17 A Wonderland

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN A Wonderland Sodium (noun). This is a chemical element that is a silvery-white metal. When combined with the element chlorine, it can form a crystal known as sodium chloride, otherwise known as salt. Next time you want more salt on your fries, ask for sodium chloride, and you'll sound like a hungry scientist. "IT'S BEAUTIFUL, ISN'T IT?" asked Birdie. We stood in line in the pickup circle in front of the school. The whole world was covered in fresh snow. The white on the boughs of the pine trees made them look even greener somehow. And the sun shone through a patch of clouds, making everything sparkle. "It is!" I clapped my mittens together, staring at the bus. "Look at it. Just waiting for us. All shiny and yellow." Birdie whipped around. "I meant that snow." She giggled. "I meant the bus," I said, "because it's taking us to the aquarium."

钠（名词）。 这是一种化学元素，是银白色的金属。 当与氯元素结合时，它可以形成一种被称为氯化钠的晶体，也被称为盐。 下次你想在薯条上加盐的时候，要氯化钠，这样你听起来就像一个饥饿的科学家。 “它很漂亮，不是吗？”小鸟问。 我们站在学校前面的接送圈里排队。 整个世界被新下的雪覆盖着。 松树树枝上的白色不知怎么地使它们看起来更绿了。 阳光透过一片云，使一切都闪闪发光。 “这是!”我把连指手套合在一起，盯着公共汽车。 “看看它。就在等着我们。 都是闪亮的黄色。”小鸟突然转过身来。 “我说的是那场雪。”她咯咯笑了。 “我说的是公共汽车，”我说，“因为它要带我们去水族馆。”

"I know," said Birdie. She pulled out her bag of ginger chews. "See, I'm prepared. And wearing this." She unzipped her coat to show me her long-sleeve jellyfish shirt. I knew that Tala had her sea star shirt on, just like Memito had his shark shirt. Avery had on her octopus shirt, and Elijah was wearing his beluga shirt. Soon enough, I'd get my penguin shirt at the aquarium. I smiled at the thought. A couple minutes later, Mrs. Eberlin said we had to get organized into our field trip groups. She held a clipboard and started to call out names of the kids who would go with chaperones. "Some of you will go with chaperones from Mrs. Que's class and some from mine. Just listen up as we call your name, and you'll hear who your chaperone is going to be." Elijah's mom got Mia Wong, Skyler, and three kids from Mrs. Que's class, two with nut allergies and one with epilepsy. Since she's a pediatrician, she would know what to do in case of an emergency. Memito went to stand by his grandma and then cheered when Elijah, Jeremy, and Rory joined them. Mrs. Eberlin handed Mom her list of kids. Then Mom read out the names. "I've got Kate, Birdie, Tala, and Julia."

“我知道，”小鸟说。她拿出一袋嚼姜片。 “看，我准备好了。戴着这个。” 她拉开外套的拉链，给我看她的长袖水母衬衫。 我知道塔拉穿着她的海星衬衫，就像梅托穿着他的鲨鱼衬衫一样。 艾弗里穿着她的章鱼衬衫，以利亚穿着他的白鲸衬衫。 很快，我就能在水族馆买到企鹅衫了。 想到这里，我笑了。几分钟后，埃伯林太太说我们得组织好实地考察小组。 她拿着一个剪贴板，开始喊出那些要和监护人一起去的孩子的名字。 “你们中的一些人会和Que女士班上的监护人一起去，一些人会和我班上的监护人一起去。 只要听我叫你的名字，你就会听到谁是你的伴侣。” 以利亚的妈妈带着米娅·王，斯凯勒，还有郭老师班上的三个孩子，两个坚果过敏，一个癫痫。 既然她是儿科医生，她应该知道在紧急情况下该怎么做。 梅托走过去站在奶奶身边，当以利亚、杰里米和罗里加入他们时，他欢呼起来。 埃伯林太太把她的孩子名单递给妈妈。 然后妈妈把名字念了出来。 “我有凯特、伯蒂、塔拉和朱莉娅。”

