We all know a story similar to this: Two Men and a Bear.In the forest, when a bear attacked them, the thinner man quickly climbed up tothe top of a tree and forgot his promise to the fatter guy, who could not climbthe tree. Luckily, the fatter man saved himself. The fatter mat was verydisappointed, and when they got together again, he said to the thinner man, Youare not my real friend. Only a friend in need is a friend indeed. This is avery familiar story. It illustrates to us what a friend should be like.

Itis, however, just a story. I would like to tell you something about myself, mytrue feelings. When I was in Senior One, I had great difficulty in learninglanguage subjects. I was unable to understand the teacher and I could not dothe exercises or the homework. I believed that I was stupid and could not learnanything. The sky was gray and the grass was yellow those days. Everything wasa mess in my brain. My classmate, a good student, whom I only considered as oneof the classmates before, came to me with a smile. She told me that if I neededhelp, she would like to help me. As she was also very busy with her studies, Iasked myself, Could she help me? Several days later, I knew the answer. Yes,she could. She did as much as she could. She made time every day to help me solvethe problems and showed me many good ways to study language arts. Her patienceand earnest nature touched me deeply. I worked very hard and my progress wasreflected in my examination result. I appreciated her help very much and wantedto thank her. When I looked at her, once again she smiled at me with anencouraging and congratulatory look. At that moment I understood that a truefriend should be like this.

Nowadays,it seems that there are many ways of expressing friendship. Our lives aregenerally better. People now have more time to consider and be more concernedabout their lives. Money, which is considered to be of prime importance, makesit difficult to find true friendship. Is friendship only greeting each other onmeeting? Is friendship only drinking and eating together? Is friendship onlylending money to each other? No, a friend Should be a person you trust andunderstand. A friend should be a person who tastes happiness and bitternesswith you. A friend should be a person who can give you confidence andencouragement.

Thougheverything has changed, and friendship has scores of definitions, I stillbelieve, and I will believe forever that A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed.