12 Pulling, Bracing, Zooming

CHAPTER TWELVE PULLING, BRACING, ZOOMING THE TEENAGERS GAVE Rosie a tennis ball. Simon brought back a spool of fishing line and said, "Mr. Garcia told me to keep it. He's got plenty." I brought back Mom's stretchy exercise band. "What do we do first?" Simon asked. "We have to attach the fishing line to the tennis ball," Rosie said. We wrapped that fishing line around the ball, like, a bajillion times. We wove it under and over and around the ball in every direction. When we were

第十二章拉、撑、拉青少年们给罗茜一个网球。 西蒙拿了一卷鱼线回来，说：“先生。 加西亚让我留着。 他有的是钱。”我把妈妈的弹力运动手环带回来了。 “我们先做什么？”西蒙问。 “我们得把钓鱼线系在网球上，”罗茜说。 我们用鱼线绕了球好多次了。 我们把它织在球的下面、上面和周围的各个方向。 当我们

done, you could hardly see the ball at all. "What's next?" I asked. Rosie answered, "We unwind the spool all the way to the end." The end of the fishing line was attached to the spool with a piece of tape. We peeled it off the spool. The fishing line was really thin, strong, and light. "It's slingshot time!" Simon yelled. Rosie looked at me and nodded real fast toward the parking lot near the soccer field. Max was getting out of his red van. We didn't tell Simon.

好了，你几乎看不到球了。 “下一个是什么?”我问。罗茜回答说：“我们把线轴一直解开到最后。” 钓鱼线的末端用一段胶带系在线轴上。 我们把它从线轴上扯下来。 钓线很细，很结实，也很轻。 “弹弓时间到了！”西蒙喊道。 罗茜看着我，迅速朝足球场附近的停车场点了点头。 麦克斯正从他的红色货车里出来。 我们没告诉西蒙。

Rosie and I each stepped inside one end of Mom's long exercise band. It formed a loop around us. We stepped apart until it was tight enough to not fall down, but loose enough that Simon could pull on it real hard. And that's what he did. He placed the tennis ball against the stretchy band. And pulled. Rosie and I braced ourselves, digging our feet into the grass. Simon pulled. We braced. Simon bent down, closed one eye, and drew an imaginary line between the tennis ball in our giant homemade slingshot—and the soccer ball up in the

罗茜和我各自走到妈妈长长的锻炼手环的一端。 它在我们周围形成了一个圈。 我们分开，直到绳子紧到不会掉下来，但又松到西蒙可以使劲拉它。 他就是这么做的。他把网球放在橡皮筋上。 和拉。罗茜和我打起精神，把脚伸进草里。 西蒙拉。我们做好准备。西蒙弯下腰，闭上一只眼睛，在我们自制的巨大弹弓里的网球和上面的足球之间画了一条假想的线

tree. My legs were getting wobbly. Rosie's were too. I could see them trembling. Simon closed both his eyes for one second, opened them—and let go. With fishing line trailing behind it, the tennis ball zoomed up toward the top of the tree. "Come on," Simon whispered. "Come on!" It was a perfect shot. The tennis ball soared toward Max's soccer ball. It bounced against the branch above the ball, fell back and bounced against the branch below it. Then it wrapped around that lower branch a couple of times. The tennis ball hung and swung there. The trailing fishing line hung there too. "Yes!" Simon yelled. Rosie and I stepped out of the exercise band—and

树。我的腿开始不稳了。 罗茜的也是。我能看到他们在颤抖。 西蒙闭上双眼一秒钟，睁开眼睛，然后放手。 网球后面拖着钓鱼线，嗖地向树顶飞去。 “来吧，”西蒙低声说。 “来吧!”这是一个完美的镜头。 网球飞向马克斯的足球。 球反弹到球上方的树枝上，又向后落，反弹到球下方的树枝上。 然后它绕着下面的树枝绕了几圈。 网球挂在那里摇摆。 拖着的鱼线也挂在那里。 “是的!”西蒙喊道。罗西和我走出了运动乐队

looked to the soccer field. Max was jogging toward us. The three of us raced to the tree. We took hold of the hanging fishing line—and yanked on it.

望向足球场。 马克斯向我们慢跑过来。 我们三个跑到树前。 我们抓住挂着的钓线，猛拉。