Babybee的第一篇長篇故事和老人院謝卡
第一件事是前幾天收到一間老人院寄來的謝卡,謝謝Babybee和小Emma抽空去陪他們彈琴兼聊天。 Babybee把卡片打開後,驚叫了一下"哇!怎麼這麼多名字。" 我看了一下,覺得滿感動的,小小的卡片上簽滿了許多老人的名字。Babybee問我這是哪家老人院啊? 因為她不只在一家老人院當義工,自己也搞不清楚這張謝卡是哪一間老人院寄來的。這是她和小Emma第一次收到有好多人簽名的謝卡。我看了一下住址,依稀記得這間老人院應該就是不久前去的其中一家,記得剛到時,距離院方排定的時間還有一陣子,Babybee趁機試了一下琴,搖搖頭跟我說又是台走音嚴重的琴,狀況不好,有幾個鍵的聲音非常小聲,還有點黏住。只能盡力而為了。Babybee在這麼多家老人院當過義工 ,也彈過不少台琴,少數幾家豪華的老人院都會有台三角琴,有的狀況非常好,有的就只是放在那邊當裝飾品,好看不好彈。其他大多數的老人院或是私人看護中心,他們的琴就真的只能用兩個字形容------"恐怖"!
走音已經是見怪不怪了,還有一次彈過那種彈到一半,一個琴鍵就掉下來,不是那種黏住的喔,黏住的不稀奇,已經彈過太多台那種琴鍵黏住的鋼琴,那次彈到那種琴鍵整個掉下來的還真令人大開眼界。
剛剛提到寄來謝卡的那家老人院。記得那天是被安排在老人院的娛樂間表演,空間並不算大,一些坐輪椅的老人擠不進來,只得待在走廊用聽的。我看著擠滿在娛樂間的老人們,有點感慨。那天是周末,怎麼都沒看到家屬來陪那些老人。之前去過幾家,如果遇到周末,通常都會看到許多家屬來探望自己的爸媽或爺奶,陪著他們一起欣賞表演,整個氣氛比較像是周末溫馨的娛興節目。可是這家的氣氛讓人感到有點沉重的感覺。許多坐著輪椅的老人,有的拖著一瓶氧氣筒,有的大概是在接受化療,頭髮都掉光了,.......。表演結束後,一如往常,許多老人們圍著兩個小朋友說說話,每個人的表情都好開心,我們要離開時,差點擠不出去,因為走廊擠滿了坐在輪椅上的老人家,我印象深刻有位老太太在Babybee經過時,抓著她的手,淚流滿面,一直謝謝兩個小朋友來探望他們並且為她們彈奏這麼動聽的音樂。
其實說實話....動聽的音樂是沒有啦!鋼琴都走音這麼嚴重,還好幾個琴鍵黏黏的,當然也不可能彈的出動人的音樂。可是去過這麼多家老人院,我可以感覺得出來,音樂是其次,那些老人們開心的是有人關心她們,感動的是有人願意花些時間陪陪他們。
看著謝卡裡密密麻麻的名字,我想起當天那位感動不已淚流滿面的老奶奶,她的名字一定也在其中吧!
第二件要記錄的是.....最近Babybee正在寫篇長篇故事。故事內容是關於Babybee跟她的好友漢娜的冒險故事。漢娜是Babybee在學校最要好的朋友。她也把自己的好友寫進了故事裡。我記得我小時候也很會幻想,也會寫東寫西的,很可惜都沒記錄下來。現在有空我把Babybee寫的故事記錄下來,以後她長大後看自己小時候寫的東西,一定會覺得很好玩。只是她這長篇故事還沒寫完,不曉得會不會半途而廢,我得來催她繼續寫下去。
When the bell finally rang for recess, Hannah dragged me to a corner of the playground and said, "Madeline, what do you think about trying out the new plane that Professor Burn invented?"
"I think that would be a great idea!" I said. We ran to Mr. Burn's lab and saw a small plane that he managed to stuff into the room. "Let's push it out," I suggested.