Julia looked hesitant as she strolled over to us. Smiling, I tried to make her feel welcome, but I could tell she wasn't happy about it. She kept on peering over at Mia and Skyler. "Looks like we've broken up a friend group," Mom whispered. "Sometimes it just can't be helped." I nodded. It made sense, since not all friends were in groups of four or five. Avery went with her dad, along with Phoenix and two kids from the other class. "Would it be okay if I stand with Mia and Skyler until we board the bus?" Julia asked my mom. "Of course," said Mom. "We'll reconvene when we get to the aquarium. After that, we'll be stuck together like superglue." "Okay, thank you so much!" said Julia, as if my mom had just given her a present. She darted over to be with Mia and Skyler, and then Mom ran into the school office to do a few last-minute tasks. Meanwhile I zipped open my backpack and pointed at the containers of chocolate-covered pretzels. "We have these!" After waiting for Tala to join us, we started handing out two pretzel rods to all of the kids. Of course, Memito and Jeremy were first, and they held their pretzels out like swords as they wanted to duel it out.

茱莉亚慢悠悠地向我们走来，显得有些犹豫。 我微笑着，试图让她感到受欢迎，但我看得出她对此并不高兴。 她继续盯着米娅和斯凯勒。 “看来我们把一个朋友圈拆散了，”妈妈低声说。 “有时候就是没办法。” 我点了点头。这是有道理的，因为并不是所有的朋友都是四五个人。 艾弗里和她爸爸一起去了，还有菲尼克斯和另一个班的两个孩子。 “在上车之前，我可以和米娅和斯凯勒站在一起吗？”茱莉亚问我妈妈。 “当然，”妈妈说。“我们到了水族馆再聚吧。 在那之后，我们就会像强力胶一样粘在一起。” “好的，太谢谢你了！”茱莉亚说，好像我妈妈刚刚给了她一份礼物。 她冲过去和米娅和斯凯勒在一起，然后妈妈跑进学校办公室做一些最后的工作。 与此同时，我拉开背包的拉链，指着装着巧克力脆饼的容器。 “我们有这些！”在等塔拉加入我们之后，我们开始给所有的孩子分发两根椒盐卷饼棒。 当然，梅托和杰里米是第一个，他们把椒盐脆饼像剑一样举起来，想要决斗。

Next was Julia. "Have a couple of pretzels," offered Birdie. Julia waved her hand. "Sorry. I shouldn't. It's against the rules to eat on the bus." "Are you sure?" I asked. Actually, that was a dumb question. Julia knew her rules. "You could eat them now," Tala told her. "Or just save them for later. "Thanks," said Julia. "That's really nice." She lowered her voice. "I just don't want to get us in trouble." That's when Mrs. Eberlin stepped up to us. She gazed at the pretzels. She looked over at me, Birdie, and Tala. "They smell delicious," said Mrs. Eberlin. "Thank you, girls, for making them. However," she switched into her teacher voice and announced, "there's no eating on the bus. So either eat your pretzels now, before you get on the bus, or put them away until it's lunchtime at the aquarium." "I forgot about the no-eating rule," I said to Birdie as we climbed onto the bus to look for an empty seat. "Me too," said Birdie, as she shrugged her shoulders. Mom was the last person onto the bus. "I'm really ready for this trip now," she said to me as she stood in the aisle for a moment. "Everything's settled with the

下一个是茱莉亚。“吃两块椒盐脆饼吧，”小鸟说。 茱莉亚挥挥手。“对不起。 我不应该。在公交车上吃东西是违反规定的。” “你确定吗？”我问。事实上，这是个愚蠢的问题。 茱莉亚知道她的规矩。“你现在可以吃了。”塔拉告诉她。 或者把它们留到以后再说。 “谢谢，”茱莉亚说。“那真是太好了。” 她放低了声音。“我只是不想让我们陷入麻烦。” 这时埃伯林夫人来找我们了。 她凝视着椒盐脆饼。 她看了看我、伯迪和塔拉。 “它们闻起来很香，”埃伯林太太说。 “谢谢你们，姑娘们，你们做了这些。 但是，”她用老师的声音说，“公车上不能吃东西。 所以要么现在就吃你的椒盐脆饼，在你上公共汽车之前，要么把它们放在一边，直到水族馆的午餐时间。” “我忘了不吃东西的规定，”我对伯迪说，我们爬上公共汽车寻找空座。 “我也是，”小鸟耸耸肩说。 妈妈是最后一个上车的人。 “我现在真的为这次旅行做好了准备，”她在过道上站了一会儿，对我说。 “一切都解决了。

