17 Bad Atmosphere

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN BAD ATMOSPHERE Atmospheric particles (noun). These are teeny-tiny particles (like dust) suspended in the air. And guess what? Snowflakes form when supercold water droplets freeze onto these particles. particles. So even though particles are small, they can have mighty jobs to do. IT WAS 12:25. I was supposed to leave at 12:15 to pick up Liam's ice cream cake. But I had forgotten to reset the alarm on my watch. My rocket was ready, but it didn't matter; I had to leave. "Got to go!" I yelled. "But your rocket!" Tala pointed at my packet of fuel. "It's all ready to go now." "You can do it for me. Take a video!" I shouted. "I'll meet you guys at Brewster's in a bit. I've got to get to my brother's birthday party." And pick up the cake. But I didn't say that part. There really wasn't time to explain. At the edge of the parking lot, I grabbed my wagon and bolted. On the field, I heard the chemistry club members counting down, "Ten, nine, eight..." and I thought about how I had my own countdown.

第十七章恶劣大气大气微粒（名词）。 这些是悬浮在空气中的微小颗粒（如灰尘）。 你猜怎么着？当过冷的水滴冻结在这些颗粒上时，雪花就形成了。 粒子。因此，即使粒子很小，它们也可以发挥巨大的作用。 当时是12:25。我本该12点15分离开去买利亚姆的冰淇淋蛋糕。 但是我忘了给手表调闹钟了。 我的火箭已经准备好了，但没关系；我不得不离开。 “我得走了！”我喊道。“但是你的火箭！”塔拉指着我的那包燃料。 “现在都准备好了。” “你可以帮我。拍个视频吧！”我叫道。 “我一会儿在布鲁斯特酒吧见你们。 我得去参加我哥哥的生日聚会了。” 拿起蛋糕。但我没说那部分。 真的没有时间解释了。 在停车场边上，我抓起我的马车跑了。 在球场上，我听到化学俱乐部的成员们在倒数：“十、九、八……” 我想我也有自己的倒计时。

"Three, two, one. Blastoff!" everyone shouted. Turning my head, I watched in awe as the rockets fizzed and whooshed upward! Kids whooped, clapped, and cheered. The rockets soared straight up, going well over the two-story school before arcing back down. It was an amazing sight. But I didn't feel as happy as I should have. The sun slid behind a cloud. The wind picked up, and the sky took on a pink hue, the way it does before the flurries come down. I learned from Dr. Caroline that light bouncing off clouds and particles is scattered. This means that we can see longer wavelengths of color, like pink. Usually, I loved pink. My cowboy boots I was wearing were pink. My quilt had pink in it. But I didn't want a pink snow-sky because that meant trouble. And there was already enough of it today. No. No. Nooooo. Not a snowstorm, too. I charged past some older Victorian houses by the school. They looked like dollhouses,

“三，二，一。发射！”每个人都喊道。 我转过头，敬畏地看着火箭嘶嘶作响，呼啸而上！孩子们欢呼、鼓掌、欢呼。 火箭直冲云霄，飞过两层楼高的学校上空，然后盘旋而下。 这是一个令人惊叹的景象。但我并没有感到应有的快乐。 太阳躲在云后面。 风起了，天空呈现出粉红色，就像小雪下之前的样子。 我从卡洛琳博士那里学到了光被云和粒子反射是分散的。 这意味着我们可以看到波长更长的颜色，比如粉红色。 通常，我喜欢粉红色。我穿的牛仔靴是粉红色的。 我的被子里有粉红色。但我不想要粉红色的雪天，因为那意味着麻烦。 今天已经够多了。 否。否。Nooooo。也不是暴风雪。 我冲过学校旁边一些维多利亚时代的老房子。 它们看起来像玩具屋，

with their towers, turrets, and wraparound porches. If Birdie were with me, she'd slow down and get a dreamy look on her face. Like she wanted to shrink the houses and put one in her bedroom. That was what she'd done when we were younger, when she still played with stuffed animals and dolls. I flew past the little cemetery where Birdie always holds her breath. Because she says it's a thing you're supposed to do. Right now, I would do anything if she could be with me. Somehow, she'd make me feel calmer. Glancing down at my watch, I noted with horror that it was already 12:29. Just one minute to get to McSweeny's, and it was ten blocks away. If I were on my bike, I could get there in five minutes. If I were in a spaceship, I'd already be there. The wagon clunked over pebbles on the sidewalk and chunks of ice. I navigated along the narrow path on the sidewalk as fast as I could go. I imagined myself on the soccer field in the spring, running with my coach yelling at us during warm-ups around the field. I pushed myself to go faster and faster until suddenly, I was sliding. Black ice. No. No. No. I started to tumble down, but I was able to grab on to a mailbox for balance. My head slammed against the

