Coming of Age成長

LilyM. 張寧

Lucy stuck the last candle into the cake and stepped back with a sigh1. She looked at the kitchen， completely decked2 out for her dads 60th birthday surprise party. Shiny party hats were neatly stacked3 on the table， and there were so many colorful streamers that it was difficult to see the ceiling. A huge banner hung from the wall read “Happy 60th， Dad！” and the house was filled with the sweet aroma4 of chocolate cake just out of the oven. Everything looked perfect. So why didnt Lucy feel satisfied？

露西把最后一支蠟燭插進(jìn)蛋糕里，嘆了口氣退了回去。她看著為了她父親60歲生日驚喜派對而裝飾得漂漂亮亮的廚房。桌上整齊地堆放著閃亮的派對帽子，五顏六色的彩帶幾乎遮住了天花板。墻上掛著一面巨大的橫幅，上面寫著“60歲快樂，爸爸！”，屋子里充滿了剛出爐的巧克力蛋糕的香氣。一切看起來都很完美。那么露西為什么感到不滿意呢？

Since the age of six， Lucy had begun to realize that her parents were much older than most of her friends parents. When classmates heard the ages of her mom and dad， they gave her looks of confusion. Now， she was 14， her dad 60. When she was 34， hed be 80. When she was 54， hed be 100. Sometimes she wondered， would her parents be alive to meet her future husband？ Would they get to know her children？ “I dont want dad to turn 60，” she thought. For Lucy， 60 was the age a person became old， growing closer to death. So the beginning of the end of her fathers life didnt seem like something to celebrate; rather it was something she wanted to ignore.

從六歲起，露西就開始意識到她的父母比她大多數(shù)朋友的父母年齡大得多。當(dāng)同學(xué)們聽到她父母的年齡時，都顯得很困惑。現(xiàn)在，她14歲，她父親60歲。她34歲時，他就80歲了。她54歲時，他就100歲了。有時她會想，她的父母會活到見到她未來丈夫的時候嗎？他們會知道她的孩子嗎？“我不想爸爸變成60歲?！彼搿β段鱽碚f，60歲是一個人開始變老，越來越接近死亡的年齡。因此，她父親生命終結(jié)的開始這件事似乎并不值得慶祝，她甚至想要忽略掉它。

What she couldnt ignore， though， were memories of her with her father. Looking around the kitchen， she remembered his warm hands enveloping her little hands as they mixed pancake batter5 together. She thought of him sitting with her at the kitchen table explaining a math problem. And she couldnt count the number of times theyd stood by the sink after dinner， her dad washing the dishes， she drying， both of them laughing at some silly joke. “Why cant I celebrate dad on his birthday， when I love him so much？” Lucy thought.

不過，她不能忽視的是她和父親在一起的回憶。她環(huán)顧廚房，想起了他曾用溫暖的雙手把她的小手包在一起，一起攪拌面糊。她想起了他曾坐在廚房的桌子旁給她解釋一道數(shù)學(xué)題。她數(shù)不清有多少次晚飯后他們站在水池邊，她父親洗盤子，她擦干，他們倆都因為一個愚蠢的笑話而開心大笑?！凹热晃疫@么愛爸爸，為什么我不在他生日那天為他慶祝呢？”露西想。

“Wow！It looks amazing.” Her mom walked into the room with an armful of gifts. “Hes going to love it！”

“哇！”她母親抱著一大堆禮物走進(jìn)房間?！八麜矚g的！”

Lucy smiled and said， “Thanks， mom.”

露西微笑著說：“謝謝，媽媽?！?/p>

“Everything okay， honey？” Her mother walked over， giving her shoulder a squeeze6.

“一切都還好嗎，親愛的？”她母親走過來，擠了擠她的肩膀。

“Yeah， Im just tired，” replied Lucy， forcing some enthusiasm into her voice.

“是的，我只是累了?！甭段髋乃穆曇衾飻D出點熱情回答說。

“Ill leave you to it， sweetie！ Thanks again for doing such a beautiful job，” her mother said， leaving the room. “Remember， hell be home in ten minutes！”

“親愛的，你來做吧！再次感謝你做得這么棒?！彼赣H說著離開了房間?！坝涀?，他十分鐘后就回來了！”

Once she was gone， Lucy looked over the kitchen one last time before turning off the lights and walking into the living room. She collapsed7 onto the couch， sinking into its soft cushions， and turned on the television. Flipping through8 the channels， she finally settled on the local news.

