10 Leaves Dropping

Chapter 10 Leaves Dropping I spun around and ran toward the back of the bookstore. I saw an open doorway and flew inside. I was in a tiny office. A lady sat at a desk, talking on the phone. She had a tissue in her hand and a red nose. She looked very surprised to see me. "Sweetie, you're not supposed to be in here," she said. "This is the office. Are you lost?" "No, I'm just looking," I said, because that's what my mom always says to store helpers. "Well, just let me finish up this call, and I'll see if I can help you," she said. I peeked out the door. No-name was waiting for me. Her tail swished back and forth like windshield wipers. She was plotting how to cross my path.

我转身向书店后面跑去。 我看见一扇门开着，就飞了进去。 我在一间很小的办公室里。一位女士坐在桌旁讲电话。 她手里拿着一张纸巾，鼻子是红色的。 看到我，她显得很惊讶。 “亲爱的，你不应该在这里，”她说。 “这是办公室。你迷路了吗?”“不，我只是看看，”我说，因为这是我妈妈经常对店员说的话。 “好吧，让我打完这个电话，我看看能不能帮到你，”她说。 我从门往外偷看。没有人在等我。 她的尾巴像雨刷一样来回摆动。 她在密谋如何穿过我的道路。

I could see it in her shiny green eyes. The office lady sneezed. "Yes, I know," she said into the phone. "She's a darling kitten, but I'm so allergic. I'm sure someone will take her home on Saturday." I heard footsteps. Dad poked his head in the door. "Roscoe," he said. "That cat is not going to give you bad luck. But I will, if you don't start listening to reason." "Can I help you, sir?" the lady asked. "Just collecting my son," Dad said. He took my hand and pulled me out of the office. No-name sat in the aisle, swishing her tail and waiting for her chance to curse me. "Run, Dad," I yelled. I rushed toward the exit as fast as I could. No-name rushed after me. Just as I reached the front door, it swung open. A boy carrying a strawberry milkshake came in. I crashed into him. He crashed into me. The strawberry milkshake crashed into my Tshirt.

我能从她闪亮的绿眼睛里看出来。 办公室的女职员打了个喷嚏。“是的，我知道，”她对着电话说。 “她是一只可爱的小猫，但我很过敏。 我相信星期六会有人送她回家的。” 我听到脚步声。爸爸把头伸进门里。 “罗斯科，”他说。“那只猫不会给你带来坏运气。 但我会的，如果你不开始听道理的话。” “我能为您效劳吗，先生?”女士问道。 “来接我儿子，”爸爸说。 他拉着我的手，把我拉出了办公室。 无名坐在过道里，摇着尾巴，等着诅咒我的机会。 “快跑，爸爸。”我喊道。我以最快的速度向出口冲去。 没有人追着我。我刚走到前门，门就开了。 一个拿着草莓奶昔的男孩走了进来。 我撞上了他。他撞了我。 草莓奶昔撞到我的t恤上了。

No-name took one look at the mess and ran the other way. I was pink. And milky. But I'd outsmarted that bad-luck kitty. "Roscoe, what happened to your white T-shirt?" Mom asked when we got home. "A strawberry milkshake ran into me," I said. "We stopped by the bookstore so Roscoe could take a guess on the megapumpkin," Dad said. "I met No-name, by the way, Hazel. She is a very

无名小卒看了一眼混乱的景象，就跑开了。 我是粉红色的。和牛奶。但我比那只倒霉猫聪明多了。 “罗斯科，你的白t恤怎么了?”我们到家时妈妈问。 “一个草莓奶昔撞到了我，”我说。 “我们在书店停了一下，让罗斯科猜一下那个大南瓜是什么，”爸爸说。 “顺便说一下，我遇到了无名氏，黑兹尔。 她是一个

cute kitty. Although Roscoe might not agree with me." "Can we have her, Dad? Can we, please?" Hazel begged. "I could dress her in my doll clothes and name her Bitsy Boo." "Bitsy Boo? You've got to be kidding!" Max laughed. "How about Rocky?" Hazel shook her head. "Nope. She's a girl and she needs a girl name." "Well, call her what you want. But you can't dress her in doll clothes," Max said. "Right, Mom?" "Right," said Mom. "Cats generally aren't in favor of playing dress-up." "Everybody," I said loudly, "we can't get No-name." "We're just considering the idea," Dad said. "We haven't made a final decision." "But you can't get her," I said.

