Money and Grandma

Agnes Huang

Words Checked: 2763

Words in Oxford 3000: 95%

Synopsis

Since few weeks ago, Susie started to secretly unlock the door of her grandparents’ bedroom when they were outside working hard on the farm. She went into the room and took away some coins from her grandparents’ piggybank. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins did not notice that because they thought they have given the sisters enough allowance. In order not to hurt Susie, Cindy never told other people the doings Susie had done. Soon Mrs. Higgins detected the missing money, but she chose to keep it a secret and gave Susie a chance to amend.

Contents Chapter 1 School Life……….……….1 Chapter 2 Divorce…………………...9 Chapter 3 No One Knows…….........17 Chapter 4 A Big Change….…...........30 Chapter 5 Love……………..…........36

Chapter 1 School Life

“Good students won’t cheat, and

always do the right thing,” said the

teacher, Mrs. White. It was 9 a.m. now,

and Susie was chatting with her friends

stealthily, hardly noticing that the

teacher was lecturing. During the break,

there were always people around her

laughing happily, telling jokes and

sharing interesting things together.

1

Susie was an enthusiastic girl. One

time in Physical Education class, one of

her classmates, Abby, fell and seriously

twisted her ankle when shooting a ball

at the goal during a soccer game. Abby

sat on the ground and began to cry

because she could not walk and her

2

ankle hurt very much. The other

students were still enjoying playing

soccer and hardly noticed that Abby was

hurt.

“Are you OK? Let me take you to

the health center,” Susie said sadly.

“No! Go away!” Abby cried.

Abby was a very mean girl in

Susie’s class. She never accepted other

people’s help and neither helped others.

“Come on! I don’t want to see you

crying loudly as if someone is bullying

3

you.”

Susie took care of her for the rest of

the PE class.

Mrs. White dismissed the class on

time and asked, “Any volunteer to help

me erase the black board?”

Susie did not say a word and just

stood up and walked to the front and

erased the board. Also, people

surrounded her at her desk after she

finished the job. There were Rosa,

Debby, Tina, Peggy, Beatrice and also

4

Abby. “Friends” play essential roles at

Susie’s age, even though they argued,

fought, and scolded each other, their

friendship always seemed strong. Every

weekend they went to the library

together. No matter how hard their

homework was, Susie could always

figure out the answers.

“What is the capital of California?”

Beatrice asked.

“LA?” Tina said.

“No! It’s Sacramento,” Susie

5

answered confidently. She was so

brilliant and intelligent. Winning a

scholarship every semester has never

been a problem for Susie.

After school Susie went back home

and changed from her uniform into

casual clothes. They were going to see a

movie.

6

“Where are you going, Susie?”

asked Grandma.

“To the movies with my friends,”

replied Susie. Grabbing her bag she

hurried to the gate to wait for her friends

to pick her up. She was out of

Grandma’s sight and disappeared.

“Come back soon or I will lock the door

and then you won’t be able to get in!”

shouted Grandma loudly towards the

front door, but Susie was already gone.

Every time people invited her

7

somewhere to go, she always said “yes”

without thinking. Playing billiards,

going to amusement arcade, night

markets and shopping were all her free

time activities with her friends, both

boys and girls. That she was confident,

outgoing and easygoing made her very

popular among her friends.

8

Chapter 2 Divorce

In 2001, Susie’s father’s factory

closed down because of the economic

depression. Many companies laid off

employees and unfortunately, Susie’s

father, John Higgins, was one of the

victims of this disaster. He had been in

the business of selling cars for three

years. However, he lost his job and

could not find another one for a long

time. Day after day John became poor

9

and could not afford Susie’s tuition, so

Susie and her sister, Cindy, were sent to

live with their grandparents in the

countryside.

Since Susie’s dad had no job, he

had stayed at home all day long and

dillydallied.

“I can’t endure seeing you so

10

discouraged,” cried Susie’s mother,

Sonia.

Sonia had been seeing her husband

doing nothing and being an idle man for

nearly a whole year. They quarreled

every day and one time she ran into the

kitchen, picked up a dish and threw it at

John. That dish cut him and the injury

left a scar on his face.

“You bitch! You could have killed

me!” shouted John. “How dare you! You

must be on something.”

11

“I don’t want a husband like you!

No job, no money, not care about our

kids and me! I think there’s no love

between us anymore.”

A few days after that big fight, they

divorced.

The pressure from their family was

12

too hard to handle. Everything was out

of control. Sonia had been seeking a

happy family, but now it seemed that

was an unrealizable dream.

She married John when she was

nineteen. At that time, they were a sweet

couple in everyone’s eyes. Due to the

fact that Sonia became pregnant when

she was twenty, they married. John was

twenty six then. On the one hand,

maybe it was too young for them to start

a family. Five years later, quarrels and

13

arguments between them became more

frequent. No one could predict what

would happen next. On the other hand,

they didn’t really understand each other.

Sonia sought freedom and still wanted

to have more fun in her life. Therefore,

these elements accelerated their divorce.

Cindy and Susie were very little

when their mother left them. John

insisted that he should have

guardianship. Since then, the two little

girls lived without a mother till they

14

grew up.

