跨越真正的高度

楊　敏　魏貴娟

[1]His palms were sweating. He needed a towel to dry his grip. A glass of ice water quenched his thirst,but hardly cooled his intensity. The Astroturf he was sitting on was as hot as the competition he faced today at the National Junior Olympics. The pole was set at 17 feet. That was three inches higher than his personal best. Michael Stone confronted the most challenging day of his pole-vaulting career.

[2] The stands were still filled with about 20,000 people,even though the final race had ended an hour earlier. The pole vault is truly the glamour event of any track-and-field competition. It combines the grace of a gymnast with the strength of a body builder. It also has the element of flying,and the thought of flying as high as a two-story building is a mere fantasy to anyone watching such an event. Today and now, it is not only Michael Stones reality and dream—it is his quest.

[3] As long as Michael could remember, he had always dreamed of flying. Michaels mother read him numerous stories about flying when he was growing up. Her stories were always ones that described the land from a birds eye view. Her excitement and passion for details made Michaels dreams full of color and beauty. Michael had this one recurring dream. He would be running down a country road. He could feel the rocks and chunks of dirt at his feet. As he raced down the golden-lined wheat field, he always out—ran the locomotives passing by. It was at the exact moment he took a deep breath that he lifted off the ground. He would soar like an eagle.

[4] From the age of 14,Michael did just that. He began a very careful and regimented weight-lifting program. He worked out every other day with weights,with some of running work on alternate days. The program was carefully monitored by Michaels coach,trainer and father. Michaels dedication, determination and discipline were a coachs dream. Besides being an honor student and only child,Michael Stone continued to help his parents with their farm chores. Michaels persistence in striving for perfection was not only his obsession but his passion.

[5] All of Michaels vaults today seemed to be the reward for his hard work. If Michael Stone was surprised,thrilled or arrogant about clearing the bar at 17 feet,you couldnt tell. As soon as he landed on the inflated landing mat,and with the crowd on their feet,Michael immediately began preparing for his next attempt at flight. He seemed oblivious of the fact he had just surpassed his personal best by one foot and that he was one of the final two competitors in the pole-vaulting event at the National Junior Olympics.

[6]When Michael cleared the bar at 17 feet,2 inches and 17 feet,4 inches,again he showed no emotion. Constant preparation and determination were his vision. As he lay on his back and heard the crowd moan, he knew the other vaulter had missed his final jump. He knew it was time for his final jump. Since the other vaulter had fewer misses,Michael needed to clear this vault to win. A miss would get him second place. Nothing to be ashamed of,but Michael would not allow himself the thought of not winning first place.

[7]He rolled over and did his ritual of three finger-tipped push-ups along with three Marine-style push-ups. He found his pole,stood and stepped on the runway that led to the most challenging event of his 17-year-old life.

[8]The runway felt different this time. It startled him for a brief moment. Then it all hit him like a wet bale of hay. The bar was set at nine inches higher than his personal best. Thats only one inch off the national record,he thought. The intensity of the moment filled his mind with anxiety. He began shaking the tension from his body. It wasnt working. He became more tense. Why was this happening to him now, he thought. He began to get nervous. Fear would be a more accurate description. What was he going to do? He had never experienced these feelings. Then out of nowhere,and from the deepest depths of his soul, he envisioned his mother. Why not? What was his mother doing in his thoughts at a time like this? It was simple. His mother always used to tell him that when you felt tense,anxious,or even scared,to take deep breaths.

[9]So he did. Along with shaking the tense from his legs,he gently laid his pole at his feet. He began to stretch out his arms and upper body. The light breeze that was once there was now gone. He could feel a trickle of cold sweat running down his back. He carefully picked up his pole. He felt his heart pounding. He was sure the crowd did, too. The silence was deafening. When he heard the singing of some distant robins in flight, he knew it was his time to fly.

[10] As he began sprinting down the railway,something felt wonderfully different,yet familiar. The surface below him felt like the country road he used to dream about. The rocks and chunks of dirt,the visions of the golden wheat fields seemed to fill his thoughts. When he took a deep breath,it happened. He began to fly. His take-off was effortless. Michael Stone was now flying,just like in his childhood dreams. Only this time he knew he wasnt dreaming. This was real. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The air around him was the purest and freshest he had ever sensed. Michael was soaring with the majesty of an eagle.