可爱的小猫。虽然罗斯科可能不同意我的观点。” “我们能拥有她吗，爸爸?”我们可以吗?”淡褐色的恳求。 “我可以给她穿上我的娃娃服，给她起名叫贝西布。” “极小的布?你在开玩笑吧!”马克斯笑了。 “洛奇怎么样?”海瑟摇了摇头。 “不。她是个女孩，她需要一个女孩的名字。” “好吧，随你怎么叫她。 但你不能给她穿洋娃娃的衣服，”马克斯说。 “妈妈,对吗?”“好的，”妈妈说。 “猫通常不喜欢玩装扮游戏。” “大家，”我大声说，“我们不能叫无名号。” “我们正在考虑这个主意，”爸爸说。 “我们还没有做出最终决定。” “但是你得不到她，”我说。

"Roscoe, I told you that black cats are not bad luck," Mom said. I took a big breath. "We can't get her because I heard the lady in the bookstore office say someone was for sure already taking her home on Saturday. I was sort of eavesdropping." Hazel's eyes got wide. "Mommy, what's leaves dropping?" she asked. "Listening to a conversation you're not supposed to be listening to," said Mom. "Are you sure about this, Roscoe?" Dad asked. "Positive," I said. At least I was pretty sure that's what the lady said. Maybe not exactly sure. But kind of sure. And besides, I didn't want my family to have bad luck move in with them. Shoelace-grabbing, cute-purring, big-eye-blinking bad luck. Hazel's eyes got wet with tears. "But I wanted her to be my kitty!" she sobbed. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," said Mom. "If we decide to get a kitty, there are lots of sweet cats at the animal shelter."

“罗斯科，我告诉过你黑猫不代表坏运气，”妈妈说。 我深深地吸了一口气。“我们找不到她，因为我听到书店办公室的女士说肯定有人周六就把她接回家了。 我在偷听。” 黑兹尔睁大了眼睛。“妈妈，什么是落叶?”她问。 “听一段你不该听的对话，”妈妈说。 “你确定吗，罗斯科?”爸爸问。 “肯定，”我说。至少我很确定那位女士是这么说的。 也许不是很确定。但这是肯定的。 而且，我不想让我的家人倒霉，搬去和他们一起住。 抓鞋带，喵喵叫，眨大眼睛，运气不好。 榛子的眼睛被泪水弄湿了。 “但我想让她做我的小猫!”她抽泣着说。 “对不起，宝贝，”妈妈说。 “如果我们决定养一只小猫，动物收容所有很多可爱的猫。”

Goofy trotted over to Hazel. He tried to lick her tears. She blew her nose on Mom's shirt. She looked so sad. "Hazel," I said. "Maybe…" "Maybe what?" Hazel asked, sniffling loudly. "Um, never mind," I said. I was not exactly sure what I was going to say. Maybe I was going to say that maybe I wasn't really sure about No-name being taken already. Maybe. But I guess I'll never know, because I didn't say it.

高飞小跑着走向黑兹尔。 他试图舔她的眼泪。 她用妈妈的衬衫擤鼻涕。 她看起来很伤心。“黑兹尔，”我说。 “也许……”“也许什么?”黑兹尔大声抽泣着问。 “嗯，没关系，”我说。我不太确定我要说什么。 也许我想说也许我真的不确定无名氏是否已经被人取走了。 也许吧。但我想我永远不会知道，因为我没说。