9 Home Sweet Home

Chapter 9 HOME SWEET HOME "Let's blow this pop stand!" Coke shouted as he and Pep scrambled down the ladder of the spaceship, jumping off the last few steps and tumbling to the grass. Pep got on her hands and knees and kissed the ground. It felt so good to be home. "I can't believe we made it back," Pep said, giggling uncontrollably. "I thought it was all over for us." Seconds later, the spaceship lifted off, kicking up a swirl of dust in the air. The twins shielded their faces and watched as the ship took off and disappeared as quietly as it had arrived. In seconds, it was gone. "Wow," Coke said. "Did that really happen, or did I just have some weird alien abduction dream?"

第九章甜蜜的家“让我们吹灭这个汽水摊！”可口可乐喊道，他和佩普爬下飞船的梯子，从最后几级台阶上跳下来，滚到草地上。 佩普趴在她的手上和膝盖上，亲吻着地面。 回家的感觉真好。 “我不敢相信我们又回来了，”佩普说着，忍不住咯咯地笑了起来。 “我以为我们都结束了。” 几秒钟后，宇宙飞船升空，在空中扬起了一团尘埃。 这对双胞胎遮住脸，看着飞船起飞，然后消失，就像它来的时候一样安静。 几秒钟后，它消失了。“哇，”可口可乐说。 “这是真的吗，还是我只是做了个奇怪的外星人绑架梦？”

"If that was a dream," his sister replied, "I had it, too." It was nighttime. A half-moon hung in the sky. As they looked up, it was hard for the twins to believe that they had been standing on that surface, and now they were standing on Earth. There were trees on all sides. There was no obvious path leading back to civilization. "Where are we?" Pep asked. "I have no clue," Coke replied. "This could be anywhere." "I hope we're at least in the United States," Pep said. "We don't have any money or identification or anything. They won't let us on a flight home." "Come on," Coke told her, holding out his hand. "Follow me. I think this is the way." They walked through the woods, Coke holding his arms up in front of him to push aside the branches and bushes. He had a good sense of direction and seemed instinctively to know which way to go. At one point, the thorns on a

“如果那是一场梦，”他的妹妹回答说，“我也做过。” 那是晚上。半月形的月亮挂在天上。 当他们抬头看时，这对双胞胎很难相信他们曾经站在那个表面上，现在他们站在地球上了。 四周都是树。 没有一条通向文明的明显道路。 “我们在哪儿？”Pep问道。 “我不知道，”可口可乐回答。 “这可能在任何地方。”“我希望我们至少能进入美国，”佩普说。 “我们没有钱，也没有身份证明或任何东西。 他们不让我们坐飞机回家。” “来吧，”科克伸出手对她说。 “跟我来。我认为这就是出路。” 他们穿过树林，科克把手臂举在身前，推开树枝和灌木丛。 他有很好的方向感，似乎本能地知道该走哪条路。 有一次，一根刺上

bush caught on the sleeve of his T-shirt and tore it. "I'm scared," Pep said. "It's dark." "You just survived an alien abduction," Coke reminded her as he stepped over a fallen branch. "You survived a trip to the moon. You can handle a little darkness." Through the trees, it appeared that there was a light in the distance. Coke headed in that direction, confident of his navigation skills. "How much time do you think has passed since we were... uh, kidnapped?" Pep asked, still holding her brother's hand. "Can't say for sure," Coke replied. "I mean, we flew 239,000 miles to the moon, then back. It didn't feel like a long time, but maybe time moves faster in outer space. Didn't Einstein prove that? It could have been a few days. It could have been a few weeks, for all I know." "If we were gone that long, there was probably a big manhunt for us," Pep said. "Hey, I bet we made the local news."

布什抓住了他t恤的袖子，把它撕破了。 “我很害怕，”佩普说。“这是黑暗。” “你刚刚从外星人绑架中幸存下来，”科克跨过一根倒下的树枝提醒她。 “你从月球之旅中活了下来。 你可以忍受一点黑暗。” 透过树林，远处似乎有一道光。 可口可乐朝着这个方向前进，对自己的导航能力充满信心。 “你觉得我们在一起多久了？” 呃,绑架了?”佩普问，仍然握着她哥哥的手。 “不能肯定，”可口可乐回答说。 “我的意思是，我们飞了23.9万英里到月球，然后又飞了回来。 感觉时间不长，但也许在外太空时间过得更快。 爱因斯坦不是证明了吗？ 可能有几天了。 据我所知，可能有几个星期了。” “如果我们离开那么久，可能会有一场大规模的搜捕，”佩普说。 “嘿，我打赌我们上了本地新闻”

"Local news? Are you kidding?" her brother said. "We made the national news. And when they find out we're alive, we're going to be the most famous kids on the planet." "You really think so?" Pep asked. "We were abducted by aliens!" Coke told her. "We walked on the moon! We picked up Alan Shepard's golf balls! This is going to blow everybody's minds when they find out. We could make a million dollars selling our story to the tabloids. I may have to get a publicist to fend off all the requests for interviews." Pep pondered her potential celebrity as they made their way through the woods. She had mixed feelings about the whole thing. It could be cool to be a little famous. But she didn't want to be pestered by paparazzi or have everything she did reported in the tabloids. The light in the distance was closer now. It looked like a neon sign. The twins couldn't make out the letters yet. "Do you think there will be TV cameras?"