"No, I have a better idea," she said. "Come with me."
We climbed into the plane, Hannah at the controls and me in the seat next to her. She randomly pulled back a lever, blasted a hole through the wall, and we were off.
"Do you know how to work this thing?" I asked as we flew towards the ocean.
Hannah shook her head. "How do you go back?" she asked nervously.
"Don't tell me you are planning to crash in the ocean," I warned her.
She frantically pushed buttons and pulled back levers. Black smoke belched from the back of the plane. Uh oh.
"Ahhh!!" we screamed as we tumbled to the ocean. Wham!! The plane gave a jerk as it crashed into something surprisingly solid.
I woke up, tried to sit up, and winced. the first think I noticed was the blood on my shoulder, then Hannah standing up and leaning against the wall. "You okay, Hannah?" I asked, for she looked awfully pale.
"Yes, except for a twisted ankle. How about you?" she asked.
"Just a gash on the shoulder," I answered. She suddenly frowned. "What's the matter," I asked.
"How come we are not bobbing up and down? We are on the ocean aren't we?" Hannah asked, mystified. I rushed to the door and saw a view that made my jaw drop open.
Trees and wilderness surrounded our crashed plane. It was just full of life. Colorful birds ruffled their wings and chirped their songs, bees hummed as they worked, monkeys hooted as they danced in the trees, squirrels leaped gracefully branch to branch, tree to tree, and the gentle steady sound of running water could be heard from a distant stream.
Hannah broke the silence, well it wasn't exactly silence. "Let's go find the creek. You can wash off the bloodstains, and I can soak my foot in the water," Hannah suggested.
"I think it's a great idea, and it will also give us a chance to learn about this island," I said. However, something told me this piece of land that we were on was much more than an ordinary island.
We headed towards the sound of the creek. "Hey wait a minute. What if we can't find our way back to the plane?" I asked.
Hannah stopped and looked around. "Aha! See those red berries?" She pointed to some brush that had tons of bright red berries attached to it. "We can use the berries to mark our track," she said.
"We can stuff them in our pockets and drop them as we go," I said. Once our pockets were full, we started again to the creek.
I examined the trees as I followed Hannah. One kind had fruit the shape of large, white disks. Another had a nut of some kind growing on it. "Look! There's the creek!" Hannah pointed to the creek.
The water was a vibrant turquoise. It was more beautiful and bluer than water in the ocean. I started to run to the stream, Hannah hopping on her good foot as fast as she could after me.
Suddenly, one of the vines growing on a tree unraveled itself, flew at me, and wrapped itself around my waist.
"Madeline, No!!!" Hannah screamed.
I was too stunned to move or scream. Hannah hopped to a nut tree, plucked one off, and hurled it at the vine. The shell cracked and blue filling oozed on to the vine. Almost instantly, the vine froze and shattered and I fell on my bottom, dazed.
Hannah hopped to me and hugged me. "I'm so glad you're alive," she said.
"Me too," I replied. "Now let's go to the creek." I walked and Hannah hopped to the creek.
I gazed at the water. Hannah said, "Let's take a bath." We took our clothes off and I helped Hannah in. We dipped our feet in the water. The moment we did, one spot in the water hissed and bubbled until a brown piece of paper floated to the surface. I reached for it, and it surprisingly wasn't wet. I held it in the middle, so Hannah could see it too. This is what it said:
Welcome to Sonsole. A new species of vines and killer trees have invaded Sonsole. The number of native species are lowering. The stones in the pouches will help you. Please help. Speak to the water and I will answer you. My power is waning. The task is up to you. Just remember what I am must remain a secret. Thank you.
Blue = goo of the dontellio nut
Red = the fire the chuckanola fruit
"What pouch?" I asked.
"I don't know that, but I do know that we are not on Earth," replied Hannah.
看完之後讓我很期待故事後來的發展。我覺得她的文筆滿好的,我有時看著Babybee,實在難以想像她才九歲。
明天一定要來催她繼續寫下去。
可以翻譯嗎?
呵呵哈哈...