5 A Message in the Sky

Chapter 5 A MESSAGE IN THE SKY At this point, you're probably wondering when Coke McDonald is going to be thrown into a giant shredder. You may, in fact, be angry that he hasn't been thrown into a giant shredder yet. Patience, dear reader! Our story is just beginning. Good things come to those who wait. A promise is a promise, and my promise to you is that before this story is over, Coke will most certainly be thrown into a giant shredder. The McDonald family walked north from the Lincoln Memorial, stopping to pay their respects at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Then they crossed Constitution Avenue and wandered around the side streets for a few minutes until they found a little Italian

说到这里，你可能在想，什么时候麦当劳可乐会被扔进一个巨大的碎纸机里。 事实上，你可能会因为他还没有被扔进巨型碎纸机而生气。 耐心点，亲爱的读者！我们的故事才刚刚开始。 好东西总是属于那些愿意等待的人。 承诺就是承诺，我向你们保证，在这个故事结束之前，可口可乐肯定会被扔进一个巨大的碎纸机。 麦当劳一家从林肯纪念堂向北走，在越战老兵纪念碑前停下来表达他们的敬意。 然后他们穿过宪法大道，在小巷里转了几分钟，终于找到了一家小意大利餐馆

restaurant for an early dinner. Pep was still a bit nervous and on edge about everything that had happened to her up to this point. But oddly enough Coke, who remembered everything, had a way of putting the bad experiences out of his mind and looking toward the future. He was starting to relax. And why shouldn't he? Dr. Warsaw was away on his honeymoon with Aunt Judy. He couldn't do anything to harm anybody. Even if that lunatic wanted to, he was severely injured and in a wheelchair. It would be a long time before he'd be able to walk, much less hurt innocent children. By the time Dr. Warsaw's broken bones healed, Coke figured, they'd be back home in California and could deal with him then. In the meantime, they might as well enjoy themselves while they could. That was Coke's attitude. "Are you kids excited about the fireworks tonight?" Dr. McDonald asked as he bit into his second slice of pizza.

在餐馆吃早餐会。 到目前为止，佩普仍然有点紧张，对发生在她身上的一切感到不安。 但奇怪的是，记得所有事情的可口可乐有办法把糟糕的经历抛到脑后，面向未来。 他开始放松下来。他为什么不能？ 华沙医生和朱迪姨妈去度蜜月了。 他不能做任何伤害任何人的事。 即使那个疯子想这么做，他也受了重伤，坐在轮椅上。 他要过很长时间才能走路，更不用说伤害无辜的孩子了。 等到华沙医生骨折愈合的时候，科克想，他们应该已经回到了加州的家，到时候就可以对付他了。 与此同时，他们不妨趁还能享受的时候好好享受一下。 这就是可口可乐的态度。“孩子们，你们对今晚的烟火感到兴奋吗？”博士。 麦克唐纳一边咬着第二块披萨一边问道。

"You know it!" Coke shouted, giving his dad a high five. He had nearly forgotten that it was the Fourth of July and that there was a big fireworks display on the National Mall. It's a fact that making stuff is interesting. Taking stuff apart is also interesting. But destroying stuff and blowing stuff up is cool. It doesn't matter what it is—firecrackers, cherry bombs, M-80s, bottle rockets, Roman candles, mortar shells. Anything you can light up that will explode with noise, light, smoke, flames, and flying debris is cool. Coke and his dad had a gleam in their eyes just thinking about the fireworks. It's a guy thing. That's sexist, I know. And there are exceptions, of course. But in general, it could be said that girls like fuzzy bunnies, puppies, and kittens, while guys like throwing water balloons at each other and setting Ping-Pong balls on fire. Girls get pleasure from shopping and trying on new clothes. Guys prefer watching cars crash

“你知道的！”科克喊道，跟他爸爸击掌。 他几乎忘记了今天是7月4日，国家广场上有一场盛大的烟花表演。 事实上，制作东西很有趣。 把东西拆开也很有趣。 但是摧毁和炸毁东西很酷。 不管是什么——鞭炮，樱桃炸弹，m -80，瓶子火箭，罗马蜡烛，迫击炮弹。 任何你能点燃的，会爆炸的噪音，光，烟，火焰和碎片都很酷。 一想到烟花，科克和他爸爸的眼里就闪烁着光芒。 这是男人的事。我知道这是性别歧视。 当然，也有例外。 但总的来说，可以说女孩喜欢毛茸茸的小兔子、小狗和小猫，而男孩喜欢互相扔水球和点燃乒乓球。 女孩们从购物和试穿新衣服中得到乐趣。 男人更喜欢看车祸

into each other at high speed. I could go on, but you get the idea. We're different. Nothin' wrong with that. Dr. McDonald paid for dinner, and the family walked back to the National Mall. It was already getting crowded on the grass. Some people had camped out for hours so they would get the best view of the fireworks, next to the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial. Mrs. McDonald found an open spot and spread a blanket on the grass. A few kids were throwing footballs around, so Coke pulled his Frisbee out of his backpack and flipped it to his sister. They moved off to the side to have a catch. "Fireworks were invented in seventh-century China to frighten evil spirits, y'know," Coke informed his sister. "They would roast bamboo to create a loud bang that would scare away imaginary one-footed monsters." "Do tell more, O wise one," Pep said, rolling