“Why did mom leave?” little Susie

asked her dad one day.

“Your mother doesn’t love me

anymore,” said John. He looked so sad

and emaciated. Wearing short pants and

flip-flops he walked around the house as

if he was thinking about some important

things. “From now on, you two have to

study hard and learn how to be

independent,” John said seriously.

“Without mother we still can live

15

very well. You still have grandma and

grandpa and they will take care of you,

too. So don’t worry.”

16

Chapter 3 No one knows

Since their parents’ divorce, Susie

and Cindy moved to their grandparents’

house. Everything was fine. Every

morning Grandma woke them up and

bought them breakfast before 6.30. And

then at 7.30 Grandpa would drive them

to school. Susie and Cindy’s

grandparents were just like their real

parents. Everyday both Susie and Cindy

were given 100 dollars as pocket money

17

to use freely.

“When you’re hungry, you can buy

something to eat,” reminded Grandma.

Grandma cleaned the table they had

just used and put the garbage into the

trash can. Susie grabbed her schoolbag

and ran towards Grandpa’s car. Grandpa

was hurrying her. It was already 7.10.

Finally, they arrived at school in time.

“Take out your homework,” said

Mrs. White.

“Oh! I left it at home,” Susie

18

murmured to herself.

“Where’s your homework?”

“Sorry, I forgot to bring it. Last

night after I finished it, I put it on the

desk waiting for my father to sign.”

“And then?”

“He came back very late so I went

to bed and I think it is still on the desk,”

answered Susie.

Mrs. White was very angry. “I will

call your dad later,” she said.

Actually, it was not because Susie’s

19

dad didn’t sign his name and check her

homework. Instead, yesterday after she

came back from school, she went out

with her friends and totally forgot that

she had homework to do. At night she

watched TV with Grandma and Grandpa

till eleven o’clock then she went to

sleep.

20

Susie was only twelve years old.

She enjoyed her school life and the

happy times with her friends. “I love to

be with all of you guys,” Susie said to

Tina and Beatrice. It was break time

now.

“What do you want to eat for

21

lunch?” asked Abby.

“Spaghetti and pizza!” said Susie.

“I want to eat dumplings,” Rosa

said.

“Fried rice!” said Debby.

“Susie, pizza is too expensive. We

can not afford it,” said everyone.

“That’s fine. I will treat you to

lunch.”

That day they all had pizza and

Coke for lunch and of course, Susie paid

the bill.

22

At 4.00 in the afternoon, Susie got

home. Surprisingly, there was no one in

the house. Cindy hadn’t come back yet.

Grandma and Grandpa were out

working on the farm, tending to dragon

fruit, bananas and rice they have planted

for over ten years.

23

They always came back home

around six o’clock.

Susie was bored because she had

nothing to do. She didn’t want to do her

homework, even though Mrs. White had

called her father this morning and found

out that Susie made up a lie when she

24

didn’t do her homework. She walked

around in the house, trying to think of

something to do.

All of a sudden, she saw a drawer. It

was the drawer of her grandfather’s

desk. She remembered that every

morning before Grandma gave them

100 dollars as pocket money. Her

grandma would walk to the desk, pull

out the drawer and take out a little pink

box.

“This is the box,” Susie thought.

25

Because of her curiosity, she

secretly took it out and opened the box.

“There are a lot of coins here!”

whispered Susie.

For a little twelve-year-old girl, she

had never seen so much money.

Compared with the money in her little

piggybank, those coins were ten times

more than hers. “If I have this money, I

can buy gifts for my girl friends and

treat them to lunch again,” she thought.

“They would think that I am very

26

generous and nice and they will want to

be my best friends forever.” So she took

three fifty dollars coins and then put the

little box back inside the drawer.

She put the coins that she stole from her

grandparents into her piggybank. At 6

o’clock Grandma and Grandpa came

27

back and Cindy returned as well. They

had dinner together and watched TV.

Everything was the same as before.

One day in the afternoon, Susie was

at home alone again. This time, she

wanted to see what on earth was in her

grandparents’ bedroom. Without their

permission, she took the key from a

drawer and opened the door. Of course

her grandparents were working on the

farm as well.

Their room was quite big, and there

28

was a bathroom inside. She didn’t plan

to look for anything, but as she was

about to leave she saw a piggybank.

That’s her grandparents’ piggybank. It

was put on the corner of a dressing table.

She walked closer and wanted to see if

that was a real piggybank that had

money inside.

“I found a piggybank!” she

whispered to herself. As usual, she took

away some coins from that piggybank

and then put it back onto the desk.

29

Chapter 4 A Big Change

People are usually punished if they

do something wrong, including Susie.

After so many times stealing money

from her grandparents, she felt uneasy

about doing that. She needed someone

to tell her what to do because she knew

that she was now a thief. Thieves were

usually put into jail for a couple of years

and everyone hated them. She was so

fearful of being caught by the police, so

30

she thought that maybe sharing the

money with Cindy could make it not so

serious.

“Do you want something to eat?

