12

At first I thought something must've happened to the car when Grandpa slammed on the brakes, but when I looked at the dashboard, I realized we were out of GAS. Rodrick used the car last night when he went to work, and of COURSE he didn't refuel it. Grandpa saw a sign ahead that said there was a service station a mile up the road, and he told me he was gonna walk there and bring back a can of gas so we could get home. I wanted to go WITH him, but the said I should stay in the car so it didn't get towed by the highway department. I didn't feel great about the whole idea, but I figured it was the only choice I had.

一开始我以为爷爷猛踩刹车的时候车子出了什么问题，但当我看了看仪表盘，我意识到车子没油了。 罗德里克昨晚上班时用了那辆车，当然他没有给它加油。 爷爷看到前面有个牌子，上面写着离这条路一英里远的地方有个加油站，他告诉我他要步行去那儿，然后带一罐汽油回来，这样我们就可以回家了。 我想和他一起去，但他说我应该呆在车里，这样就不会被公路部门拖走。 我对整个想法感觉不太好，但我觉得这是我唯一的选择。

Grandpa headed off on foot, and I waited for what must've been an HOUR. I was starting to get a little worried, and then I looked up at the rearview mirror and saw something in the distance. A group of people were walking toward the car along the side of the road. At first I was excited, because I thought they might be able to HELP. But when I saw their orange jumpsuits, I FROZE. It was the community service gang, and they were coming my way. When they got closer, I saw that one of them was that guy BILLY. I thought about making a run for it, but I didn't want to take my chances out in the open.

爷爷步行离开了，我等了大概一个小时。 我开始有点担心了，然后我抬头看了看后视镜，看到远处有东西。 一群人沿着路边朝那辆车走去。 起初我很兴奋，因为我认为他们可能会帮助我。 但当我看到他们的橙色连体衣时，我僵住了。 那是社区服务团伙，他们朝我走来。 当他们走近时，我看到其中一个就是那个叫比利的家伙。 我想过逃跑，但我不想在大庭广众之下冒险。

I did the only other thing I could think of, which was to lock the doors and HIDE. There aren't a whole lot of good hiding places in a CAR, though, so the best I could do was get down underneath the dashboard and stay really still. Then I held my breath and prayed. It took FOREVER for those guys to get to the car, and when they finally DID, they decided it was a good place to take their lunch break.

我做了我能想到的唯一一件事，那就是锁上门躲起来。 然而，汽车里并没有很多好的藏身之处，所以我能做的最好的事情就是躲在仪表板下面，一动不动。 然后我屏住呼吸祈祷。 他们花了很长时间才走到车上，当他们终于到达时，他们认为这是一个午休的好地方。

Eventually the community service crew finished eating and moved on. But they left a huge mess, which just goes to show, they weren't taking their highway cleanup duties too seriously. Once I was sure they were gone, I got back up. But BOTH of my legs had fallen asleep from being in such an awkward position for that long, so I grabbed the handle on the center console to pull myself up. But the handle MOVED, and when it did, so did the CAR.

最后，社区服务人员吃完饭，继续前进。 但他们留下了一个巨大的烂摊子，这表明他们并没有把清理高速公路的责任当回事。 当我确定他们走了之后，我又站了起来。 但是由于长时间处于这样一个尴尬的位置，我的两条腿都睡着了，所以我抓住中控台的把手把自己拉起来。 但是把手动了，车子也跟着动了。

I had accidentally shifted the car into NEUTRAL, and it started to roll FORWARD. The car was picking up speed, so I stepped on the brake. But it locked up, and the car just kept going. I was afraid I was gonna roll out into traffic and get hit. Then I saw GRANDPA walking toward me in the breakdown lane, and I PANICKED.

我不小心把车换到空档，它开始向前滚动。 汽车在加速，所以我踩下了刹车。 但锁上了，车就一直开着。 我怕自己会冲进车流中被撞。 然后我看到爷爷在故障车道上向我走来，我慌了。

I jerked the steering wheel left and just BARELY missed Grandpa. The problem was, the car rolled right into a DITCH. And that's where it stayed until Mom came two hours later with the towing company. If I had to do it all over again, I would've just left that toothpaste cap in the drain. Monday. I BEGGED Mom not to tell Dad what happened to the car when he got home.

我猛地往左一扭方向盘，差点撞到爷爷。 问题是，汽车直接滚进了一个深沟。 它就一直停在那里，直到两个小时后妈妈带着拖车公司来了。 如果让我重新来过，我会把牙膏盖扔在下水道里。 星期一。我求妈妈不要在爸爸回家后告诉他车子的事。