Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty My chest heaves. I'm flat on Rover's back, catching my breath. I scratch behind his ears. And I just lie there, feeling my armored battle buddy pant and puff. When I finally sit up, I see my friends. Every human, every monster. They're all grinning. They saved us. We saved them. That's how it should be. I look beyond my friends, to the Town Square in the distance. The Winged Wretches are scattering. Now that they no longer have their king to answer to, they simply swirl off into the night... "Wait! What time is it?" June suddenly asks. Quint looks to the sky. "Based on the position of the Big Dipper and the North Star, I'd guess it is— and this is an approximate guess—8:17. But don't

第二十章我的胸脯起伏。 我平躺在罗孚的背上，喘着气。 我抓挠他的耳后。 我只是躺在那里，感觉我的装甲战友气喘吁吁。 当我终于坐起来时，我看到了我的朋友们。 每个人，每个怪物。 他们都在笑。他们救了我们。 我们救了他们。应该是这样的。 我越过我的朋友，望向远处的城市广场。 有翼的可怜虫正在四散。 既然他们不再需要对他们的国王负责，他们就干脆滚进黑夜…… “等等!现在几点了？”琼突然问道。 昆特望向天空。“根据北斗七星和北极星的位置，我猜——这是一个大概的猜测——是8:17。 但不要

hold me to that! It could be 8:19 or even 8:20. I cannot say with complete precision." "We still have time!" June exclaims. "The final broadcast is at ten p.m.!" A massive smile appears on my face as I look to the crowd. "Hey, monsters—you ever been to this thing called an amusement park?" And soon... WOOOO!!!

让我遵守诺言！可能是8:19，甚至8:20。 我不能完全准确地说。” “我们还有时间！”6月惊呼道。 “最后一次广播是晚上十点！”我看着人群，脸上露出了灿烂的笑容。 “嘿，怪物们——你们去过一个叫游乐园的地方吗？”,很快…… 呜啊! !

Dirk pushes up another Thunder Coaster car. We huddle together inside it, high atop the Thunder Coaster. Beside us, on the steps, Rover is curled into a ball. Quint finishes repairing the radio and we wait. I watch the monsters having a blast: playing games, enjoying the rides. And then, I can't help it —I'm too happy, too proud—and I stand up and I exclaim—

德克又推了一辆雷霆过山车。 我们挤在里面，高高在上的雷霆过山车。 在我们旁边的台阶上，罗孚蜷缩成一个球。 昆特修好了收音机，我们等着。 我看着怪物们玩得很开心：玩游戏，享受过山车。 然后，我忍不住了——我太高兴了，太骄傲了——我站起来大声说——

I did it. I am PROTECTOR OF FRIENDS, DEFENDER OF THE REALM and MASTER CREATOR AND KEEPER OF ALL THINGS. RADICALLY FUN. Instantly, I plop back down, totally red-faced. But there's no need to be embarrassed. June throws her arm around me and pulls me tight, shoulder to

我做到了。我是朋友的保护者，王国的捍卫者，万物的创造者和守护者。 彻底的乐趣。我立刻扑通一声坐了下来，满脸通红。 但没必要感到尴尬。 琼伸出胳膊搂住我，把我紧紧地搂在怀里

shoulder, and Dirk and I bump fists and Quint just beams. "It's almost time," Quint says. And then the big clock at the center of the park strikes ten times. We all lean forward, eyes on the radio, breath held. But nothing happens. Just... nothing. We wait five minutes. Ten minutes. Thirty minutes. In the moonlight, I can see June gulp back her grief. Her shoulder twitches and she wipes at her eyes. And just then, it begins to spit rain. It's not a hard rain, but it's cold and icy. We huddle tighter. Quint holds out a hand, and rain splashes against his palm. "This will be our first winter during the Monster Apocalypse," he says quietly. "Should we wait longer?" Dirk asks. June shrugs. "There's no point, I guess." Quint begins packing up the radio. "Don't worry, June. We'll have it with us. You never know when

德克和我碰了一下拳头，昆特只是笑了笑。 “差不多是时候了，”昆特说。 然后公园中央的大钟敲十下。 我们都身体前倾，眼睛盯着收音机，屏住呼吸。 但是什么也没发生。只是… 什么都没有。我们等五分钟。 十分钟。三十分钟。 在月光下，我看见琼强忍着悲伤。 她的肩膀抽搐了一下，擦了擦眼睛。 就在这时，开始下起雨来。 这不是一场大雨，但又冷又冰。 我们挤得更紧了。昆特伸出一只手，雨水打在他的手掌上。 “这将是怪物天启期间我们的第一个冬天，”他平静地说。 “我们应该再等一会儿吗？”德克问道。 6月耸了耸肩。“我想这没有意义。” 昆特开始收拾收音机。 “别担心，琼。我们会带着它的。 你永远不知道

someone might come on." "But the reception is best here..." June says softly. The gloom I hear in her voice is visible on her face. "You know what?" I say. "We just crushed some serious evil. We saved Earth—again. I'm not afraid of a little rain or a little height. I'm sleeping up here. Tonight. With the radio. Maybe whoever's on the other end just got held up or something. Maybe they're on the toilet or they got, like, really into some movie they're watching and they forgot to call! We'll wait." June looks up, eyes wide and wet. "Really?" I nod. "Really." Dirk and I retrieve a bunch of Fun Land sweatshirts from a shop, and we turn them into blankets. I curl up. June is sitting up straight, staring at the radio. She's the last thing I see as I drift off to sleep. It's nearly dawn when the radio crackles. I look to rouse June, but there's no need—she's awake. It doesn't look like she's moved an inch all night.

也许会有人来。”“但是这里的信号最好……” 琼轻声说。我从她的声音中听到的忧郁，在她的脸上也看得出来。 “你知道吗？”我说。“我们刚刚粉碎了一些严重的邪恶。 我们再次拯救了地球。我不怕下点雨，也不怕高一点。 我在这里睡觉。今晚。 用收音机。也许电话那头的人被耽搁了什么的。 也许他们在上厕所，或者他们正在看电影，他们忘记打电话了！我们会等待。” 琼抬起头，眼睛睁得大大的，湿漉漉的。 “真的吗?”我点头。“真的。” 德克和我从商店里拿了一堆游乐场的运动衫，把它们做成毯子。 我蜷缩起来。琼坐直了身子，盯着收音机。 她是我渐渐入睡时看到的最后一个人。 快天亮了，收音机响了起来。 我想叫醒琼，但没必要——她已经醒了。 看起来她整晚一动也没动。