Once upon a time, there was a boy called Tom. He liked to do everything, but except for one thing – reading.
He didn’t like reading books because he thought that reading was time consuming and boring. His parents and teachers had advised him to try to read but he was too stubborn. No one could convince him.
Soon, his mum told him the advantages of reading and invited him to read with her. Tom rejected her invitation with his eyes kept gluing onto the computer screen. His mum sighed and decided to think of an idea to help Tom.
One day, his mum said, ‘Tom, try to read five books. If you don’t, you will regret because you will be punished.’ Tom was very scared but he still wasn’t willing to read. At last, he was punished and the punishment was reading ten more books! He knew the seriousness of not following his mum’s orders and it would be more horrible if he didn’t read.
To avoid the same event happening, he went to the library and read ten books grumbling non-stop, though.
During the process of reading, Tom found that reading was actually interesting. He enjoyed reading very much and finished all ten books in only a month!
Of course, he wasn’t punished by his mum again, but he received a gift. It was a story-book! In the past, he would say angrily, ‘I don’t like it!’ and then ran away.
But this time, he put on a smiling face and said happily, ‘Hurray! I like it! Thank you, mum.’ It was a big difference and it shocked his mum. His mum was pleased and gratified as her plan was successful.
Since then, Tom had gone to the library very often and borrowed a few books each time. As he read more and more books, his academic results improved quickly. He was praised by his teachers. He finally found out why his mum was so cruel to him. Yes, she had got to be cruel to be kind.
Lam Cheuk Wing Cherry
2C 2014-15