When Jae came home from school, he couldn' t find his keys. " What now? I can' t just sit out here," he thought. His parents wouldn' t be home for an hour. Just then, Ron, the man who lived next door, was coming. He asked Ron if he could stay at his room to wait for his parents. Ron agreed. Inside, Jae saw a baseball on a shelf (架子).
Ron smiled when he saw Jae looking at it. " That one was signed (签名) by the Minnesota Twins, right after the World Series in1987," he said.
" Dad takes me to their games sometimes," Jae said. " Where did you get this?"
" I was a professional umpire (裁判) for thirty years," Ron answered.
Jae' s eyes widened. " An umpire? In the 1980? Did you met. . . " He began to ask Ron questions one after another. Ron told Jae a lot about past players.
When it was time for Jae to go home, he asked Ron, " Can I come again?" " Sure," Ron said. " Wow, losing my keys turned out okay," Jae thought.
The next day at school, Jae searched his desk, " Oh, no. Not again! " he groaned (叹息). " Need help?" asked Martina, a new classmate.
" Yes, I' ve lost my dinosaur book," Jae said.
" Wow! That' s the same book that I use! " Jae exclaimed.
" Are you into dinosaur, too?" " What' s your favorite?" " . . . " They kept talking. After school, they went to the park to play catch with Jae' s favorite baseball. " Martina' s pretty cool," Jae thought.
The next morning was Saturday, Jae wanted to do some throwing practice, but he couldn' t find his baseball. " Can we go to the park to look for my baseball?" Jae asked his mom.
At the park, they saw a homeless dog playing with something. It was Jae' s baseball. " Mom, look! " Jae said. " Doesn't he look like he needs a home?"
His mother smiled. " Yes, he does," she said. " He' ll be your responsibility, though. " Jae nodded excitedly and picked him up.
" What a week! " Jae thought to himself. " I lost my keys, my book, and my baseball, but every time I lost something, I got a friend. "