office. No more snow in the forecast." She glanced at her watch. "Let's go!" she yelled, throwing her fist in the air before sitting down toward the back of the bus with Elijah's mom. "Yes!" we cried. With a tug on her lever, the bus driver closed the door. I glanced back over at Mom to see if she would start telling everyone a bunch of bus rules. But honestly, she was just chatting with Elijah's mom. She was kind of acting like a regular mom. She looked like one too in her jeans and bright blue sweater. I wondered how many fifth graders had ever seen her in anything other than her typical principal outfits. Nobody was even whispering that the principal was on board. Instead Mrs. Eberlin was the one to remind of us of the general plan, which was to get to the aquarium at 10:30, see the 11:00 aquatic show, then split off into groups with our chaperones. We were then to meet back all together to have lunch in a special room set up for us. Mrs. Swensen, our bus driver, pointed out exit locations and said there was no switching around seats. She also told us that we have to drive through Indiana to get to Chicago, which is in a whole other state called Illinois. "You get to see three states today!" she exclaimed. Then everyone clapped as we

办公室。天气预报说不会再下雪了。” 她瞥了一眼表。“我们走吧！”她喊道，在空中挥舞着拳头，然后和以利亚的妈妈一起坐在巴士的后面。 “是的！”我们叫道。公共汽车司机拉了一下操纵杆，把门关上了。 我回头看了妈妈一眼，看她是否会开始告诉大家一堆公共汽车的规则。 但说实话，她只是在和以利亚的妈妈聊天。 她表现得像个普通妈妈。 她穿着牛仔裤和亮蓝色毛衣，看上去也像个孩子。 我想知道有多少五年级的学生见过她穿的不是她典型的校长装。 甚至没有人说校长也在船上。 相反，是埃伯林太太提醒我们总的计划，就是10点半到水族馆，11点看水上表演，然后和我们的监护人分成小组。 然后我们一起回来，在为我们准备的一个特殊房间里吃午饭。 我们的巴士司机斯文森女士指出了出口的位置，并告诉我们不能换座位。 她还告诉我们，我们必须开车穿过印第安纳州才能到达芝加哥，芝加哥在另一个叫伊利诺伊州的州。 “今天你可以参观三个州！”她大声说。 然后每个人都为我们鼓掌

pulled out of the parking lot. Things were definitely looking up. The roads were clear, and Mom said there was no more snow expected in the forecast. I turned to Birdie. "Wouldn't that be amazing if we got front-row seats at the aquatic show? And the penguins waddled right in front of us and you took some pictures so you could sketch them later?" Birdie had called me last night to let me know her mom was letting her bring her phone to take photos and for emergencies. "No flash photography," said Julia from the seat behind us. "I wouldn't," said Birdie. "Good, because it's not allowed." Oh brother. She really did have all the rules memorized. Then suddenly, I heard someone singing "Ninety- Nine Bottles of Milk on the Wall" in the back of the bus. Someone whose voice I knew really well. My jaw dropped. It was my mom. She cupped her ear. "C'mon, everyone. I can't hear you!" And so with each verse, we all started singing louder and with more energy. When we got to "one bottle of milk on the wall," we were all singing so loudly they could probably hear us all the way in Chicago.

从停车场开出来的。 事情确实在好转。 路上很干净，妈妈说天气预报说不会再下雪了。 我转向伯蒂。“如果我们能坐在水上表演的前排，那不是很神奇吗？” 企鹅在我们面前摇摇摆摆地走着，你拍了一些照片，以便以后给它们画素描？”伯迪昨晚打电话给我，告诉我她妈妈让她带着手机拍照，以防万一。 “不准用闪光灯拍照，”坐在我们后面的茱莉亚说。 “我不会的，”小鸟说。 “很好，因为这是不允许的。” 哦,哥哥。她真的把所有的规则都背下来了。 突然，我听到有人在车后面唱“墙上的九十九瓶牛奶”。 她的声音我很熟悉。 我的下巴掉了下来。是我妈妈打来的。 她捂住耳朵。“来吧,所有人。 我听不见！”每唱一段，我们都开始唱得更大声，更有活力。 当我们唱到“墙上有一瓶牛奶”的时候，我们都在大声唱歌，他们可能在芝加哥都能听到我们的歌声。