The situation seemed hopeless.
From the day he started at my junior-high, Willard P. Franklin lived in his own world. He shut out his classmates and 1, his teacher. I tried to set up a friendly relationship with him, but almost failed. Even a "Good Morning, Willard" 2 only a very low grunt (咕哝). I could see that his classmates got on no better. Willard was completely a lonely boy who seemed to have no 3 to break his barrier (障碍) of silence.
Shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday, we received word of the Christmas collection of money for the poor people in our school area.
"Christmas is a season of 4," I told my students. "There are a few students in the school who might not have a happy holiday season. By contributing(捐) to our Christmas collection, you will 5 to buy food, clothes and toys for these needy people. We start the collection tomorrow. "
When I called for the contribution the next day, I discovered that almost everyone had 6 except Willard P. Franklin. The boy 7 deep into his trousers pockets as he walked up to my desk. Carefully, he dropped two coins into the small box.
"I don't need any milk for lunch," he said very quietly. For a moment, 8 a moment, he smiled. Then he 9 and walked back to his desk.
That night, after school, I took our small collections to the school master. I couldn't help telling him what had happened during the day.
"I may be wrong, 10 I believe Willard might be getting ready to become a part of the world around him," I told the master.
"Yes, I believe it sounds 11," he nodded. "And I think we might do well to have him12 a bit of his world with us. I just received a list of the poor families in our school who most need help through the Christmas collection. Here, take a look at it. "
As I looked at it, I discovered Willard P. Franklin and his family were the top names on the list.