有塔楼、角楼和环绕式门廊。 如果伯蒂和我在一起，她会放慢脚步，脸上露出梦幻的表情。 比如她想缩小房子，在卧室里放一个。 当我们还小的时候，她就这么做了，那时她还在玩毛绒动物和洋娃娃。 我飞过小墓地，小鸟总是在那里屏住呼吸。 因为她说这是你该做的事。 现在，如果她能和我在一起，我愿意做任何事。 不知怎么的，她会让我感觉平静些。 我低头看了看表，惊恐地发现已经12点29分了。 还有一分钟就到麦克斯韦尼了，而且有十个街区远。 如果我骑自行车的话，我五分钟就能到那儿。 如果我在宇宙飞船里，我早就到了。 马车轧过人行道上的鹅卵石和大块的冰。 我尽可能快地沿着人行道上狭窄的小路往前走。 我想象着自己在春天的足球场上奔跑，教练在热身时对着我们大喊大叫。 我逼着自己越开越快，直到突然，我开始滑了。 黑冰。否。否。否。我开始跌倒，但我抓住了一个邮箱保持平衡。 我的头撞在墙上

mailbox but thankfully not too hard. Standing back up, I brushed myself off and blinked away the pain. I'm fine, I told myself. Just fine. And there across the street was the ice cream store on the corner. McSweeny's looked dark, like nobody was there. But Mr. Arvanites was known for not turning on the lights. "Natural sunlight," he would say. "Good for your skin. And saves electric bills." When I reached the store, I noticed a sign that said CLOSED. And there was a note stuck on the door. Waited 10 minutes but had to run to the dentist. Be back in 2 hours. Should still be more than enough time for you to have cake after dinner! Dinner! This cake was supposed to be for right after lunch! I could feel tears welling up. No. No. No. Somehow, I had once again messed up my brother's birthday. Not because he was born on December thirteenth. But because he got me as a sister. I was bad luck. My face, even in the cold, felt hot. My throat closed up. I plopped on the stoop of the ice cream store, my head in my hands. At that moment, I realized something that was quantifiable, observable, and true.

信箱，不过还好不是太难。 我重新站起来，掸了掸身上的毛，眨了眨眼睛，让疼痛消失了。 我很好，我告诉自己。很好。 街对面的街角有一家冰淇淋店。 麦克斯威尼餐厅看起来很黑，好像没人。 但阿凡尼茨以不开灯著称。 “自然的阳光，”他会说。 “对皮肤有好处。还省了电费。” 当我到达商店时，我注意到一个牌子上写着“关门”。 门上还贴了张纸条。 等了10分钟，但不得不跑去看牙医。 两小时后回来。应该还有足够的时间让你在晚饭后吃蛋糕！晚餐!这个蛋糕应该是在午饭后吃的！我能感觉到眼泪涌了出来。 否。否。否。不知怎么的，我又一次搞砸了我哥哥的生日。 不是因为他出生在12月13日。 而是因为他把我当妹妹看待。 我运气不好。即使在寒冷的天气里，我的脸也感到热。 我的喉咙哽住了。我扑通一声坐在冰淇淋店的门廊上，双手抱头。 在那一刻，我意识到一些东西是可量化的，可观察的，真实的。

I was the worst sister in the entire world. I let my brother down. I let my new friend down. And I didn't even get a chance to launch my rocket. This was the worst day ever.

我是世界上最糟糕的姐姐。 我让我哥哥失望了。我让我的新朋友失望了。 我甚至没有机会发射我的火箭。 这是有史以来最糟糕的一天。