Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 "Must have been a wildfire," Mom said. "California's had some big ones lately." They drove more slowly, and Josh took it all in. He'd seen some videos of wildfires—flames shooting up into the sky, black smoke, big planes dumping water and that bright red foam from the sky.

“一定是一场野火，”妈妈说。 “加州最近发生了一些大地震。” 他们开得更慢了，乔什都看清楚了。 他看过一些野火的视频——火焰直冲云霄，冒着黑烟，大飞机在喷水，天空中冒出鲜红色的泡沫。

But none of it seemed real. It was like a clip from a disaster movie, or even a video game. Josh hadn't thought about what it really meant for a whole forest to burn up. Now Josh gaped at the dead trees around him—there had to be thousands of them. They reminded him of skeletons, all bare and charred and twisted, their spiked branches reaching out like bony arms. He was glad when he and Mom finally drove out of the burned area, and the forest turned green again. A little ways up, Mom stopped at a small store so they could get some snacks. "Looks like you had a fire around here," Mom said to the gray-haired woman at the cash register. "Sure did," the woman said, ringing up their chips and waters. "July of 2015. Burned for a whole week." "Goodness!" Mom said. "Lost some houses, too," the woman added, shaking her head sadly. "These fires are happening

但这一切似乎都不真实。 这就像灾难电影的片段，甚至像电子游戏。 乔什还没想过整片森林被烧毁到底意味着什么。 现在，乔希目瞪口呆地看着周围的枯树——那里肯定有成千上万棵。 它们让他想起光秃秃的、烧焦的、扭曲的骷髅，带尖刺的树枝伸出来像骨瘦如柴的手臂。 当他和妈妈终于开车驶出被烧毁的地区时，他很高兴，森林又变绿了。 再往上走一段路，妈妈在一家小商店前停了下来，让他们买些零食。 “看来你这儿着火了，”妈妈对收银台前头发花白的女人说。 “当然，”女人一边说，一边给他们的薯片和水打了电话。 “2015年7月。烧了整整一个星期。” “天哪!”母亲说。“还失去了一些房子，”那个女人悲哀地摇着头补充说。 “这些火灾正在发生

more and more. Up and down California. Other places, too." "Why is that?" Mom asked, swiping her credit card. "I'm no scientist," the woman said, putting their snacks into a paper bag. "But it has to be the weather—everything's out of whack. Our summers are so long and hot; we hardly get any rain anymore." "Our weather's strange in New Jersey, too," Mom said. That's for sure, Josh thought. And not just the broiling summers. Winters were wild, too. One day you could get frostbite from the cold and the next day it was warm enough to wear a T-shirt. Mom wished the woman luck and they left the store. Josh was just buckling his seat belt when his phone buzzed. He picked it up, figuring it was Dad—he and Josh had been in touch all day. But this time it was Greg.

越来越多。加州上下。 其他地方也一样。”“为什么？”妈妈一边刷信用卡一边问。 “我不是科学家，”女人说着，把他们的零食放进一个纸袋里。 “但一定是天气的原因——一切都不正常。 我们的夏天又长又热；我们现在几乎不下雨了。” “我们新泽西的天气也很奇怪，”妈妈说。 这是肯定的，乔希想。 不仅仅是炎热的夏天。 冬天也是狂野的。今天你可能会因为寒冷而冻伤，第二天天气就暖和起来，可以穿件t恤了。 妈妈祝那个女人好运，然后他们离开了商店。 乔希正在系安全带，这时他的手机响了。 他把电话捡起来，以为是爸爸打来的——他和乔希整整联系了一天。 但这次是格雷格。

Hey. You alive? Barely, Josh wrote back, smiling as he pictured Greg's goofy grin. They'd been best buddies since preschool. Josh loved the guy, even if he could be a little dopey at times. Like a couple of nights ago. They'd been playing video games in Josh's basement, wolfing down chips and Oreos. Suddenly Greg turned to him and said, "Don't worry. I hear your dad probably won't have to go to jail for too long." Josh had just stared at Greg, amazed that he could make such a dumb joke. "I'm kidding," Greg said quickly. "I know," Josh said. "But it's not funny." Mom and Dad were still pretty upset about Dad getting arrested for no reason. "I'm really sorry," Greg said, and for a second Josh was afraid Greg was going to start crying. "Forget it," Josh said, giving Greg a friendly shove. He knew Greg wasn't trying to be mean. And why wreck a fun night?

