Ethan sat on his bike and rode fast. When he got to the end of the driveway1，he turned around. He stopped the bike in front of Mom.

“See？ I never fall any more. Can I ride to the park on my own now？”He hadridden his bike to the park before， but Mom or Dad always came along. He wassure he could do it on his own.

Mom looked at Ethan.“Is your helmet2 on tight？”she asked.“Yes！ ”he said.“Okay，”Mom said. “But you must come home before it gets dark. It’s not safe toride at night in the dark. Have fun！ ”“Really？ Wow， thanks！ ”Ethan turned theblue bike around and rode away before Mom could change her mind.

When he got to the park， he slowed down and parked his bike near the picnic table. Then he ran off to find his friend， Connie.

“Guess what？”Ethan said.“I rode my bike here all by myself！ ”“Me， too！ ”Connie said.“Now we can ride around the neighborhood together3！ ”“Mom onlysaid I could come to the park，”Ethan said. “Maybe next time she’ll let me dothat.”

Connie and Ethan played hopscotch4 and took turns on the slide5. They also ran races. When they were tired， they sat at the picnic table and took a rest.

Ethan looked at the sky. The sun was like an orange ball， and it was slowly setting.“I should go home，”said Ethan.“I promised6 I would get there before dark.”

“Me， too，”Connie said. They both put on their helmets and got on their bikes.“See you next time！ ”said Ethan. And he rode his bike home before dark， just likehe said he would.

伊森坐在他的自行車上，騎得很快。在騎到車道的盡頭時，他轉(zhuǎn)過彎把自行車停在媽媽面前。

“看到了嗎？我再也不會摔倒了。我現(xiàn)在可以自己騎車去公園了嗎？”他以前騎自行車去過公園，但媽媽或爸爸總是陪他一起。他確信自己能獨立完成這件事。

媽媽看著伊森。“你的頭盔戴緊了嗎？”她問?！按骶o了！”他說?！昂玫?。”

媽媽說，“但是你必須在天黑之前回家。晚上在黑暗中騎車不安全。玩得開心點！”“真的嗎？哇，謝謝！”趁媽媽還沒改變主意，伊森調(diào)轉(zhuǎn)了車頭，騎車走了。

到達公園時，他放慢了速度，把自行車停在野餐桌附近，然后他跑去找他的朋友康妮。

“你猜怎么著？”伊森說，“我一個人騎自行車來這兒的！”“我也是！”康妮說，“現(xiàn)在我們可以一起在附近騎車了！”“媽媽只說過我可以來公園?！币辽f，“也許下次她就會讓我那么做了?！?/p>

康妮和伊森玩跳房子，然后輪流玩滑梯。他們還賽跑，累了就坐在野餐桌上休息。

伊森看向天空。太陽好像一個橙色的球，正在慢慢下沉?！拔以摶丶伊??！币辽f，“我答應過天黑前回到家?！?/p>

“我也是。”康妮說。他們都戴上頭盔，騎上自行車。“下次見！”伊森說。天黑前他騎著自行車回到了家，就像他保證過的那樣。