登陆注册
985800000003

第3章 拥抱温暖的阳光 (2)

他在我腿上待了好久,坐到心满意足后,才跳下去完成自己的涂色工作。我问他是否感觉舒服多了,他说是的,可自己的病还是没有好,一切都无法改变。我对他说我知道。我离开时心情很悲伤,但我会再为这件事做些努力的,尽自己的一切力量帮助他。

天快黑时,我正准备回家。这时,我感到有人在拽我的夹克衫,我回头一望,原来是他,站在那里,稚嫩的脸蛋上挂着灿烂的微笑。他说:“我心里的颜色在变,它将变得越来越亮……我想那温暖的拥抱真的有用。”

回家的路上,我触摸着我的心脏,意识到它的颜色也变得越来越亮了。

For Three Solid Years’ Waiting整整三年的等待

Located in the checkroom in Union Station as I am, I see everybody that comes up the stairs.

Harry came in a little over three years ago and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9:05 train.

I remember seeing Harry that first evening. He wasn’t much more than a thin, anxious kid then. He was all dressed up and I knew he was meeting his girl and that they would be married twenty minutes after she arrived.

Well, the passengers came up and I had to get busy. I didn’t look toward the stairs again until nearly time for the 9:18 and I was very surprised to see that the young fellow was still there.

She didn’t come on the 9:18 either, nor on the 9:40, and when the passengers from the 10:02 had all arrived and left, Harry was looking pretty desperate. Pretty, soon he came close to my window so I called out and asked him what she looked like.

“She’s small and dark,” he said, “and nineteen years old and very neat in the way she walks. She has a face,” he said, thinking a minute, “that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows come to a little point in the middle. She’s got a brown fur, but maybe she isn’t wearing it.”

I couldn’t remember seeing anybody like that.

He showed me the telegram he’d received: ARRIVE THURSDAY. MEET ME STATION. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. MAY. It was from Omaha, Nebraska.

“Well,” I finally said, “why don’t you phone to your home? She’s probably called there if she got in ahead of you.”

He gave me a sick look. “I’ve only been in town two days. We were going to meet and then drive down South where I’ve got a job. She hasn’t any address for me.” He touched the telegram.

When I came on duty the next day he was still there and came over as soon as he saw me.

“Did she work anywhere?” I asked.

He nodded. “She was a typist. I telegraphed her former boss. All they know is that she left her job to get married.”

Harry met every train for the next three or four days. Of course, the railroad lines made a routine checkup and the police looked into the case. But nobody was any real help. I could see that they all figured that May had simply played a trick on him. But I never believed that, somehow.

One day, after about two weeks, Harry and I were talking and I told him about my theory. “If you’ll just wait long enough,” I said, “you’ll see her coming up those stairs some day.” He turned and looked at the stairs as though he had never seen them before.

The next day when I came to work Harry was behind the counter of Tony’s magazine stand. He looked at me rather sheepishly and said, “Well, I had to get a job somewhere, didn’t I?”

So he began to work as a clerk for Tony. We never spoke of May anymore and neither of us ever mentioned my theory. But I noticed that Harry always saw every person who came up the stairs.

Toward the end of the year Tony was killed in some argument over gambling, and Tony’s widow left Harry in complete charge of the magazine stand. And when she got married again some time later, Harry bought the stand from her. He borrowed money and installed a soda fountain and pretty soon he had a very nice little business.

Then came yesterday. I heard a cry and a lot of things falling. The cry was from Harry and the things falling were a lot of dolls and other things which he had upset while he was jumping over the counter. He ran across and grabbed a girl not ten feet from my window. She was small and dark and her eyebrows came to a little point in the middle.

For a while they just hung there to each other laughing and crying and saying things without meaning. She’d say a few words like, “It was the bus station I meant” and he’d kiss her speechless and tell her the many things he had done to find her. What apparently had happened three years before was that May had come by bus, not by train, and in her telegram she meant “bus station,” not “railroad station.” She had waited at the bus station for days and had spent all her money trying to find Harry. Finally she got a job typing.

“What?” said Harry. “Have you been working in town? All the time?”

She nodded.

“Well, Heavens. Didn’t you ever come down here to the station?” He pointed across to his magazine stand. “I’ve been there all the time. I own it. I’ve watched everybody that came up the stairs.”

She began to look a little pale. Pretty soon she looked over at the stairs and said in a weak voice, “I never came up the stairs before. You see, I went out of town yesterday on a short business trip. Oh, Harry!” Then she threw her arms around his neck and really began to cry.

After a minute she backed away and pointed very stiffly toward the north end of the station. “Harry, for three years, for three solid years, I’ve been right over there working right in this very station, typing, in the office of the stationmaster.”