I’m going to the convenience store and

get some cookies and drinks,” asked

Susie.

“OK. Buy me a pack of Lays and a

bottle of Coke,” Cindy said.

“That’s all?”

“Yes, I’m not hungry at all. I just

want to have something in my mouth.”

31

Little Susie believed that Grandma

would give the money to them as

allowance anyway so she just took it

earlier before Grandma gave it to her.

This had always been her excuse to

deceive herself.

For many days Susie could not

sleep well. Finally, she could hardly put

up with that any longer. She made up

her mind to tell her elder sister.

32

That night, the two little girls had a

very long discussion about how to solve

this problem. Susie felt really sorry

about what she had been doing.

“I think you should tell Grandma

the truth,” Cindy suggested.

“NO! What if she tells our father

then he will punish me,” Susie shouted

33

loudly.

“But you did that already and soon

Grandma will find that the money is

gone.”

“I know I was wrong and I promise

I won’t do this anymore.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Cindy asked seriously.

“I have no idea. Surely I have to put

the money back because it originally

doesn’t belong to me,” answered Susie.

“And?”

34

“Maybe after I return all of it back

to the little box and their piggybank, I

will……”

“You should apologize to them and

confess to stealing their money.”

Susie had never thought to let

somebody down because she was

always the good student in other

people’s eyes. She got good grades, had

lots of friends, and everyone liked her.

But why did this happen? No one

knows!

35

Chapter 5 Love

This world was full of love.

Because of love, people could be

forgiven. Especially the love from the

family. They love you so they don’t hurt

you.

36

“Before Grandma finds out the truth,

I won’t tell her that it was you who took

the money,” claimed Cindy.

“Thank you. This has been a

four-month-long secret I have been

keeping. It’s really hard to confess, but I

know I have to.”

Cindy chose to keep it a secret for

Susie because she realized that everyone

made mistakes, once they know she was

wrong, everything is going to be fine.

The scorching summer sun shone

37

high up in the sky. Grandma was busy

making lunch in the kitchen.

Susie looked at her grandma and

realized how hard she and Grandpa

worked in order to raise her and Cindy.

Grandma was already sixty four

38

years old and Grandpa was already sixty

one. Both of them still planted fruit and

rice and had to go to work on the farm

everyday. Grandma was humpbacked.

Since Cindy and Susie came to the

house, she had been playing the role as

their mother. However, she was their

Grandma actually. Waking them up,

preparing breakfast, driving them to

school, paying their tuition, cooking

them dinner and taking care of them had

all become their grandparents’

39

responsibilities.

“Grandma, I want to tell you

something,” Susie said, sounded

ashamed.

“Go ahead! I’m listening.”

From the beginning to the end,

Susie confessed to Grandma clearly that

she stole their money. At first, of course,

Grandma was quite angry.”

“I didn’t know what was wrong

with me at that time. Because of my

curiosity and greed, I took the money

40

away and shared it with Cindy. But it

had nothing to do with Cindy,”

explained Susie.

“My dear, actually, I am quite proud

of you. People make mistakes. But

remember, you will be forgiven if you

are honest.”

Meanwhile, Susie was crying sadly,

but also with a little happiness. Finally,

she could reveal the secret that had

bothered her for such a long time. Now

she felt more comfortable than ever.

41

From then on, Susie learned a

valuable lesson that other people may

have not learned or even never learned

about. Grandma gave her a chance to

mend her ways and also encourage her

to behave well. In addition, in order to

preserve Susie’s self-respect, Grandma

42

decided not to tell her father and didn’t

punish her. Like what I have said,

because of love, everyone can be

forgiven.

43

Acknowledgement

Cover page

http://www.flickr.com/photos/-the-curious-oyster-/35708

35037/

P2.

http://tw.info.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=11647

82409_o8BuK5_max300&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp&x=wrt

P6

http://www.flickr.com/photos/osaru123/2887095205/

P10

http://www.flickr.com/photos/myskyblue/183021336/

44

P12

http://cq.netsh.com/eden/forum/hp_note.php?iHpNoteID

=14964106&iForumID=761651

P21

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiwei/351768900/

P23

http://blog.wayi.com.tw/archiver/2008-04-12.html

P24

http://www.flickr.com/photos/winki_jeff/1024628208/

P27

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vicky_photos/2138355621

/

45

P33

http://edu.people.com.cn/BIG5/1054/3698797.html

P36

http://www.zakka.com.tw/yahooclick/product/LU11201

P38

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparkle609/3080638460/

P42

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggieau_pooh/39643244

1/

46

About The Author

AGNES HUANG is a 5-year junior

college student and majors in English. She is from a single parent family in Tainan, Taiwan and now lives in Kaohsiung.

47

48

Since few weeks ago, Susie started to secretly unlock the door of her grandparents’ bedroom when they were outside working hard on the farm. She went into the room and took away some coins from her grandparents’ piggybank. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins did not notice that because they thought they have given the sisters enough allowance. In order not to hurt Susie, Cindy never told other people the doings Susie had done. Soon Mrs. Higgins detected the missing money, but she chose to keep it a secret and gave Susie a chance to amend.