母親離開了，露西最后一次看了看廚房，然后關(guān)燈走進(jìn)客廳。她倒在沙發(fā)上，窩進(jìn)沙發(fā)的軟墊里，并打開了電視。她匆匆切換著頻道，最終停在了當(dāng)?shù)氐男侣勆稀?/p>

“Tomorrow， there will be a 20 percent chance of rain.” The woman in TV looked down at her paper， a sad look crossing her face. “And now， a tragic story. A young couple died today in a car accident. Chelsey and Brian Stratford， ages 35 and 36， the parents of three children， were driving on I-95 when someone texting and driving drove into their car at full speed.” A picture of a beautiful family at the beach appeared on the screen.

“明天，有20%的幾率會下雨?！彪娨暀C(jī)里的女士低頭看了看稿紙，臉上露出悲傷的表情。“現(xiàn)在，有一個悲慘的消息。今天有一對年輕的夫婦死于車禍。35歲的切爾西·斯特拉特福德和36歲布萊恩·斯特拉特福德是三個孩子的父母，他們在95號州際公路上駕車行駛時，有人因為在開車時發(fā)短信，全速撞上了他們的車。”屏幕上出現(xiàn)了一張海灘邊幸福的一家人的照片。

Gasping9， Lucy sat up straight. Those people were familiar. She realized one of the girls in the picture was in her grade. Lucy turned off the television， feeling the prickle10 of goose bumps11 raise on her skin.

露西喘著氣，直直地坐了起來。那些人她很熟悉。她認(rèn)出來照片上的一個女孩和她在同一個年級。露西關(guān)掉電視，感到皮膚上起了雞皮疙瘩。

Taking in a deep breath， she closed her eyes， and an image of her own family appeared behind her eyelids. It could be anyone at anytime， no matter how old or young they may， she realized.

她深深地吸了一口氣，閉上眼睛，眼前出現(xiàn)了她自己家人的模樣。她意識到，任何人在任何時候都有可能死去，無論他們年齡有多大或多小。

“Lucy！ Hes here！” Her mothers loud whisper startled12 Lucy out of her trance13. She jumped to her feet， dashing to the kitchen， a smile on her face. Hiding in the darkened room， Lucy heard her dads key turning and the front door opening.

“露西！他來了！”她母親的低語聲讓露西從恍惚中驚醒過來。露西跳起來，沖到廚房，臉上帶著微笑。她藏在黑暗的房間里，聽到她父親轉(zhuǎn)動鑰匙，打開了門。

Her dads footsteps grew closer， until he finally appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. A look of confusion passed over his bright blue eyes. Seeing him standing there， a sudden burst of love for her father overwhelmed Lucy.

她父親的腳步聲越來越近，直到他終于出現(xiàn)在廚房的門口。他那雙明亮的藍(lán)眼睛里流露出一絲困惑?？吹礁赣H站在那里，對他的愛意突然涌上了露西的心頭。

“Hello？ Anyone home？” He slowly entered the kitchen， and reached for the light switch.

“你好？有人在家嗎？”他慢慢地走進(jìn)廚房，伸手去摸電燈開關(guān)。

“SURPRISE！” Lucy and her mom jumped out of their hiding places. Her fathers face was as bright as a childs on Christmas morning. As for Lucy， she hurled14 herself at her father， jumped into his arms and wrapped him in a fierce bear hug.

“驚喜！”露西和她母親從他們的藏身處跳了出來。她父親的臉就像圣誕節(jié)早晨孩子的臉一樣閃亮。至于露西，她朝著父親撲去，跳進(jìn)他懷里，給了他一個大大的熊抱。

【Notes】

1. sigh [?????] n. 嘆息，嘆氣 2. deck [?????] vt. 裝飾

3. stack [?????] v. （使）放成整齊的一疊 4. aroma [?????] n. 芳香

5. batter [?????] n. （用雞蛋、牛奶、面粉等調(diào)成的）糊狀物

6. squeeze [?????] n. 擠壓;緊握

7. collapse [?????] v. 倒塌;倒下，昏倒;（尤指工作勞累后）坐下

8. flip through 瀏覽;草草翻閱 9. gasp [?????] vi. 喘氣;喘息

10. prickle [?????] n. 刺痛;針刺般的感覺

11. goose bump 雞皮疙瘩 12. startle [?????] vt. 使嚇一跳;使驚奇

13. trance [?????] n. 恍惚;出神 14. hurl [?????] vt. 丟;用力投擲