由于我工作的地方在联合车站的行李寄存处,我看得见每一个上楼的人。

哈里3年多以前来到这里,站在楼梯口等待9:05到达的火车旅客。

我还记得那第一晚见到哈里时的情景。那时,他瘦瘦的,神情焦虑,就像个孩子似的。他穿戴整齐,我知道他是在等女朋友,而且在她到达20分钟之后他们就要结婚。

旅客们过来了,我得忙碌起来。等到9:18的那趟车快到的时候我才再往楼梯方向看去,我吃惊地发现那个年轻人还在那里。

她也没乘9:18的那趟车来,9:40的车上也没她。等10:02那趟车的旅客全都到达并离开后,哈里显得很失望。很快他走近我的窗口,我就招呼他,问她长得什么模样。

“她个子小,皮肤黑,”他说,“19岁。走路的样子很利落。她的脸,”他想了一会儿,说,“很有个性。我的意思是说她会生气,但从不会生气太久。她的眉心处有一个小点儿。她有一件褐色毛皮大衣,不过可能没穿着。”

我想不起来看见过有谁长得像那样。

他给我看他收到的电报:星期四到。车站接我。爱爱爱爱。——梅。电报寄自内布拉斯加州的奥马哈市。

“呃,”我最后说,“你干吗不往家里打个电话?如果她先你到达这里,她可能已给你家打过电话。”

他懊恼地看了我一眼。“我到城里才两天。我们打算见面之后开车去南方,我在那儿找到了一份工作。她——她也没给我任何地址。”他摸了摸电报。

第二天我去值班时他还在那儿。一看见我,他就走了过来。

“她在哪儿工作过吗?”我问。

同类推荐
  • 谜语绕口令英语

    谜语绕口令英语

    谜语和绕口令是英语文学中两种比较独特的语言艺术形式。前者既饶有情趣,又可以启发心智,增进思考和想像能力;后者结构巧妙,诙谐风趣,富有音乐性,最适合口头背诵,深受广大英语读者的喜爱。
  • 英文爱藏:天使吻过那片海

    英文爱藏:天使吻过那片海

    《天使吻过那片海》既是英语学习爱好者、文学爱好者的必备读 物,也是忙碌现代人的一片憩息心灵的家园,让读者在欣赏原法原味和凝 练生动的英文时,还能多角度、深层次地品读语言特色与艺术之美,再配 合文章后附加的多功能、全方位巩固题型,更有助于理解并学习英……
  • 流行文化篇(老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题)

    流行文化篇(老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题)

    不流行的话不说,不地道的英语不讲!遇到老外开口就“哑火”?不知道从什么话题开始交流?没有关系,本书帮你告别难堪!阅读本书,让你了解当下最流行的欧美文化主题,使你能够轻松开始与老外的交流。本书精选全世界最热议的101个流行文化主题,内容覆盖音乐文化、影视文化、商业文化、体育文化、民族文化等多方面。每个话题都包括背景介绍、常用句子、重点词汇以及一段情景对话。对话涵盖生活的方方面面,有校园生活、日常生活和社会热点问题等。语言通俗易懂,话题生动而不失深刻。
  • 英文爱藏:我在回忆里等你

    英文爱藏:我在回忆里等你

    杨一兰编著的《我在回忆里等你》是英文爱藏丛书之一,为中英双语 对照版,《我在回忆里等你》既是英语学习爱好者、文学爱好者的必备读 物,也是忙碌现代人的一片憩息心灵的家园,让读者在欣赏原法原味和凝 练生动的英文时,还能多角度、深层次地品读语言特色与艺术之美,再配 合文章后附加的多功能、全方位巩固题型,更有助于理解并学习英……
热门推荐
  • 落星追魂

    落星追魂

    落星追魂白云飞练成落星秘籍追魂十二巧打,被黑白两道追杀,因为谁能击败他,谁就是天下第一。满怀仇恨的白云飞血洗少林、峨嵋各大派。武林三大堡被闹得鸡犬不宁,四川唐门的飞蝗阵被一招破去,这些乱局到底事出何因?白云飞和温柔娇艳的罗刹仙子之间血腥复仇和美丽的爱情纠缠牵扯又会有怎样的结局?
  • 尸心不改

    尸心不改

    控尸门的欢乐二缺弟子江篱炼了一具美得人神共愤引得天雷阵阵的男尸,以为好日子开始了,结果没想到门派惨遭灭门。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 糖果屋女孩儿

