It all started at boarding school.

I was sent to boarding school at the age of 13 in the hope that I

would excel in my studies. But I was quiet and always got bullied by older kids. Only one person
stood up for me: Sam Berenson. We became best friends and later, we went to the same
university and graduated with honours. We were recruited into a spy agency and soon rose to the
rank of spies.

One day, we were assigned a covert operation - to retrieve a special hard drive containing
information of the agency's agents which was stolen by rebels a couple of weeks ago. We packed
our bags and were soon on our way to the drop site.

The helicopter dropped us off at the drop zone and we parachuted down into the compound. Some
rebel soldiers were patrolling around the compound. We slipped past them and headed towards the
safe, where the hard drive was located. I connected the decryption device to the safe lock and
proceeded to unlocking the safe.

"Let's just grab the hard drive and get out of here," I whispered to Sam. He nodded and drew his
gun as a precaution. After unlocking the safe, I grabbed the hard drive just before rebels stormed
into the room.

"Hands on your heads," they yelled and we did as told. The rebel leader approached us.

"Give back the hard drive," he hissed at me.

I hesitated. Suddenly, Sam pointed his gun at me and said, "Do as he says."

"What do you think you're doing?" I hissed at him, very much surprised.

"The rebels offer better perks then the agency does. Besides, it won't be around much longer once
we eliminate all its agents," he grinned at me. He yanked the hard drive from me and handed it
over to the rebel leader, who put it back into the safe.

"Kill him," the rebel leader instructed but Sam said, "No. Let me do it." He dragged me out of the
compound and to the extraction zone. "Forgive me, William," he said and shot me in the stomach.
I fell onto the dirt as he walked off into the night. I fumbled for my radio and said, "Agent down.
Need help," before blacking out.

The next thing I knew, I was in the sick bay with my boss next to me. "We're getting ready for a
full assault by the rebels. Agent Berenson defected to them," he said.

"I know," I said, pointing to my bandages.

"Our field agents have been compromised. Most were taken down by Berenson himself," he started
just as an agent burst into the room.

"They've started the attack," he panted and both of them quickly left the room. I heard gunshots
coming from the hallway and I painfully stood up and grabbed my jacket. I stumbled into the
hallway where many agents were shooting at the rebels. Many rebels fell but so did the agents. I
staggered past many bodies before I heard a voice saying, "Kill the rogue agent. He has no further
use to us," and I heard a gunshot.

I hid as the rebels came round the corner and when they came near, I shot them down. I went to
where Sam lay and tried to help him up. "After what I did, you came back for me," he mumbled.
"That's what friends are for," I said and he placed his hand on my shoulder. "They've planted a
bomb which is bound to blow any minute in the basement. Disable it," he choked and he closed his
eyes. I laid him down gently and went down to the basement. I disabled the bomb and after hours
of bloodshed, we finally won.
Even though Sam betrayed us, he was given a decent burial. I laid my hand on the coffin and said,
"Rest in peace now, my friend." Then, I left.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Describe how a friend helped you in difficult time.

The first of May last year is indeed a memorable day for me as it is the day
Sarah, my best friend, lent me a helping hand in a difficult time.
Since that day was a public holiday, Sarah came to my house so that we could do
our geography project together. As the saying goes, two heads are better than
one. My parents had gone out to attend to some urgent business then. While we
were busy doing our project, my younger brother Liam was playing outside our
house. All of a sudden, Sarah and I heard Liam screaming in pain. Astonished to
hear the scream, we ran out of the house to check on him. To our horror, Liam
had fallen into the drain outside our house. As the drain was quite deep, he was
having trouble getting out of it.
Panick-stricken, I did not know what to do and felt like crying. Just when I was
about to cry, Sarah calmed me down. She suggested that she would call the
ambulance and I would call my parents. I nodded in agreement. As promised, she
called an ambulance at once while I called my parents. Upon knowing what had
transpired, my parents were extremely anxious about Liam. They decided to
come home immediately.
While we were waiting for the arrival of the ambulance, Sarah and I talked to
Liam and comforted him. Seated on the bottom of the drain, Liams legs seemed
to be in great pain. He begged us to take him out. As much as I wanted to help
him, Sarah advised me against it. She said it was better to let the paramedics lift
him out as he might be suffering from broken bone injuries and we might
deteriorate the condition. I believed Sarah was right and felt really sorry for Liam,
who was crying bitterly. Sarah ensured him that help would arrive soon. To
distract him and alleviate his sufferings, she told him humorous stories.
Not long after, an ambulance arrived and so did my parents. The paramedics did
their job in a professional manner and lifted Liam out of the drain without injuring
him any further. He was then rushed to hospital. After my father had driven the
rest of us to hospital, the doctor informed us that both of Liams legs were
broken and he had to be hospitalised for treatment. But since he was young, his
legs should recover quickly with no permanent damage. Our tension were
assuaged by the doctors report and we heaved a sigh of relief.

