"Wow!" said Susan. "I have finished my homework and I'm going to paint a picture of our stairs (楼梯). It's for a competition in school tomorrow."
"Do you need any help?" her father asked. "It's almost time for bed."
"I'll be quick," said Susan. "I wonder what color to use."
"Well, our stairs are brown." said her father. "Thanks, Dad." said Susan.
When she finished her picture, Susan began playing with her brush which was still wet. Suddenly, She dropped the brush right on the picture! There in the middle of her picture was a blob (污点) of brown paint!
"Oh, Dad! What will I do?" Susan cried. "My picture is ruined. And it's too late to paint another."
"Let me see," said her father. "The blob looks just like a spot on a dog. All you have to do is to draw a dog around the spot!"
"That's a wonderful idea!" cried Susan. She drew a dog around the blob of brown paint. "That looks just fine. You know, few things are as bad as they are seen at first. With a little imagination you can turn bad into good." said Susan's father.
The next day Susan went to school early. When the competition began, Mr. King said, "I've chosen three pictures, and I want you to say which one you like best." The children did not like the first one. The next picture was on black paper, but the stairs were red. So it was not so good. Then Mr. King showed the third painting. It was Susan's!
"The stairs are straight." said Joe.
"Yes, and the brown paint shows up well on the white paper." said Lucy.
"The little dog seems to belong there." said Terry.
The children voted (投票) and Susan's painting won.
"Susan had a good idea," Mr. King said. "That little dog finished a good painting. It made the stairs seem real."
Susan smiled. She could hardly wait to tell her father the news. He was right. With a little imagination you can turn something bad into something good!
