Chapter 2

2 Mei landed back on the ground. She stopped spinning and opened her eyes. When the swirling red light cleared, Mei saw that she was no longer in the community center. The tables and chairs, the big windows overlooking the forest, the

梅回到了地上。 她停止旋转，睁开了眼睛。 当旋转的红灯消失时，梅发现她已经不在社区中心了。 桌子和椅子，可以俯瞰森林的大窗户，还有

containers of beads and wire and clasps—they had all disappeared! Instead, Mei was in some sort of forest—and it was no longer winter. The snow had vanished, and she was surrounded by leafy trees. The air smelled of flowers and ripe tropical fruits. As Mei looked around in amazement, a bird flashed by. Its wings were green with yellow spots, tipped with pink. Everything around her had changed. Have I changed, too? Mei wondered.

装满珠子、金属丝和搭扣的容器——它们全都不见了!相反，梅在某种森林里——现在已经不是冬天了。 雪消失了，她被茂密的树木包围着。 空气中弥漫着花香和成熟的热带水果的味道。 正当梅惊奇地环顾四周时，一只鸟从身边掠过。 它的翅膀是绿色的，上面有黄色的斑点，顶端是粉红色的。 她周围的一切都变了。 我也变了吗?梅很好奇。

She felt different, somehow. Looking down, Mei gasped. Her black jeans and chunky boots were gone. Her legs had changed shape and were now covered in the brightest ruby-red scales. And instead of feet, she had powerful red paws! Now Mei was dying of curiosity. She had to see what the rest of her body looked like. She glanced around. She didn't really expect to find a mirror in the middle of this forest—but then again, anything was possible in this strange place! Nearby, a shimmering lake surrounded by reeds glinted in the sunshine. Mei bounded over to it and peered into the smooth surface of the water. Looking back at her was a ruby face with big dark eyes, an elegant snout, and twitching, pointed red ears. "I'm a dragon?" Mei whispered to herself, laughing. Mei loved acting and had played many different characters in school productions. But she had never been anything as cool as a dragon. And this

不知怎么的，她感觉不一样了。 梅低头一看，倒吸了一口气。她的黑色牛仔裤和粗靴不见了。 她的腿改变了形状，现在覆盖着最亮的宝石红色鳞片。 她没有脚，而是有有力的红爪子!现在梅好奇得要死。 她必须看看她身体的其他部分是什么样子。 她环顾四周。她真没想到会在这片森林中找到一面镜子——不过话说回来，在这个陌生的地方，一切皆有可能!不远处，一个被芦苇环绕的波光粼粼的湖泊在阳光下闪闪发光。 梅跳过去，凝视着光滑的水面。 回望着她的是一张红宝石色的脸，一双又大又黑的眼睛，一个优雅的鼻子，一双颤动的红尖耳朵。 “我是一条龙?”梅笑着自言自语。 梅喜欢表演，曾在学校演出中扮演过许多不同的角色。 但她从来没有像龙那么酷过。 这

time I'm not even acting, she reminded herself. I really AM a dragon! Then another thought struck Mei. If she had a dragon-y face and dragon-y legs, she probably had a dragon-y tail. She turned to check. It was cool to have such a long neck! Sure enough, she had a long red tail with silver and gold embedded in its length, and an arrow tip. That was when Mei spotted something even more exciting. Sprouting from her back was a pair of beautiful wings! Each wing was decorated with swirling patterns, and drops of silver and gold. She gave them a flap and… rose off the ground. Mei couldn't help but let out a cheer… and a red flame erupted from her mouth! The flame licked an apple hanging from a nearby branch. To Mei's surprise, the apple didn't burn. Instead, it transformed from a small, unripe fruit to one that was huge and juicy looking! "Did I do that?" Mei wondered aloud, hovering in the air.

她提醒自己，现在我甚至都不演戏了。 我真的是一条龙!梅又有了一个想法。 如果她有一张龙的脸和龙的腿，她可能有一条龙的尾巴。 她转过身去查看。有这么长的脖子真酷!果然，她长着一条长长的红尾巴，尾巴上镶着金银，还有一个箭头尖。 就在这时，梅发现了更令人兴奋的事情。 从她的背上长出了一对美丽的翅膀!每只翅膀上都装饰着旋转的图案，还有银色和金色的水滴。 她拍了拍翅膀，然后从地上飞了起来。 梅忍不住发出了一声欢呼，嘴里喷出了一团红色的火焰!火焰舔着挂在附近树枝上的一个苹果。 令梅惊讶的是，苹果没有烧焦。 相反，它从一个小的、未成熟的水果变成了一个巨大的、多汁的水果!“是我干的吗?”梅在空中盘旋，大声问道。

"You certainly did," said a voice. "Dragon Girls have special powers, after all." Mei looked around, trying to figure out who had spoken. What was a Dragon Girl? Climbing out of the reeds was a tiny pink creature with rounded ears, dark eyes, and a pompom tail. It was like the fluffiest mouse Mei had ever seen.

“你当然说了。”一个声音说。 “龙女毕竟有特殊的能力。” 梅环顾四周，想弄清楚是谁在说话。 什么是龙女?一个粉红色的小东西从芦苇丛里爬了出来，它长着圆圆的耳朵、黑色的眼睛和一条绒球状的尾巴。 它就像梅见过的最毛茸茸的老鼠。

"I'm Squeaklet," the creature announced, bowing deeply. "Wow, you can talk!" Mei exclaimed. "I'm Mei. I've always wanted to meet a talking animal." "What a coincidence! I've always wanted to meet a Treasure Dragon Girl," replied Squeaklet. "I'm a Treasure Dragon Girl?" Mei repeated, her mind whirling. "Yes! The Treasure Dragons protect this forest's most precious things," explained Squeaklet. Mei had so many questions, but Squeaklet spoke before she could ask them. "Are you going to do some more flying?" "I don't really know how to," Mei admitted. "It's not hard," said Squeaklet. "Just imagine you are using your wings to wave to a friend." "Easy for you to say!" Mei laughed. "You don't have wings."

“我是吱吱，”小家伙大声说，深深地鞠了一躬。 “哇，你会说话了!”梅惊叫。 “我是美。我一直想见到一只会说话的动物。” “太巧了!”我一直想见到一个宝龙女。”吱吱回答说。 “我是宝龙女?”梅又说了一遍，脑子里一阵旋转。 “是啊!宝龙保护着森林里最珍贵的东西。”吱吱解释道。 梅有很多问题，但在她还没来得及问之前，吱吱就开口了。 “你还打算再飞几次吗?”“我真的不知道该怎么做，”梅承认。 “这不难，”吱吱说。 “想象一下，你正在用翅膀向朋友挥手。” “你说得倒轻巧!”梅笑了。 “你没有翅膀。”