I conveyed my gratitude to Sarah for her help. She said that was what friends
were for - both good times and bad times. Her assistance strengthened our
friendship ties and we hope to remain as best friends forever.
 Write a story ending with: "... Now I realise the value of a true friend."

We sat behind a desk, Professor Painswick yelling at us.

"Do you understand what you have to do?" she screamed at us, the chandelier practically shaking
with the vibration of her voice.

"Yes, professor," we answered dully as I was staring down at my feet.

We had turned the library upside down in a fight this afternoon. I was looking for books when a
whole pile of them fell on top of me. It turned out that Lewis had pushed them and he grinned at
me from above as I struggled to free myself from the books. When he had got down, in a rage I
smashed him into a bookshelf and it came tumbling down. The other bookshelves too went down
like skittles as we watched in horror. The other students had run out in panic.

We were caught red-handed by the librarian, Professor Painswick, who later ordered us to clean
and tidy up the entire library as a punishment.

"And remember boys, no help allowed," she grinned as she slammed the door behind her. We
stared at the massive pile of books underneath and around the bookshelves.

"Why did you try to bury me under a pile of books?" I yelled at Lewis.

"You're too serious, Trent. Learn to let loose a little," he grinned just as the door was flung open.
Our friends, Sally and Rachel stood in the doorway and stared at the scene around us.

"Wow, what a wreck!" Sally giggled as they walked into the room.

"Yeah, and we have until dinner to clean it all up. That leaves us around three hours," I said.

"That's why we're here," she said and started to pick up the books. "She didn't say that we can't
help you, did she? Professor Painswick has always been strict about the cleanliness and tidiness of
her library. And you boys are not at all helpful about them," Rachel said as she started to sort out
a pile of books. We stood there, unaware of what to do and Rachel looked up from her pile of
books.

"Well, aren't you going to help us?" she asked and we quickly got to work. Lewis and I cooperated
to put the bookshelves back to their upright positions. Then, we helped the girls with the books.
After we had sorted out the books according to their numbers and alphabets, Sally arranged them
neatly back on their shelves. After nearly three hours, we lay sprawled on the chairs, glancing
around our work. All the books had been arranged neatly on their shelves and the girls had even
vacuumed the library and cleaned the furniture.

"Girls," I muttered and Lewis nodded in agreement. Sally and Rachel flung themselves on the
chairs next to us and sighed.

"Finally, we're done," Rachel said, yawning and stretching. Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming
from the hallway. "You girls had better disappear," I said and they ran and hid behind a bookshelf
at the back. The professor walked into the library and glanced around.

"Nice job," she said and we sighed in relief. "Now you'd better get out of my sight," she snarled
and pointed towards the door. While we were running out, we heard her muttering to herself about
teenage boys who were finally able to do a proper job.
"That's a miracle," Sally said as she and Rachel caught up with us, after they had exited via the
back door. "Thanks a lot," I said and they smiled at us. "Let's go for a drink," Lewis suggested. As
we were walking down the hallway, I could not help but think, "Now I realise the value of a true
friend."