“本地新闻?你在开玩笑吗？”她哥哥说。 “我们上了全国新闻。 当他们发现我们还活着的时候，我们将成为这个星球上最著名的孩子。” “你真的这么想吗？”Pep问道。 “我们被外星人绑架了！”科克告诉她。 “我们在月球上行走！”我们捡到了艾伦·谢泼德的高尔夫球！如果大家知道了，一定会大吃一惊的。 我们可以把我们的故事卖给小报赚一百万美元。 我可能得找个公关来拒绝所有的采访请求。” 在他们穿过树林的路上，佩普想着她可能会成为名人。 她对整件事百感交集。 小有名气是很酷的。 但她不想被狗仔队纠缠，也不想让小报报道她所做的一切。 远处的灯光现在更近了。 它看起来像一个霓虹灯招牌。 这对双胞胎还认不出这些字母。 “你觉得会有电视摄像机吗？”

Pep asked her brother. "How does my hair look? If we're going to be on TV, I want to look good." "You look fine," Coke said dismissively. Soon, they came to a clearing at the edge of the woods. They could see the back of a building. "Look!" Coke said, pointing at the ping-pong table where they had been playing when the spaceship arrived. "They brought us back to the exact same spot!" Pep shouted. "I can't wait to see the looks on Mom and Dad's faces when they see us." "I'm sure Mom and Dad aren't here anymore," Coke replied. "They're probably back home in California by now." The twins passed the ping-pong table and walked around to the front of the motel. There was a man at the ice machine scooping ice cubes into a plastic bucket. When he turned around, they could tell it was their father. "I thought you kids went to bed," Dr. McDonald said matter-of-factly. "It's late. What

佩普问她的哥哥。“我的头发看起来怎么样？” 如果我们要上电视，我想要看起来漂亮。” “你看起来很好，”可口可乐轻蔑地说。 很快，他们来到了树林边缘的一块空地。 他们可以看到一栋建筑的后面。 “看!”可口可乐指着飞船到达时他们一直在玩的乒乓球桌说。 “他们把我们带回了原来的地方！”Pep喊道。 “我迫不及待地想看看爸爸妈妈看到我们时的表情。” “我敢肯定爸爸妈妈都不在这儿了，”可口可乐回答。 “他们现在可能已经回到加州的家里了。” 这对双胞胎经过乒乓球桌，绕到汽车旅馆的前面。 制冰机旁有个男人正在把冰块舀进塑料桶里。 当他转过身来，他们知道那是他们的父亲。 “我以为你们孩子都去睡觉了。” 麦克唐纳实事求是地说。 “这是晚了。什么

are you still doing up?" "Dad!" Coke and Pep shouted, wrapping their arms around him tightly. "We love you so much!" Dr. McDonald was taken aback by this sudden show of affection from his children, but he wasn't about to complain. The emotions displayed by teenagers always seem to be on a roller coaster. "I'll never do a bad thing ever again," Pep said, refusing to let go of her father. "I'll never complain or criticize you or roll my eyes when you say something stupid." "Uh, okay. Good," said Dr. McDonald. "Where's the media?" asked Coke. "Did the camera crews go home? I want to make a statement to the press." "Camera crews? Media? Press?" asked Dr. McDonald. "What are you talking about?" "Didn't the police come?" asked Coke. "Didn't you file a missing persons report on us?" "Missing persons report?" said Dr.

你还没睡吗？”“爸爸!”可口可乐和佩普喊道，紧紧地搂住了他。 “我们太爱你了！”博士。 麦克唐纳被孩子们突然表现出的爱意吓了一跳，但他并不打算抱怨。 青少年表现出的情绪似乎总是坐过山车。 “我再也不会做坏事了，”佩普说，拒绝放开她的父亲。 “我永远不会抱怨或批评你，也不会在你说蠢话时翻白眼。” “呃,好吧。很好。” 麦当劳。“媒体在哪里？”可口可乐问道。 “摄制组回家了吗？” 我想向媒体发表声明。” “摄像人员?媒体?记者？” 麦当劳。“你在说什么？”“警察没来吗？”可口可乐问。 “你没有提交我们的失踪人口报告吗？”“失踪人口报告？”