Chapter 9

chapter nine "We'll walk this sewer until we're far away from that lousy playground," I tell Globlet. "Then we'll come back up and find our way home." "Genius! Genius!" Globlet exclaims. But the farther we walk, the less I like my plan. The sewer is dark and slimy. Dirty water and garbage rush beneath my feet, and sometimes I'll hear a crunch that sounds suspiciously like breaking bone. Only Globlet's glow guides us. I hold her out like I'm some old-timey, Ebenezer Scrooge inn-keeper....

“我们要沿着这条阴沟一直走到远离那个讨厌的操场为止，”我对环球报说。 “然后我们再回来找回家的路。” “天才!天才!”Globlet声称。 但我们走得越远，我越不喜欢我的计划。 阴沟又黑又黏。 脏水和垃圾在我脚下奔涌，有时我还会听到嘎吱嘎吱的声音，听起来像是骨折。 只有地球仪的光芒指引着我们。 我抱着她，就像我是个老古董，埃比尼泽·斯克鲁奇旅店老板....

I feel used useful When we finally come to another open manhole cover, it's been hours. I'm so eager for fresh air that I don't care where it takes us —I just climb up and out. "I'm happy to be out of these tunnels!" Globlet chirps. "All that glowing was making me sleepy." "Only problem," I say, looking around at our new surroundings. "Now I have even less of an idea where we are...." "I know where we are!" Globlet proclaims triumphantly. "This is the place you call

当我们终于来到另一个打开的井盖时，已经好几个小时了。 我太渴望呼吸新鲜空气了，所以我不在乎它会把我们带到哪里——我只是爬上去，然后出去。 “我很高兴能从这些隧道里出来！”Globlet啾啾。 “那些光让我想睡觉。” “唯一的问题，”我说，环顾我们的新环境。 “现在我更不知道我们在哪里....” “我知道我们在哪儿！”环球报得意洋洋地宣称。 “这是你打电话的地方

Earth!" I sigh. She suddenly looks concerned. Wait,we are still on earth, aren't we? Aren't we? Yep, goblet though. The way it looks now, you wouldn't know it. I dimension isn't supposed to look like this. We're in one of those just-built-yesterday neighborhoods, where every house is almost identical to every other house, and the only way you can remember which one is yours is if you plant some tulips or something. Then every time some parent is dropping you off, you gotta say, "It's the one with tulips out

地球!”我叹了口气。她突然看起来很担心。 等等，我们还在地球上，不是吗？ 不是吗?是的，高脚杯。 现在的样子，你不会知道的。 I维不应该是这样的。 我们住在一个刚刚建成的社区里，那里的每一栋房子都和其他房子几乎一模一样，你唯一能记住哪一栋是你的房子的方法就是种一些郁金香之类的东西。 然后每次有家长送你回家，你就得说，“是那个开着郁金香的。

front!" But then it snows and the tulips die and nobody knows the difference anymore. There aren't any tulips here now. Just an endless web of thick, pulsating Vine-Thingies that weave the houses together. "I just want to get home." But that'll be easier said than done. We walk. And walk. And walk. And it's not just that every house looks like same. Every street looks the same. And they're all named after trees! I go left onto Maple Street, which turns onto Pine Street, and loops us around to Poplar Street. Where even are we? We pass a huge, snaking Vine-Thingy that I'm sure we've passed before. The houses are rotting while the Vine-Thingies are flourishing. "I need a sec, Globlet," I finally say, as I take a seat on the ground. "My legs are like rubber." "I know the feeling," Globlet says.

前面!”但后来下雪了，郁金香凋谢了，没人再知道其中的区别。 现在这里没有郁金香了。 只是一张无尽的粗壮的、跳动着的藤蔓织成的网，把房子编织在一起。 “我只想回家。” 但说起来容易做起来难。 我们走。走吧。走吧。 这并不是说每个房子看起来都一样。 每条街看起来都一样。 它们都是以树的名字命名的！我左转到枫树街，然后转到松树街，再绕到白杨街。 我们到底在哪里？我们经过了一个巨大的，蜿蜒的藤蔓，我相信我们以前经过过。 房子在腐烂，而藤蔓却在茁壮成长。 “Globlet，我需要一点时间，”我终于说，在地上坐了下来。 “我的腿像橡胶一样。” “我知道这种感觉，”Globlet说。

Just then, I look over. And I gasp. Wait, we passed this same mailbox an hour ago. Yay, I love reunions. "No, Globlet!" I groan. "That means we're going in circles! We're lost!" A scary question starts gnawing at my insides. What if we don't make it back? What if we're not just lost but we're, like, lost lost?

就在这时，我看了看。我倒吸了一口气。 等等，我们一小时前经过了这个邮箱。 耶，我喜欢聚会。“不,Globlet !”我呻吟。 “这意味着我们在兜圈子！”我们迷路了!”一个可怕的问题开始啃噬我的内心。 如果我们回不去了怎么办？ 如果我们不仅仅是迷路了，而是迷失了呢？

It's like the TV remote. Sometimes you can't find it for a while, but you know it'll turn up eventually—you just have to finally get frustrated enough and go digging between the couch cushions. But other times you lose something, like my lucky slap bracelet, and somehow you just know that it's never turning up. Like, ever. Is that me? Am I now my lucky slap bracelet? Am I lost lost? My shoulders sag. My legs are throbbing and my feet are on fire. I want to curl up. I want to fall asleep to the cute, soothing sounds of Globlet's bubbly snoring. I want to hear— RAWRR Not that. That's a roar. A soft, shrill, barely there roar. I look up. The blur creature.

就像电视遥控器一样。有时你一时找不到它，但你知道它最终会出现的——你只需要最终感到足够沮丧，然后在沙发垫之间挖掘。 但有时候你丢了东西，比如我的幸运手链，你就知道它再也不会出现了。 喜欢,。那是我吗？我现在是幸运拍手环了吗？ 我迷路了吗？我的肩膀下垂。 我的腿在抽动，脚像着了火一样。 我想蜷缩起来。我想在Globlet可爱而舒缓的鼾声中入睡。 我想听-不是那个。 那是一声咆哮。一声柔和、尖锐、几乎不存在的咆哮。 我抬起头。那个模糊的生物。