[11] It was either the eruption of the people in the stands or the thump of his landing that brought Michael back to earth. On his back with that wonderful hot sun on his face,he could only envision the smile on his mothers face. He knew his dad was probably smiling too,even laughing. Bert would always do that when he got excited:smile and then sort of giggle. What he didnt know was that his dad was hugging his wife and crying. Thats right: Bert “if-you-want-it work-for-it” Stone was crying like a baby in his wifes arms. He was crying harder than Mildred had ever seen before. She also knew he was crying the greatest tears of all:tears of pride. Michael was immediately swarmed with people hugging and congratulating him on the greatest accomplishment thus far in his life. He later went on that day to clear 17 feet 6.5 inches:National and International Junior Olympics record.

[12] With all the media attention,endorsement possibilities and swarming herds of heartfelt congratulation,Michaels life would never be the same. It wasnt just because he won the National Junior Olympics and set a new record. And it wasnt because he had just increased his personal best by 9.5 inches. It was simply because Michael Stone is blind.

1. 他的手掌汗津津的，需要用毛巾把握柄擦干。一杯冰水止住了干渴，卻止不住他的熱情。阿斯特芙看臺被曬得滾燙，而他參加的這場全國青少年奧林匹克田徑賽同樣激烈精彩。標桿標到了17英尺，這比他個人最好成績還要高出3英寸。米歇爾·斯通正面臨著他撐桿跳生涯中最具挑戰(zhàn)的一天。

2. 一小時前百米大賽業(yè)已落幕，但看臺上依然坐著大約兩萬熱情觀眾。撐桿跳的確是田徑賽中最為扣人心弦的項目，它集體操的優(yōu)雅與健碩的身材美于一體，同時還蘊涵著飛翔的魅力。對現(xiàn)場的任何人來講，想飛躍兩層樓的高度，那是多么的富有傳奇呀！此刻是米歇爾夢想成真的時刻，更是他夢寐以求的時刻。

3. 打記事起，米歇爾就幻想著能在空中飛翔，在成長的歲月里，媽媽給他讀了諸多有關(guān)飛翔的故事，故事大都在講翱翔的鳥兒俯瞰大地的景象。媽媽那股興奮勁兒，還有讀到精彩之處的那般熱情，使米歇爾的夢想充滿迷人的色彩和壯美，從此，這美夢便時時徜徉在他的心頭。他會沿著鄉(xiāng)間小路飛奔，觸摸腳下的巖石和土塊。順著金色的麥田奔跑，他總能超越身邊經(jīng)過的機動車。就在深呼吸的那一瞬間他飛離了地平線，像雄鷹一樣翱翔在天際。

4. 十四歲起，米歇爾就開始了一項設(shè)計精細、系統(tǒng)嚴格的舉重訓(xùn)練。每隔一天他就輪流做舉重或練跑訓(xùn)練。父親既是教練又是陪練。米歇爾·斯通的身上凝聚著任何一位教練所企盼的優(yōu)秀品質(zhì)——專注、堅毅和自律。身為家中的獨生子、名譽學(xué)生，米歇爾·斯通還常常幫父母做些農(nóng)場的雜務(wù)活。他盡善盡美地追求源自他做事的執(zhí)著和超凡的激情。

5. 米歇爾今天的撐桿跳成績似乎對他以往艱辛的付出給予了回報與獎賞。倘若你認為米歇爾·斯通對他能跳過17英尺的高度會感到震驚、狂喜或得意的話，那么你錯了。因為他剛落到保護墊上，面對從座位上起身對他狂呼的觀眾，便立即準備下一跳。轉(zhuǎn)瞬間，他似乎忘記了自己剛剛以多出一英尺的高度創(chuàng)下了個人最好成績，這個成績使他成為闖入決賽的兩名選手之一。

