Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 When you're excited because tomorrow is your first day of fifth grade— which, in case you didn't know, makes you elementary school royalty— and when you are not all that tired anyway because you slept pretty much the whole day on a plane, going to sleep is not easy. Michael lay awake thinking about his summer and about the year ahead. He couldn't wait to see his friends and tell them about his and Justin's adventures. Their friend Sadie, in particular, would love hearing all about it. At school, they were pretty much the Three Musketeers, and Michael had been bummed that Sadie couldn't join them in Israel. Michael's thoughts turned to the squirrels in his backpack. He couldn't leave them in there forever. They were, after all, souvenirs. He would need to tell his

第十八章当你兴奋不已，因为明天是你上五年级的第一天——也许你还不知道，这会让你成为小学生的贵族——当你在飞机上睡了几乎一整天而不那么累的时候，想要入睡并不容易。 迈克尔醒着躺在床上，想着他的夏天和未来的一年。 他迫不及待地想见到他的朋友，告诉他们他和贾斯汀的冒险经历。 尤其是他们的朋友赛迪，她会很乐意听到这一切的。 在学校里，他们几乎就是三个火枪手，迈克尔因为赛迪不能和他们一起去以色列而感到沮丧。 迈克尔想起了背包里的松鼠。 他不能把他们永远留在那里。 毕竟，它们是纪念品。 他需要告诉他的

parents about them sooner or later. Michael threw his covers off and took the crusty critters out of his backpack. He held them up, wondering if all the trouble he had gone through to get them to his house was worth it. I hope they don't stink up my room, he thought. Looking around his room to find the best place to display his treasures, Michael decided on the top of his dresser. They would show up best from the highest point in the room. He propped the squirrels up, surprised to discover that, with some gentle pushing and pulling, he was able to arrange their arms and legs so that they could stand up, like posable action figures.

父母迟早会关心他们的。 迈克尔掀开被子，从背包里拿出那些硬壳小动物。 他把它们举起来，想知道他费了那么大劲把它们弄到他家是否值得。 我希望它们不会把我的房间弄得臭烘烘的，他想。 迈克尔环视了一下房间，想找一个最好的地方来展示他的宝贝，最后他决定放在梳妆台的顶部。 他们站在房间的最高处表现得最好。 他把松鼠扶起来，惊奇地发现，只要轻轻推一拉，他就能让它们的胳膊和腿站起来，就像可能的玩偶一样。

"Awesome," he whispered. He'd made the squirrels look like fierce nut-hoarding warriors. "Sadie is going to think these are so cool." He thought for a moment about taking them to school the next day but decided it was too risky. Besides, he needed a break from the stress of toting them around. Being grounded meant that he would have to come straight home after class, but maybe Justin and Sadie could drop by for a quick look. Michael opened the window next to his dresser to help with any possible odor issues. A cool late-summer breeze blew in, and the low rumble of distant thunder sounded as Michael crawled back into bed. He closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep as a light, misty rain sprinkled through the screen, dampening the top of the dresser— and the dry, salty fur of Michael's souvenir squirrels. If the rain had been heavier, Michael probably would have woken up. And if he'd woken up, he might have seen the paw of one of the squirrels move ever so slightly. But it was not, and he did not.

“太棒了，”他低声说。他让松鼠们看起来像是囤积坚果的凶猛战士。 “赛迪会觉得这些太酷了。” 他想了一会儿第二天带他们去学校，但觉得太冒险了。 此外，他需要从随身带着它们的压力中解脱出来。 被禁足意味着他必须在课后直接回家，但也许贾斯汀和赛迪可以顺路过来看看。 迈克尔打开了梳妆台旁边的窗户，以防止可能出现的气味问题。 夏末一阵凉爽的微风吹进来，远处传来低沉的雷声，迈克尔爬回床上。 他闭上眼睛，终于睡着了，一阵淡淡的烟雨从屏风上洒下来，打湿了梳妆台的顶部——还有迈克尔纪念品松鼠的干涩的皮毛。 如果雨再大一点，迈克尔可能就醒了。 如果他醒了，他可能会看到一只松鼠的爪子在轻轻地动。 但事实并非如此，他也没有。