It is beyond us why our class director should arrange for the girls to take out the rubbish. The dustbin, as you know, is smelly and hefty.

Yesterday no girls wanted to do the chore except Jiajia and me. As we were carrying the bin out of the classroom building, a woman with long gloves on asked if she could pick the plastic bottles out of the container. Those bottles, which are recyclable, could be traded for cash. She seemed to be one of the cleaning ladies employed by the school. We agreed. After all the bottles were removed, she asked, “Girls, do you want to use my wheelbarrow?”

I thought it was not a bad deal, so I followed her and got it. Painted red and blue, the wheelbarrow looked cool. I had never used such a thing before. So eager was I to try my hand at it that I decided to go on my own instead of doing it with Jiajia, who had just returned to the classroom to fetch something.

There I went. I pushed the barrow along with great delight, imagining I was the coolest person under the sun.

However, on the way there was a short flight of steps leading to Bamboo Path. I stopped, wondering how I could sail down the steps. I was cautiously nudging the barrow down them when it got out of hand and, crash! The bin rolled off the barrow and all the contents were spilled out on the path. It happened in such a blink that I did not even have time to react.

Sad and embarrassed, I went back to the classroom for help. There came four boys. They quickly put everything back in order. Machachong even helped me to navigate the barrow to the dump.

I was deeply moved. Thank you all, guys. I will never forget it.