6. 米歇爾連續(xù)躍過了17英尺2英寸、17英尺4英寸的高度，他依然鎮(zhèn)定自若。要堅持不懈、永不放棄是他此時的心境。他仰臥在保護墊上，聽到觀眾席上不斷傳來的唏噓聲，便意識到該是他的最后一跳了。競爭對手幾近完美的表現(xiàn)，使得米歇爾·斯通必須躍過這個高度方可取勝，稍有失誤就會錯失奪冠的良機，再沒比這更丟臉的了。但此刻，米歇爾心中僅存必勝的信念。

7. 他一骨碌從地上爬起來，像往常一樣，連續(xù)做了幾個俯臥撐。然后抓起撐桿，穩(wěn)健地站到了跑道上，這條跑道將引領(lǐng)米歇爾飛躍17年來人生最具挑戰(zhàn)的高度。

8. 同樣的跑道，此刻卻給他異樣的感覺，就像一大捆干柴砸在身上，他不由得怔了一下。橫桿標在了比他個人最好成績高出9英寸的高度，距國內(nèi)最好成績僅有一英寸之差??！他開始焦慮起來。盡管他努力想擺脫這種緊張感，但無濟于事。越想擺脫，緊張感就越甚。為何偏偏此時有這種感覺呢？他心里想著。不覺開始懼怕起來，不，說恐慌可能更為恰當(dāng)。這該如何是好？這樣的感受，他從未有過。隱隱約約在心靈深處他想到了媽媽。為什么此刻會想到媽媽？想到媽媽意味著什么呢？也沒什么特別的，以往每每感到緊張、焦慮甚至是恐慌時，媽媽常告訴他去做深呼吸。

9. 他這樣做了，腿放松了。輕輕地將撐桿放在腳下，他伸伸胳膊舒展了一下上身。剛剛的習(xí)習(xí)微風(fēng)不見了蹤影。他感到一滴滴的冷汗正順著后背往下淌。彎下腰，他小心翼翼地抓起撐桿，心怦怦直跳。他能感覺到觀眾也一定緊張異常。此時，場內(nèi)鴉雀無聲，任何動靜都會震耳欲聾。遠處傳來翱翔的知更鳥清脆的叫聲，他明白該他飛翔的時刻到了。

10. 米歇爾開始在跑道上飛奔，感覺熟悉又異樣的美妙，腳下的跑道仿佛變做夢中的鄉(xiāng)間小路，那里的巖石、土塊，還有金色的麥田此刻縈繞在他的腦際，揮之不去。做了次深呼吸，奇跡發(fā)生了。米歇爾輕盈地騰空而起，此刻的他，恰如在兒時的夢中一樣，飛了起來。只是米歇爾知道，此時不是夢，他的確在“飛”。周圍的一切也似乎放慢了腳步?？諝鈴奈慈绱说募儍?、清新。米歇爾像一只雄鷹在空中振翅高飛。

11. 要么是看臺上爆發(fā)出的雷鳴般掌聲，要么是落在氣墊上的重重的聲音把他從夢中驚醒。灼熱的陽光曬在臉上，而米歇爾的腦海里浮現(xiàn)出媽媽的微笑，爸爸或許也在笑，甚至是笑個不停。伯特興奮的時候，總會是這個樣子：先是微笑，然后哈哈地開懷大笑。但他不曉得此刻爸爸竟抱著媽媽啼哭起來。沒錯，向來堅持：“要成就夢想就去拼搏”的伯特·斯通在妻子懷里哭得像個嬰兒。妻子從未見過丈夫如此這般哭泣，但她明白，丈夫此時的眼淚非同尋常，這是驕傲的眼淚。觀眾紛紛擁上前去擁抱米歇爾，祝賀他有生以來最輝煌的時刻。之后他又乘勝跨越了17英尺6.5英寸的高度，創(chuàng)下了全國青少年暨國際青少年奧賽新記錄。

12. 媒體的關(guān)注、眾人真誠的祝賀以及社會的認可，將會使米歇爾的生活大為改觀。這并非因為他在全國青少年奧賽中奪冠并創(chuàng)下新的世界記錄，也不是因為他把個人成績提高了9.5英寸，而是因為他——米歇爾·斯通是一個盲人。