14 SKY'S THE LIMIT

CHAPTER 14 SKY'S THE LIMIT Despite the totally dark sky at noon on the first day of spring, the adults in the crowd were chatting happily. The kids, however, were starting to lose it. ADULTS HOW ODD! IT'S LIKE A THUNDERSTORM, MINUS THE THUNDER! KIDS

第十四章天空的极限初春的中午，天空一片漆黑，但人群中的大人们却在愉快地聊天。 然而，孩子们开始失去理智了。 大人多奇怪啊！就像一场雷雨，只是没有打雷！孩子们

"What's with these grown-ups?" Alexander asked. "It's like they don't see what's going on. Except for Mr. Hoarsely." The boys watched as he dove behind a huge spotlight near the bandstand. "It's getting even darker!" said Rip. "I can't see the edge of the park!" Alexander gave Rip a couple of flashlights. "Let's try to light up the sky!"

“这些大人怎么了？”亚历山大问。 “就好像他们看不到发生了什么。 除了沙哑先生。”男孩们看着他躲在舞台附近一个巨大的聚光灯后面。 “天更黑了！”瑞普说。 “我看不到公园的边缘了！”亚历山大给了里普几个手电筒。 “让我们试着照亮天空吧！”

The boys ran around, waving their flashlights at the shadow dome. The sky began to grumble. "Is it working?" asked Rip. "I'm not sure," said Alexander, "Maybe we could "Hey, AI chirped a voice. Alexander's dad jumped out from the darkness. "Boy, Gopher Day is hey, are you playing flashlight tag?" Alexander glanced at Rip. "Uh, actually, Dad "Swell!" said Alexander's dad. "Here, give me a flashlight." He closed his eyes and began counting to 100.

男孩们跑来跑去，对着阴影的穹顶挥舞着手电筒。 天空开始嘀咕。“管用吗？”瑞普问。 “我不确定，”亚历山大说，“也许我们可以。” 亚历山大的爸爸从黑暗中跳出来。 “孩子，地鼠日是嘿，你在玩手电筒捉迷藏吗？”亚历山大瞥了瑞普一眼。 “嗯，实际上，爸爸。”亚历山大的爸爸说。 “给，给我一个手电筒。” 他闭上眼睛，开始数到100。

Rip and Alexander both rolled their eyes. "Okay, Rip," said Alexander, "let's aim for the exact same spot." Rip pointed his flashlight straight up. Alexander angled his to match. This time, the sky grumbled much louder. "GIVE UP!" A loud voice thundered from the sky. Alone, the shadow smashers had been silent. But together, they spoke in a booming voice. "WE HAVE ALL COME TOGETHER TO BLANKET STERMONT IN ETERNAL DARKNESS!"

里普和亚历山大都翻了个白眼。 “好吧，里普，”亚历山大说，“让我们瞄准同一个地方。” 里普把手电筒对准上方。 亚历山大把他的手斜了一下以配合。 这一次，天空的抱怨声更大了。 “放弃吧!”一个响亮的声音从空中轰鸣而来。 孤身一人，击影者沉默不语。 但他们一起用洪亮的声音说话。 “我们聚集在一起，要把斯特蒙特笼罩在永恒的黑暗中！”

The rumbling grew louder yet, and the sky became even darker. Now the flashlights only seemed to shine a few feet in front of them. "It's no use," said Rip. "Our lights are too weak." "IT WILL ALWAYS BE PAST YOUR BEDTIME! AND STERMONT WILL BE OURS!" "All right, we get it, shadow smashers," growled Rip. "You're scary monsters who want us gone." "STERMONT WILL BE DARK AND WINTRY ALL YEAR LONG! NO TREES! NO FLOWERS! AND CERTAINLY NO PEOPLE!"

隆隆声更响了，天空变得更黑了。 现在手电筒似乎只照在他们前面几英尺的地方。 “没用的，”瑞普说。“我们的灯太弱了。” “你的就寝时间总是过了！”斯特蒙将是我们的！”“好了，我们明白了，阴影粉碎者。”瑞普咆哮道。 “你们是想让我们消失的可怕怪物。” “斯特蒙特一整年都将是黑暗和寒冷的！”没有树木!没有花!当然也没有人！”

Alexander lowered his flashlight. "The two of us are no match for a gazillion shadow smashers." Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. "No, but the three of us might be." Nikki stepped out of the gloom. "Nikki!" said Alexander. "You came back?" Even Rip seemed happy to see her. "Yep," said Nikki, flipping her hood off her head. "I took an oath to protect my town, and I intend to keep it. Now all we need is a plan!"

亚历山大放下手电筒。 “我们两个不是无数阴影粉碎者的对手。” 接着，他感到有人拍了拍他的肩膀。 “不，但我们三个可能是。” 妮基从黑暗中走出来。 “尼基！”亚历山大说。“你回来了？”就连里普见到她似乎也很高兴。 “是的，”妮基说着，把兜帽从头上掀开。 “我发誓要保护我的城镇，我打算遵守诺言。 现在我们只需要一个计划！”