(Exposition). One day while walking down the street, Scott saw a large, colorful billboard. The billboard was for a box car derby, a special event where people make their own cars out of wood and race them down a hill.  

    "Wow," Scott said. "That sounds like a lot of fun!"

    Scott needed help to build his wood car for the race. So, he asked his friends Jimmy, Dave, and Stan to build the car with him. His friends agreed to help out, and the boys all got together at Scott's house to began making their car.

    (Conflict) Scott and his friends had never made a wood car before. 

    "Scott, I think we should use an instruction book to help us," Dave said. 

    "No," Scott answered. "I want to make this car my own way, we don't need any instructions."

    But things were not going the way Scott wanted. His friends were having trouble doing what he asked them to do.

    "This car is not at all like how I imagined it would be," Scott said.

    The boys tried to fix their work and make the car look better. But every time one of his friends made a mistake, Scott became more and more frustrated. After a while, Scott was really upset.

    "You guys are no help at all!" Scott shouted. 

    "That's it," Stan said. "We came here to have fun and build a car with you, but you are not treating us fairly."

    "Yeah," Jimmy agreed. "Come on guys, we should just go."

    Then Stan, Dave and Jimmy put down their tools and left without another word.

    (Rising Action) With no car for the race and no friends to help him make one, Scott went inside. 

    "Hi kiddo!" Scott's father said when Scott walked through the door. "How is the car coming along?"

    "Not good dad," Scott answered. 

    Scott's father could tell his son was very upset.

    "Well, what went wrong?" he asked Scott.

    Scott took a moment to think.

    "Well, I wanted to make the car exactly the way I imagined it would be. But, my friends and I did not work together very well. They kept messing up when I asked them to do something. I got angry with them, and then they left." 

    "Ah, I see," Scott's father said. "Why don't we go for a walk kiddo?"

    "Oh, okay," Scott said.  

    Scott and his father left the house and went walking down a nearby trail. Then, Scott's father began speaking.

    "Son, I would like to give you some advice which comes from religions around the world. A group of people called the Aborigines have lived in Australia for 50,000 years (Ahmad). They believe the world was created during a time called the Dreamtime (Ahmad). During the Dreamtime, people called "Ancestral Beings", created the instructions for doing many important things. Nowadays, the Aborigines believe it is very important to follow these instructions ("Australian Aboriginal peoples"). I know you want to make your car your own way, but it may be helpful to read an instruction book to get started.

    Scott's father continued. 

    "In China, there is a religion called Taoism (Smith 124). This religion has an idea called Wu Wei (Bastos).  The idea of Wu Wei is that you cannot always make things go the way you want them to (Christenson). Instead, you should go with the flow and be patient when you are trying to do something (Christenson). It is okay if your car was not exactly what you hoped for at first. If you keep trying, you can make something you will be proud of."

    "Wow, thank you dad!" Scott said.

    "No problem son," Scott's father said. "But there is one more piece of advice I want to share. Come on."

    As Scott and his father were nearing their house, his father began to speak again.  

    "You see Scott, one of the largest religions in the world is called Christianity (Smith 206). There are three different types of Christianity, and one of them is called Catholicism (Smith 222). Catholic people believe that we should be kind to everyone, because God created every person (Howard). Even if someone makes a mistake or does something wrong, they still deserve kindness ("Teachings of the Catholic Church"). We should not get mad at someone if they make a mistake, because everyone makes mistakes sometimes ("What did Jesus mean"). 

    "I think I know what you mean dad," said Scott. It was wrong for me to get angry with my friends earlier. Even if they did mess up, they just wanted to help me. I am going to apologize to them."

    The next day, Scott found his friends at the park.

    "Hi guys," he said. "I wanted to say that I am really sorry for the way I acted yesterday. It was not fair of me to be upset, and it was wrong for me to yell at you. I hope you can forgive me."

    Jimmy, Dave and Stan smiled.

    "Its alright Scott, we forgive you," said Jimmy.

    "Hey," Dave said, "It is not too late. We can still make a car in time for the race."

    "Really?" Scott asked. "You guys will still help me?"

    "Of course," Stan answered. "That is what friends are for."