Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 7:45 A.M. THAT MORNING SHOGAHAMA, JAPAN The score was tied with ten seconds to go. Ben grabbed the ball and dribbled down the court. He zigzagged around guys who seemed ten feet tall. The crowd cheered. As usual, Dad's voice rose up above the rest. "You can do it, Ben!" The clock was counting down — 4, 3, 2 … Ben shot the ball. It sailed for the basket and hung in the air….

那天早上7:45，日本，坂滨在比赛还剩10秒时，双方打成平手。 本抓起球，带球往球场那边跑。 他绕着那些看上去有十英尺高的人走。 人群欢呼起来。像往常一样，爸爸的声音盖过了其他人。 “你能做到的，本!”时钟在倒数——4,3,2……本投了球。 它飞向篮子，挂在空中....

Ben's eyes flew open. He sat straight up in bed, drenched with sweat, breathing hard. It took him a few seconds to remember that he wasn't at home in California. He was at his uncle's house, in the tiny village of Shogahama, Japan. His five-year-old brother, Harry, had been asleep next to Ben. Now Harry was up, too. "Scary dream?" Harry asked, putting a little hand on Ben's clammy back. Ben shrugged off Harry's hand. "Not too bad," Ben said, careful to keep his voice from shaking. He never wanted Harry to know that he felt sad or scared. And besides, a dream about Dad was never a bad dream. It was waking up that was torture — remembering all over again that Dad was gone. He had died four months ago, in a car accident near the California air force base where they lived. Dad

本的眼睛一下子睁开了。他直挺挺地坐在床上，浑身是汗，呼吸困难。 过了几秒钟，他才想起自己不在加州的家里。 他住在他叔叔的家里，在日本的小村庄滨。 他五岁的弟弟哈利一直睡在本旁边。 现在哈利也起来了。“可怕的梦?”哈利问，把一只小手放在本湿漉漉的背上。 本甩开哈利的手。 “还不错，”本说，小心翼翼地不让自己的声音颤抖。 他不想让哈利知道他感到悲伤或害怕。 而且，梦见爸爸从来都不是噩梦。 醒来是一种折磨——再次想起爸爸已经不在了。 四个月前，他在他们居住的加州空军基地附近的一场车祸中去世。 爸爸

had been an F-16 pilot for the U.S. Air Force. He'd flown dangerous missions all over the world. And he'd died on a California highway, on his way home from picking up a box of doughnuts for Ben and Harry. A few months before the accident, Dad had announced a big surprise: a family trip to Shogahama, the fishing village in Japan where Dad had lived until he was ten. They would go in March, during Ben's school vacation. They would stay with Dad's Uncle Tomeo; they all called him Ojisan, the Japanese word for uncle. Ben had always dreamed of visiting Shogahama. Ojisan was more like a grandfather to him than a far-away uncle. He'd come to visit them in California several times over the years. Ben had heard so many stories about Dad's life growing up in the village. He couldn't wait to see it for himself. But not without Dad.

曾是美国的F-16飞行员 空军。他在世界各地执行过危险的飞行任务。 他死在加州的一条高速公路上，当时他刚给本和哈利买了一盒甜甜圈回家。 在事故发生的几个月前，爸爸宣布了一个大惊喜:全家去日本的渔村Shogahama旅行，爸爸在那里一直住到10岁。 他们会在三月本学校放假的时候去。 他们会和爸爸的托米奥叔叔住在一起;他们都叫他Ojisan，在日语里是叔叔的意思。 本一直梦想着去坂滨看看。 欧吉森对他来说更像是祖父，而不是远方的叔叔。 这些年来，他来加州看望过他们几次。 本听过很多关于爸爸在村子里长大的故事。 他迫不及待地想亲眼看看。 但是没有爸爸的陪伴。

Ben couldn't believe it when his mom announced they were still taking the trip. He'd begged her to cancel, but Mom never changed her mind. "Don't be tricked by that sweet smile," Dad used to say. Mom had been in the air force, too, before she had Ben. "She's tougher than all of us," Dad always said with a proud smile. Mom wanted to go to Shogahama. And so here they were. Harry got out of bed, his Darth Vader pajamas drooping on his bony shoulders. Ojisan's cat, Nya, was asleep at the foot of the mattress. Harry scooped her up. The cat had to be a hundred years old, her black fur rubbed away in places. She was small and scrawny with a crooked tail that looked like the letter z. Instead of saying, "meow," she had a shriek that hurt Ben's ears. "Eee! Eee!" Ben wished Harry would ignore the cat so she would leave them alone. But Harry had decided

