23 Curtain Call

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CURTAIN CALL Conclusion (noun). Summarize the way your results support or contradict your original hypothesis. Like anytime you say, "Told you I was right!" UNBELIEVABLY, INCREDIBLY, the show went really well. Sure, there were a couple of slip-ups. One of the dragon's tails came off. And a unicorn mane slipped sideways. And one of the doors wouldn't open to a dragon's cave. But the energy (or N-R-G) was great. Birdie remembered all of her dance steps and didn't look at the other unicorns. Elijah's lightning storm special effects were awesome. During the finale, the lead dragons breathed smoke out of their noses. The crowd went wild. My mom stood up in the first row. And my dad, Ms. Daly, and Liam. And the rest of the audience. The clapping was thunderous. There were whistles and cheers. As the cast took their bows, Mrs. Hansberry nudged me on the shoulder. "Go out onstage, Kate."

第二十三章谢幕（名词）。 总结你的结果如何支持或反驳你最初的假设。 就像每次你说“我告诉过你我是对的”不可思议，不可思议，演出进行得非常顺利。 当然，有几个小失误。 龙的一条尾巴掉了下来。 一只独角兽的鬃毛滑向一边。 其中一扇门打不开龙的洞穴。 但是能量（或者说N-R-G）是很棒的。 小鸟记住了她所有的舞步，没有看其他的独角兽。 以利亚的闪电风暴特效太棒了。 在最后一场比赛中，领头的龙从鼻子里喷出烟雾。 人群变得疯狂起来。我妈妈站在第一排。 还有我爸，戴利小姐，还有利亚姆。 还有其他的观众。 掌声震耳欲聋。 有口哨声和欢呼声。 演员们鞠躬时，汉斯伯里太太轻轻拍了拍我的肩膀。 “上台去吧，凯特。”

"Are you sure?" "Very." Mrs. Hansberry pushed me forward with the rest of the cast to take our final bow. Elijah flashed the spotlight right on me, which made me blink, but I couldn't help grinning. I'm sure everyone could see my tonsils. Then Avery stepped out of the line of actors and toward the front of the stage. For a moment, I held my breath. What was she up to? My stomach plummeted. "There's a tradition in my dads' theater of acknowledging the director with a bouquet of white roses," said Avery. A stagehand hurried onstage and handed her the bouquet. "Mrs. Hansberry, could you please come onstage?" Mrs. Hansberry strolled onstage, with her clipboard still in her hand, and accepted the flowers. "We also have flowers for our accompanist, Mrs. Hagel." Avery pointed to Mrs. Hagel, who waved from her upright piano. Then another stagehand scurried out and handed her a bouquet of yellow tulips. "And also for our assistant director," said Avery, waving a bunch of Texas bluebonnets.

“你确定吗？”“非常”。汉斯伯里太太把我和其他演员推到前面，最后鞠躬。 以利亚把聚光灯对准了我，这让我眨了眨眼，但我还是忍不住笑了。 我相信大家都能看到我的扁桃体。 然后埃弗里从演员队伍中走出来，走向舞台前面。 我屏住了呼吸。 她想干什么？我的胃猛地一沉。 “在我爸爸的剧院里有一个传统，就是用一束白玫瑰来感谢导演，”艾弗里说。 一位舞台管理人员匆匆走上舞台，把花束递给了她。 “汉斯伯里太太，你能上台来吗？”汉斯伯里太太走上台，手里还拿着写字板，接受了鲜花。 “我们也为伴奏师哈格尔夫人准备了鲜花。” 艾弗里指着哈格尔夫人，哈格尔夫人在她的立式钢琴前挥了挥手。 接着，另一个舞台管理人员急忙跑出来，递给她一束黄色的郁金香。 “还有我们的助理导演，”艾弗里说着，挥舞着一束德州蓝帽。

I was shocked. I bowed again and accepted the bouquet. "Thanks!" My parents and Liam beamed. "And thank you for being the greatest cast and crew. The show was amazing!" "Yes, you children were wonderful," said Mrs. Hansberry, gesturing at the crew with a sweep of her long arm. "We're ever so thankful for all of our volunteers who helped with makeup, costumes, and set building. And parents, thank you for your patience. I know that many nights during our fall break were spent running lines at home and finding props. Thank you for lending me your marvelous children. Good night!" She threw out a kiss. And then Elijah made the lights blink as if we were at a disco. There was a burst of thundering applause until the house lights went back on. The show was over. Parents flooded the stage. Suddenly, everyone was taking photos and giving hugs. Liam brought me a silver Mylar balloon that said STAR SISTER. "Thanks," I said. "It was really good," said Liam, waving the program with Birdie's awesome unicorn on it. "It was fantastic," said Mom. "I can't believe how much you all accomplished in a week."