    糖果屋女孩儿

    这是一个关于那些孩童记忆,青涩青春,朦胧爱情的故事。那些点点滴滴的过往,无论好与不好,伤痛或快乐,那都将是你我无法替代的重要回忆。
  • 帅气天王的千面女友

    帅气天王的千面女友

    ◆◆◆◆◆天!为什么她为了男友改掉野蛮的性格,装出一副淑女的样子结果整个学校的男同胞对她着迷,最后却没有留住他的心哎!为了不再被男生烦死,女扮男装混进于恩高中要死啊!竟然有女生为她如此痴迷,她不得不再次落跑这次她不要当帅哥也不要当美女,她要当一个丑到人人远离的丑女不管是女是男每个人都说她声音很好听很有磁性,她总之就不讲话,却被人当成哑巴好吧好吧!就当她是哑巴…哎…为什么为什么她的同桌女生竟然是她扮演男生的时候第23任女友,真倒霉。结果还要被不管从外表内在看上去都坏到人神共愤的男生缠住可是我万万米有想到他竟然就是传说中又神秘又具有实力+偶像外表的亚洲小天王Tony。每个人都说他斯文帅气,是人人心目中的白马王……可谁又知道他会是坏坏男生如果让他的粉丝知道他是个表里不一的人,人气一定会大跌的真的很纳闷,为什么没有一个人知道他就是出道一年就有亚洲小天王之称的Tony★★★★★★眨眨本来乌黑的眼睛,戴上隐形眼镜变成暗淡的灰色,本来看上去是炯炯有神,现在看起来却是毫无生气。摸摸原本吹弹可破的皮肤,现在却被一层厚厚的化妆品遮盖,上面长满了一点一点的雀斑。看看肩头的假发,枯燥发黄,就像一根根稻草。拉拉身上肥大的衣服,同样肥大的裤子,配上着我高挑的身高。完美的打扮,让我引来了无数双眼睛的瞩目。(*^__^*)嘻嘻……你想的没有错,偶来这当丑女……这身打扮可是花了我一天的时间,逛边了我市的大小商场。终于举世无双,天下无敌丑女——叶希晨出世了。鼓掌……★★◎◎◎★★灵的微博:http://m.pgsk.com/yemandeling欢迎来★☆我的天王男友☆★讨论群群号:67436177《还有少数名额》群号:70091991《新群》(敲门砖为:你所喜欢的文中人物~~)喜欢本书的读者,快快收藏收藏顺便砸票票来,
  • 别惹那匹绅士狼:宝贝不要逃

    别惹那匹绅士狼:宝贝不要逃

    留不住,回不去的,是流年…………<br/>“小安,一段感情要经过怎样的曲折,才能完美呢!”<br/>再回来,五年的时间,似乎改变了所有,冷漠的他那样温柔地对待另一个女人,小心翼翼地给她维护起一个柔情的世界,那样温馨。<br/>而那个世界,不允许有她的存在。<br/>所有人,都跟她说,看一眼就好。<br/>可是她好不甘,真的好不甘,她那么那么爱他…………<br/>还有,若干年后,她的小星星该怎么办?<br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
  • 明察秋毫

    明察秋毫

    一树一菩提,一花一世界。一叶落而知天下秋,智慧往往隐蔽在这细微之处。睿智之人往往能通过些许的细节洞悉世界,通过细微的情感来感悟人生。阅读书中这些富含哲理,情节曲折,真挚感人的小故事,希望青少年朋友在成长的道路上能够培养出健康的身心、优良的品质,让生命充满阳光和雨露,从而打造出成功、健康、理想、阳光的人生。
  • 零售企业管理

    零售企业管理

    无论是淘宝小店,还是电商大户,都逃不过零售的狙击。只有打通零售这道坎,才能实现零售的威武,脱离零售=“0售”的命运。本书从战略、市场调研和预测、商品展示与配置和促销管理等方面全面阐释零售业最新理念,并深入探讨切实可行的最新方法和技巧,全面提升零售商的管理水平。
  • 最牛法医NO.1:休了冷魅王爷

    最牛法医NO.1:休了冷魅王爷

    某男:“本王是中媚骨了。”某女:“扯淡,第一次是媚骨,第二次,第N次,还有这次你哪中媚骨了?”某男笑笑:“长效媚骨啊,时不时发作一次。”成亲一年,打打闹闹也还算恩爱,谁知竟是一场‘错把丑女当貂蝉’的大乌龙。真相揭穿,日日冷落,他却不愿撇清关系,OK,休书她来写,从此老死不相往来。时隔多年,喜迎第六春,却遭前夫横阻。看着血泊中的新郎官,女人瞬间炸毛:“晋王,你他丫已经毁掉我五桩婚了。”“怀着本王的孩子,你还想嫁给谁?”阴霾视线定格在那略凸起的小腹上。某女微愣三秒,一把掀起自己的衣服:“是肉,肉,我自己的肉。”
  • 权少追妻:亿万千金归来

    权少追妻:亿万千金归来

    天价招个冷酷狂拽霸的高智商管家,上一世她被后妈继妹算计虐成废人凄然惨死,助她报仇血恨完虐后妈继妹,成就完美人生。但是...你招错人了你造吗?惹来第一权少贴身伺候,还对他调戏、调教。她无所谓,这一世她做回豪门正牌承继人,“招错了?炒掉!”他冷笑,“玩够了?换我!”
  • 荒野求生:印第安人野外生存手册

    荒野求生:印第安人野外生存手册

    《荒野求生:印第安人野外生存手册》中介绍了美洲和其他大洲土著居民的生存智慧,详细教授了野外生存的各种技巧。书中讲述了架住帐篷、野外取火、寻找水源、制造工具、加工食物、利用植物、如何在野外保持好的心态。近200幅图片的生动讲解。