scold by the teacher, Tom invented a story to explain why he was late.(scare)

    I remember believing in Santa when I was a very young girl. However, as I grew older, I learned many 1 that “proved” his nonexistence. Always 2 by nature, I was determined to use 3 to decide whether Santa Claus was 4

    The first year of tests5 when I was 5. I decided that if I 6 all night on Christmas Eve, I could see if Santa really came down the chimney. 7,that was a useless 8. I fell asleep that year, and when I woke up, I saw a 9wrapped present under the10.

    At age 7, I came up with another test to see if Santa was real. That year, I didn't send out my Christmas letter to Santa because I wanted 11 for Christmas, but this turned into a plot. By then, I 12 knew Santa wasn't real, but I wanted enough 13 to support this. That year was 14, because on Christmas Eve, my mother dragged me to our local Wal-Mart and led me around the toy section. I 15 to say a word, but did let my eyes 16 on a ballet set. I 17 that “Santa” wouldn't know what I wanted because he shouldn't be able to read my 18. However, mother would know everything that caught my eyes in the store. If I got the ballet set the next morning, I would have my evidence. Christmas morning, there was the ballet set, sitting under the tree again. 19 I didn't use it much, mother ended up returning it a few days later. She 20 Santa was generous enough to leave a receipt. That was the end to my task to discover the existence of Santa.

    I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

    “Mom，come here！There's this lady here my size！”

    The mother rushed to her son；then she turned to me to apologize. I smiled and told her，“It's okay.”

    Then I talked to the boy，“Hi，I'm Darryl Kramer. How are you？”

    He studied me from head to toe，and asked，“Are you a little mommy？”

    “Yes，I have a son，” I answered.

    “Why are you so little？” he asked. “It's the way I was born，”I said.“ Some people are little. Some are tall. I'm just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions，I shook the boy's hand and left.

My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

    It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall .I was born an achondroplasia dwarf(侏儒)．Despite this，I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

    I didn't realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me，calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

    But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height，I made up for in personality.

    I'm 47 now，and the stares have not diminished as I've grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude，I remind myself，“Look what else I have－a great family，nice friends.”

    It's the children's questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers(a person of the same age，class，position，etc.)，whatever size and shape they come in，and treat them with respect.