10 THE CALL

CHAPTER 10 THE CALL I ran into the house. At first I went to get my dad, but then I remembered he couldn't help. I took a shaky breath. Then I I grabbed the phone and called my mom. I tried not to cry while the phone rang. The call went to voicemail. I couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears ran down my face. The dragon was going to die, and it was all my fault.

第十章呼唤我跑进屋里。 一开始我去找我爸爸，但后来我想起来他也帮不了我。 我颤抖地吸了口气。然后我我拿起电话打给我妈妈。 电话铃响时，我强忍着不哭。 电话转到了语音信箱。 我再也憋不住了。 泪水顺着我的脸流下来。龙就要死了，都是我的错。

My dad came running. "Zoey? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I wasn't sure what to say that would make sense. Finally, I choked out, "I really need to talk to Mom, but she isn't answering."

我爸爸跑过来。“佐伊吗? 怎么了?你受伤了吗？”我不知道该说些什么才有意义。 最后，我哽咽着说：“我真的需要和妈妈谈谈，但她不接。”

My dad hugged me and sat down with his arm around me. "You're really missing her, aren't you?" I nodded and tried to stop crying. "She's presenting at the conference right now, so her phone must be turned off. Why don't you leave a message? I'm sure she'll call you as soon as the talk is over." Oh no! Mom's talk! It might be hours before she turned her phone back on. And by then it might be too late. I cried harder. "I know I'm not Mom, but could I try to help? Can you tell me what made you so upset?" If I told Dad about Marshmallow, he wouldn't understand at all. But maybe he could help me with the problem anyway? "I was running an experiment where I fed a creature I found in the barn. It ate a bunch of one of the foods I gave it yesterday. And it looked really good when I came in last night. But this morning it seems really sick. It's barely moving. I don't know what's wrong with it." Dad frowned a bit. "It's not a wild animal, is it? That could be dangerous. Maybe I should come take

爸爸拥抱了我，坐了下来，用胳膊搂着我。 “你真的很想念她，是吗？”我点点头，试图停止哭泣。 “她现在正在会议上做报告，所以她的手机一定是关机的。 你为什么不留言呢？ 我相信谈话一结束她就会给你打电话的。” 噢,不!妈妈的说话!她可能过了几个小时才重新打开手机。 到那时可能就太晚了。 我哭得更厉害了。“我知道我不是妈妈，但我能试着帮你吗？” 你能告诉我是什么让你这么难过吗？”如果我告诉爸爸棉花糖的事，他根本不会理解。 但也许他能帮我解决这个问题？ “我当时正在做一个实验，我喂了一只在谷仓里发现的动物。 它吃了我昨天给它的一堆食物。 我昨晚进来的时候，它看起来真的很好。 但是今天早上它看起来很恶心。 它几乎不动。我不知道有什么问题。” 爸爸皱了皱眉头。“它不是野生动物，是吗？” 这可能很危险。也许我应该过去拿

a look." "No, it's not really a wild animal. It's more of a, um, creature. Mom said it was OK. And, uh, I don't think you'd really be able to see it." Dad looked confused. "Is it another one of your bug experiments? I hope it's not a spider. I really don't like spiders." I shook my head no. "I'm glad you checked with Mom first. Hmmm. Maybe the food you fed it was a little rough on it? Remember how awful you felt when we went camping last summer and you ate way too many s'mores?" S'mores. Marshmallows. Too many marshmallows. Maybe that was it! My science experiment showed me what the baby dragon liked to eat, but maybe not what he should eat. What had my parents done to make me feel better last summer? That was one of the worst stomachaches ever. Let's see, Mom lectured me about eating too much sugar. And she had me drink a lot of water. And eat a really healthy meal that had no sugar.

一看。”“不，它不是真正的野生动物。 它更像是一种生物。 妈妈说没关系。而且，呃，我不认为你真的能看到它。” 爸爸看起来很困惑。“这是你的又一个虫子实验吗？” 我希望不是蜘蛛。我真的不喜欢蜘蛛。” 我摇了摇头。“我很高兴你先问过妈妈。 嗯。也许你喂它的食物太粗糙了？ 还记得去年夏天我们去露营时你吃了太多的s'mores吗？”S ' mores。 棉花糖。棉花糖太多了。 也许就是这样！我的科学实验告诉我小龙喜欢吃什么，但也许不是他应该吃什么。 去年夏天我父母做了什么让我感觉好点了？ 那是我胃痛得最厉害的一次。 我想想，妈妈告诫我不要吃太多糖。 她让我喝了很多水。 吃一顿不含糖的健康餐。

I needed to get Marshmallow some water and some healthy food right away! I jumped up and dashed to the door. Then I stopped, ran back, and gave my dad a big hug. "Thanks, Dad! I think I know how to fix it!"

我需要马上给棉花糖弄点水和一些健康的食物！我跳起来，冲到门口。 然后我停下来，跑回去，给了爸爸一个大大的拥抱。 “谢谢你,爸爸!我想我知道怎么修理它！”