我很震惊。我又鞠了一躬，接过了花束。 “谢谢!”我的父母和利亚姆笑了。 “感谢你们是最棒的演员和工作人员。 这场演出太棒了！”“是啊，你们这些孩子太棒了，”汉斯伯里太太说着，挥了挥她的长胳膊，指了指全体船员。 “我们非常感谢所有帮助化妆、服装和布景搭建的志愿者。 父母们，感谢你们的耐心。 我知道，在秋季假期的许多夜晚，我们都是在家里背台词，找道具。 谢谢你把你那些了不起的孩子借给我。 晚安!”她给了我一个吻。 然后以利亚让灯光闪烁，就像我们在迪斯科舞厅一样。 一阵雷鸣般的掌声响起，直到屋内的灯重新亮起。 演出结束了。家长们涌上了讲台。 突然，每个人都在拍照和拥抱。 利亚姆给了我一个银色的聚酯薄膜气球，上面写着星姐。 “谢谢，”我说。“真的很好，”利亚姆说，挥舞着印有伯迪那只可怕的独角兽的节目单。 “太棒了，”妈妈说。 “我真不敢相信你们在一周内完成了这么多。”

"The dragon smoke was so cool." Liam tilted his head. "Was it real?" "Yes, Liam. Those were real dragons." Liam threw back his head and laughed. "Haha. You're kidding. Those were Cheetos. I could smell them." "I'm proud of Kate for figuring out those smoking Cheetos," said Dad. "It was quite the complex operation." Dad put his hand on my shoulder. "So, gang, ready for some ice cream?" "Yes!" cheered Liam. I scurried away to find Birdie and Elijah and let them know it was ice cream time. It didn't take a lot of convincing. We all jumped up and down singing. "I scream, you scream. We all scream for ice cream!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see Avery looking at us longingly. I raced over to her. "Want to come to McSweeny's with us?" Avery looked up at her dads. "Can I?" "Absolutely, sweetie," said her dad Mark, who nudged her dad Andrew. "Better get yourself a double scoop," said Andrew as he handed Avery a twenty-dollar bill. "We expect change."

“龙烟太酷了。” 利亚姆歪着头。“是真的吗？”“是的,利亚姆。 那些是真的龙。”利亚姆仰起头笑了。 “哈哈。你在开玩笑吧。那是奇多。 我能闻到它们的味道。”“我为凯特感到骄傲，她能想出那些会冒烟的奇多，”爸爸说。 “这是一个相当复杂的操作。” 爸爸把手放在我的肩膀上。 “那么，伙计们，准备好吃冰淇淋了吗？”“是的！”利亚姆欢呼道。 我赶紧跑去找伯蒂和以利亚，告诉他们吃冰淇淋的时间到了。 我没费多少力气就说服了他。 我们都跳上跳下唱着歌。 “我尖叫，你尖叫。我们都尖叫着要冰淇淋！”从眼角的余光里，我看到艾弗里渴望地望着我们。 我跑向她。“想和我们一起去麦斯威尼吗？”艾弗里抬头看着她的爸爸们。 “我可以吗?”“当然，亲爱的，”她的爸爸马克说，他轻轻地推了推她的爸爸安德鲁。 “你最好给自己拿双勺。”安德鲁说着递给埃弗里一张20美元的钞票。 “我们期待改变。”

We all left the theater together. We had our own kids' table at McSweeny's. My parents sat in the front of the ice cream parlor on their own little date. I got my cone with a double scoop of salted caramel dipped in chocolate sprinkles, my favorite. "Want to try mine?" asked Liam. "It's bubble- gum flavor." I shook my head. "No, thanks, I'm good." I eyed my little brother suspiciously. "It's not like you to share." "I'm so happy!" he cried. "The dragons used magic Cheetos! You know, a whole bag of them appeared in your backpack one morning, just waiting for me to eat them!" I cupped my hand over my mouth. "Oh my goodness. You ate them before I brought them to school." The mystery of the missing Cheetos was finally solved. Liam nodded and licked his drippy cone. "Told you it wasn't me," Avery said, laughing. Elijah waved his finger. "I'm keeping an eye on you, Liam." "Especially with anything involving orange snack food," said Birdie. "Next time, just ask first, Liam. Okay? But I can't blame you. Those were definitely yummy

我们一起离开了剧院。 我们在麦克斯韦尼餐厅有自己的儿童桌。 我的父母坐在冰淇淋店的前面进行他们的小约会。 我点了一份甜筒，里面有双勺盐焦糖，蘸着巧克力屑，这是我的最爱。 “想尝尝我的吗？”利亚姆问。 “这是泡泡糖味的。” 我摇了摇头。“不用了，谢谢，我不用了。” 我怀疑地看着我的小弟弟。 “分享可不像你的作风。” “我太高兴了！”“龙用了魔法奇多！”你知道吗，有一天早上，你的背包里出现了一整袋，就等着我吃掉它们！”我用手捂住嘴。 “哦，我的天哪。你在我把它们带到学校之前就吃了。” 奇多丢失的谜团终于解开了。 利亚姆点了点头，舔了舔他那湿漉漉的蛋筒。 “我就说不是我吧。”艾弗里笑着说。 以利亚挥了挥手。“我会盯着你的，利亚姆” “尤其是任何涉及橙色零食的东西，”伯迪说。 “下次，先问一下，利亚姆。 好吧?但我不能怪你。 那些绝对是美味的

magic snacks." Then I winked at my friends. At that moment, I realized something big. Friends, just like polymers, must stick together. They should listen to each other, too. And while science club would always be my favorite thing to do, drama wasn't so bad either. Especially when chemistry was involved.

神奇的零食。”然后我对我的朋友们眨了眨眼。 在那一刻，我意识到了一件大事。 朋友就像聚合物，必须粘在一起。 他们也应该互相倾听。 虽然科学俱乐部一直是我最喜欢做的事情，但戏剧也没那么糟糕。 尤其是涉及到化学的时候。