Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 No matter where Dex looked, in every direction, as far as he could see, Joplin was in ruins. What was once his city — his peaceful, bustling city — had been shattered into millions of pieces. He made his way into his neighborhood, where just yesterday he had been riding his bike. The streets were filled with downed wires and splintered telephone poles. The trees that had shaded him on hot summer days were now naked sticks, their leaves and branches carpeting the ground. Cars and trucks were everywhere but parked in driveways. They were crushed in the

无论德克斯往哪里看，他所能看到的每一个方向，乔普林都成了一片废墟。 曾经是他的城市——他的和平、繁华的城市——被粉碎成数百万片碎片。 他向他的小区走去，昨天他还在那里骑自行车。 街上到处都是倒下的电线和破碎的电线杆。 在炎热的夏天为他遮荫的那些树，现在变成了光秃秃的树枝，树叶和树枝铺满了地面。 汽车和卡车到处都是，但没有停在车道上。 他们被压碎了

middle of the street, flipped upside down, wrapped around poles. And then there were the houses. Some had been swept away completely, so that only cement slabs remained. Others were chopped up, or cut in half, smashed by trees or peeled open. And what had been in people's kitchens and bedrooms and desk drawers and toy boxes was now scattered everywhere. Someone's family portrait, smudged with grime, smiled out from under a pile of plaster and jagged glass. A page from a children's book blew through the air like a dead leaf. A basketball rolled down the street, as though someone had just missed a free throw. Mixed in with the piles of wood and roof shingles were parts of couches, stuffed animals, a smashed oven, a headless Barbie doll, dishes, pots… parts of people's lives scattered like puzzle pieces. Everything was soaking wet and covered with brown filth. Dex rounded the corner onto his street.

在街中间，倒过来，缠着杆子。 然后是房子。 有些被完全冲走了，只剩下水泥板。 其他人被砍碎，或被切成两半，被树砸碎或被剥开。 人们的厨房、卧室、书桌抽屉和玩具盒里的东西现在到处都是。 在一堆灰泥和参差不齐的玻璃下面，某人的全家福露出了微笑，上面沾满了污垢。 一本儿童读物的一页像一片枯叶一样被风吹散了。 一个篮球在街上滚来滚去，好像有人刚刚丢了一个罚球。 在成堆的木头和屋顶瓦片中混杂着沙发的碎片、毛绒玩具、一个破碎的烤箱、一个无头芭比娃娃、盘子、罐子……人们生活的一部分像拼图碎片一样散落在地上。 所有的东西都湿透了，沾满了棕色的污垢。 德克斯转过街角，来到他的街道上。

Or was it his street? He couldn't know for sure, because there was nothing left. He didn't see a soul. He walked more quickly, gaping in horror at the wreckage of the Tuckers' house. He whispered a prayer of thanks as he remembered that the Tuckers had left yesterday. Their house was destroyed, but the Tuckers were safe in Arkansas. He walked faster and faster, and soon he was running, until he reached the spot where his own house should have been. Mom's car was upside down. Dad's station wagon was nowhere to be seen. And the house. The house where Dex had lived his whole life. The house where Dex had learned to walk and talk and tie his shoes and read and write, where he'd put his baby teeth under his pillow and waited for Santa to come down the chimney. The house

或者这是他的街道?他不能确定，因为什么都没剩下。 他一个人也没看见。他走得更快了，惊恐地目瞪口呆地看着塔克家房子的废墟。 当他想起塔克一家昨天已经离开时，他低声祈祷着感谢。 他们的房子被毁了，但塔克一家在阿肯色州安然无恙。 他越走越快，很快就跑起来了，一直跑到他自己的房子所在的地方。 妈妈的车倒了。 爸爸的旅行车不见了。 还有房子。德克斯住了一辈子的房子。 就是在这个房子里，德克斯学会走路、说话、系鞋带、读书写字，他把乳牙放在枕头下面，等待圣诞老人从烟囱里下来。 这所房子

where he rode around on Jeremy's shoulders, feeling like the luckiest boy on earth. The house that had made him. The tornado had smashed it to pieces, and now it was just a mountain of rubble. And where were Mom and Dad? Where was Zeke? They would have taken shelter in the basement. And now they were trapped somewhere under the wreckage. Dex climbed up the pile of ruins and dropped to his knees. "Mom! Dad! Zeke!" He grabbed hunks of wood and plaster that used to be his house and he started throwing them aside. There were bricks from the fireplace and huge shards of glass and broken plates and Dad's smashed laptop and an old baseball bat. His whole body shook with sobs as he tore away at the wreckage, desperate to reach his family. He barely noticed that a huge nail was

他骑在杰里米的肩膀上，感觉自己是世界上最幸运的男孩。 那座造就了他的房子。 龙卷风把它粉碎了，现在它只是一座瓦砾山。 爸爸妈妈去哪儿了? 齐克在哪儿?他们会躲在地下室里。 现在他们被困在残骸下的某个地方。 德克斯爬上那堆废墟，跪倒在地。 “妈妈!爸爸!齐克!”他抓起曾经是他房子的大块木头和灰泥，开始把它们扔到一边。 壁炉里的砖头、巨大的玻璃碎片、破碎的盘子、爸爸被砸碎的笔记本电脑和一根旧棒球棒。 当他在废墟中挣扎，绝望地想要找到他的家人时，他的整个身体都在颤抖。 他几乎没有注意到一个巨大的钉子

stabbing into his knee, and that both of his hands were dripping with blood. Don't quit. Don't quit. Don't quit. And then something touched his neck — something warm and slobbery. Dex spun around. He looked up, and there was Zeke standing behind him, balanced on a wooden beam. He stared at his dog, his beautiful ugly dog who was soaking wet and covered with dirt and grime, whose tongue was hanging out of his mouth. Where had he come from? Zeke licked Dex again. Dex threw his arms around his dog, burying his face in his filthy fur. And then Dex heard voices calling from the street, ragged shouts that rose up over the sirens that wailed all across Joplin. "Dex!"

刺伤了他的膝盖，他的双手都在滴血。 不要放弃。不要放弃。不要放弃。 然后有什么东西碰了碰他的脖子——一个温暖的、流着口水的东西。 德克斯转过身来。他抬头一看，齐克站在他身后，站在一根木梁上。 他盯着他的狗，他那只又漂亮又丑的狗，浑身湿透，满是污垢和污垢，舌头还伸在嘴里。 他是从哪里来的?齐克又舔了舔德克斯。 德克斯伸出双臂抱住他的狗，把脸埋在肮脏的皮毛里。 接着，德克斯听到街上传来喊叫声，刺耳的喊叫声盖过了整个乔普林的警笛声。 “敏捷!”

"Dex!" Dex jumped up and practically flew toward the street, with Zeke following right behind him. Mom reached him first, and then Dad. They all grabbed hold of one another, and Zeke nuzzled in, too.

“敏捷!”德克斯跳了起来，几乎是朝街道飞去，齐克紧跟在他后面。 妈妈先找到他，然后是爸爸。 他们互相抓着对方，齐克也挤了进去。