当他妈妈宣布他们还会去旅行时，本简直不敢相信。 他恳求她取消，但妈妈从未改变主意。 “别被那甜蜜的微笑骗了，”爸爸过去常说。 在生本之前，妈妈也曾在空军服役。 “她比我们所有人都坚强，”爸爸总是带着自豪的微笑说。 妈妈想去昭滨。 于是他们就来了。哈利下了床，黑武士睡衣耷拉在瘦骨嶙峋的肩膀上。 欧吉桑的猫妮娅在床垫底下睡着了。 哈利把她抱起来。这只猫肯定有一百岁了，她的黑毛有些地方被磨掉了。 她又小又瘦，尾巴歪歪扭扭的，看起来像个字母z。 她没有说“喵”，而是发出一声尖叫，弄痛了本的耳朵。 “Eee !Eee !”本希望哈利不要理会那只猫，这样她就不会打扰他们了。 但是哈利已经决定了

that Nya was a Jedi cat, Darth Vader's special assistant. And somehow the old cat didn't mind being dragged around the house as Harry played his Star Wars games, chasing invisible enemies with his lightsaber. Now Harry rubbed his cheek against Nya's head and looked at Ben with his bright eyes. "Will you help me climb the tree after breakfast?" he asked. "I need to make my wish." Not that again. One of the stories Dad told about Shogahama was that the cherry trees were magic. If you climbed to the top of a tree, Dad said, you could make a wish. Ben knew Dad was just telling fairy tales. But Harry believed in everything. For the whole week, Harry had been eyeing the cherry tree in Ojisan's small front yard, waiting for the rain to stop so he could climb to the top. Now the sky was bright blue, and Harry was ready.

妮娅是一只绝地猫，达斯·维德的特别助理。 当哈利玩《星球大战》游戏，用光剑追逐看不见的敌人时，这只老猫并不介意被拖着在屋子里走来走去。 哈利用脸颊蹭了蹭妮雅的头，用明亮的眼睛看着本。 “早饭后你能帮我爬上树吗?”他问。 “我得许个愿。”别再说了。 爸爸给我讲过一个关于坂滨的故事，说樱花树有魔力。 爸爸说，如果你爬到树顶，你就可以许个愿。 本知道爸爸只是在讲童话故事。 但哈利相信一切。 整整一个星期，哈利一直盯着欧吉桑家小前院的那棵樱桃树，等着雨停，这样他就可以爬到树顶了。 现在天空一片蔚蓝，哈利准备好了。

"You know what I'm going to wish for?" Harry said, leaning in close. His coppery eyes sparkled. "I'm going to wish for Daddy to come back to us." The words hit Ben right in the throat. "Harry," he said sharply. "You know Dad is gone, and you can't bring him back." Tears sprang into Harry's eyes. "You'll see!" he cried, turning and running out of the room with Nya tight in his arms. Suddenly Ben was crying, too. He stood up quickly, angrily wiping away his tears as he pulled himself together. Ben had to be tough, like Dad. During Dad's last tour in Afghanistan, when Ben was a baby, the engine of Dad's F-16 exploded. He had to eject from the plane over enemy territory. He broke his ankle when he parachuted down. But he still managed to escape into the mountains before enemy fighters found him. For six days, he'd hidden in a cave, until he

“你知道我要许什么愿吗?”哈利凑近身子说。 他铜色的眼睛闪闪发光。 “我希望爸爸能回到我们身边。” 这句话击中了本的喉咙。 “哈利。”他厉声说。“你知道爸爸已经不在了，你不能让他回来。” 哈利热泪盈眶。 “你等着瞧吧!”他喊道，转身跑出房间，怀里紧紧抱着妮雅。 突然，本也哭了起来。 他迅速站了起来，愤怒地擦干眼泪，重新振作起来。 本必须像爸爸一样坚强。 爸爸上次去阿富汗的时候，本还是个婴儿，爸爸的F-16战机的引擎爆炸了。 他不得不在敌国上空从飞机上弹射出来。 他跳伞时摔断了脚踝。 但他还是在敌人发现他之前逃进了山里。 他在一个山洞里藏了六天，直到他