以高速相互碰撞。 我还可以继续，但你明白了。 我们是不同的。这没什么不好的。 麦克唐纳付了晚餐的钱，一家人走回国家广场。 草地上已经很拥挤了。 一些人在林肯纪念堂和第二次世界大战纪念堂之间的倒影池旁露营了几个小时，以便能看到最好的烟花。 麦克唐纳太太找了一块空地，在草地上铺了一条毯子。 几个孩子在到处扔足球，于是科克从背包里拿出飞盘，扔给了妹妹。 他们走到一边去抓鱼。 “烟花是在七世纪的中国发明的，用来吓唬恶灵，你知道，”科克告诉他的妹妹。 “他们会烤竹子，制造一声巨响，吓跑想象中的独脚怪物。” “聪明的人，多说点吧，”佩普说着，滚了滚身子

her eyes as she purposely flung the Frisbee over her brother's head to make him go chase it. Ever since they left California, she had been getting better and better. Now Pep could effortlessly whip a Frisbee long distances with nearly pinpoint accuracy. She was better than her brother, not that he would ever admit that. "Did you know," Coke told her, "that a simple sparkler can get as hot as one thousand degrees Fahrenheit? You can actually melt gold at that temperature." "I was being sarcastic," Pep replied. "I didn't really want to hear any more about fireworks." "Why not?" he replied. "They're gonna shoot up thirty-three tons of explosives out here tonight! Can you imagine? Thirty-three tons of potassium, zinc, titanium, sulfur, and phosphorus, igniting and exploding before our eyes! How awesome is that gonna be?" "Awesomely awesome," Pep said with zero enthusiasm. "Y'know," Coke continued, "I heard about

她故意把飞盘扔过哥哥的头顶，让他去追飞盘。 自从他们离开加州后，她的病情越来越好。 现在佩普可以毫不费力地把飞盘挥出很远的距离，而且几乎精确到极点。 她比她哥哥强，虽然他不会承认这一点。 “你知道吗，”科克对她说，“一个简单的烟火可以加热到华氏1000度。 你实际上可以在那个温度下熔化黄金。” “我是在讽刺，”佩普回答。 “我真的不想再听到关于烟花的事了。” “为什么不呢？”“他们今晚要在这里发射33吨炸药！”你能想象吗？ 三十三吨钾，锌，钛，硫，磷，在我们眼前燃烧爆炸！那会有多棒啊？”“太棒了，太棒了。”佩普毫无热情地说。 “你知道，”可口可乐接着说，“我听说过

some guy who was shooting off rockets in his backyard on the Fourth of July last year. One of them didn't fire right away, so he looked into the tube to see what was wrong. Then the thing fired and it blew his head off! It blew it clean off! He was still standing there five seconds later with no head!" "Will you shut up already?" Pep shouted. She stopped tossing the Frisbee. "Okay, okay!" Coke said. "What's your problem?" "It's just that I have a bad feeling—" Uh-oh. Feelings. Those things that girls have. Coke couldn't relate. "—I have a feeling something's going to happen during the fireworks show," Pep admitted. "Something bad." "Like what?" Coke asked. "Dr. Warsaw is on his honeymoon. He's not going to bother us here." "What about those bowler dudes?" Pep asked. "They got away in the helicopters. Who

一个去年7月4日在自家后院发射火箭的家伙。 其中一支没有立即开火，所以他看了看发射管，想看看出了什么问题。 然后那东西开火了，把他的头打飞了！它把它吹掉了！五秒钟后，他还站在那里，没有头！”“你能闭嘴吗？”Pep喊道。 她不再扔飞盘了。 “好了,好了!”可口可乐表示。“你怎么了？”“只是我有种不好的预感”哦哦。 感情。那些女孩拥有的东西。 可口可乐对此无法理解。“我有一种感觉，在烟花表演期间会发生一些事情，”佩普承认。 “坏事”。“像什么?”可口可乐问道。 “华沙医生正在度蜜月。 他不会来打扰我们的。” “那些打保龄球的家伙呢？”Pep问道。 “他们乘直升机逃走了。 谁