嘿。你活着吗?勉强吧，乔希回了信，想象着格雷格傻笑的样子，他笑了。 他们从幼儿园开始就是最好的朋友。 乔什爱他，尽管他有时会有点笨。 就像几天前的晚上。 他们一直在乔什家的地下室玩电子游戏，狼吞虎咽地吃薯片和奥利奥。 突然，格雷格转向他说：“别担心。 我听说你爸爸可能不会在监狱里呆太久。” 乔希只是盯着格雷格，惊讶于他能开这么愚蠢的玩笑。 “我在开玩笑，”格雷格赶紧说。 “我知道，”乔希说。“但这并不好笑。” 爸爸妈妈还在为爸爸无缘无故被逮捕而难过。 “我真的很抱歉。”格雷格说。有那么一瞬间，乔希害怕格雷格要哭了。 “算了吧。”乔希说，友好地推了格雷格一把。 他知道格雷格不是故意的。 为什么要破坏一个愉快的夜晚？

Too bad Greg wasn't here with him now. This car ride would be way more exciting. They texted back and forth about the Yankees until Greg had to go. Don't have too much fun, Greg wrote. Josh signed off with a googly-eyed, tongue-out emoji. An hour later, Mom turned off the main street onto a skinny dirt road. They bumped along, driving deeper and deeper into the woods. Finally, they came to a small white house. "How charming," Mom said as they stepped out of the car. Josh guessed so. The house had a front porch with a picnic table and two rocking chairs. There were pots of flowers everywhere and all kinds of birds chirping and swooping around. It reminded Josh of a house from a kids' picture book. He half

可惜格雷格现在不在他身边。 开车兜风肯定更刺激。 他们来回发短信说扬基队的事，直到格雷格不得不离开。 不要玩得太开心，格雷格写道。 乔希最后用了一个瞪大眼睛、吐舌头的表情符号。 一小时后，妈妈拐出主干道，走上一条狭窄的土路。 他们颠簸着向前行驶，越来越深入树林。 最后，他们来到了一座白色的小房子前。 “真迷人，”他们下了车，妈妈说。 乔什猜是的。房子的前廊上有一张野餐桌和两把摇椅。 到处都是花盆，各种各样的鸟儿叽叽喳喳地飞来飞去。 这让乔希想起了儿童图画书里的房子。 他一半

expected Goldilocks to come skipping out the front door. They heard voices—a woman and a girl—echoing somewhere outside, in the back of the house. "Why don't you grab the suitcases and bring them to the porch," Mom said to Josh. "I'll go find Holly and Nicole." Josh hauled his duffel and Mom's suitcase up to the porch, then walked back to the car. He looked around some more, squinting in the sun. No basketball hoop. And he doubted there was a pool. Josh's heart sank as he imagined the boring week ahead. He fished his phone out of his pocket. He made a funny bored face and snapped a selfie for Dad. Hi from the middle of nowhere, he typed. But then when he tried to send it, it wouldn't go through.

期待着金凤花姑娘从前门蹦出来。 他们听到屋外某个地方传来回音——一个女人和一个女孩。 妈妈对乔希说：“你为什么不把手提箱拿到门廊去呢？” “我去找霍莉和妮可。” 乔希把他的行李袋和妈妈的手提箱拖到门廊上，然后走回车上。 他又向四周看了看，在阳光下眯着眼睛。 没有篮球圈。他怀疑有没有游泳池。 想象着即将到来的无聊的一周，乔希的心一沉。 他从口袋里掏出手机。 他做了一个有趣的无聊的表情，给爸爸拍了一张自拍照。 “你好，来自偏僻的地方，”他写道。 但当他想发的时候，却发不出去。