10 DANGER MAKES THEM YAWN

DANGER MAKES THEM YAWN She twisted it again—No! Midnight! Time to get up! Very quietly, Bean put on her clothes. She stood still and listened to make sure no one was awake. The only sound was her own breathing. Danger makes me laugh, she reminded herself. But she was too tired to laugh, and anyway, if she laughed, her mom might wake up. Bean slipped out of her room and went downstairs. She stopped in her mom's office to borrow her phone, the one with the camera, and then she got the flashlight, and finally there was nothing else to do except go outside. In the front hallway, Bean took a deep

危险使他们打哈欠。她又捻了捻——不！午夜!该起床了！比恩悄悄地穿上衣服。 她站着不动，仔细听着，以确保没有人醒着。 唯一的声音是她自己的呼吸声。 危险使我发笑，她提醒自己。 但她太累了，笑不出来，而且，如果她笑了，她妈妈可能会醒过来。 比恩溜出她的房间，下楼去了。 她在她妈妈的办公室停了下来，借了她的手机，就是那个有摄像头的，然后她又拿了手电筒，最后除了出去没别的事可做了。 在前面的走廊里，比恩深吸了一口

breath. She got ready for the dark and the cold and maybe a big and mean person. Everyone else was cozy in their warm beds. Nobody knew what she was doing. She was all alone. Al Seven never seemed lonely. There was something weird about him, Bean decided. She opened the door. The porch looked regular, but the rest of Pancake Court was blueish-blackish and empty. Bean sat down on her top step, and looked out over the nighttime world, with its looming, dark houses and rustling, dark trees. The yellow rope glowed in the light of the streetlamp, from Dino's chimney to Ruby and Trevor's grass. She had made it in time. It hadn't grown, not yet. The nighttime world reminded her of Al Seven's black-and-white world. Even though she wasn't cold, Bean shivered. It wasn't the rope. It was the alone.

呼吸。她已经准备好迎接黑暗和寒冷，也许还有一个又大又刻薄的人。 其他人都舒服地躺在温暖的床上。 没人知道她在做什么。 她孤身一人。艾尔·七从不觉得孤独。 比恩觉得他有点奇怪。 她打开了门。门廊看起来很正常，但煎饼阁的其余部分是蓝黑色的，空无一人。 比恩坐在她的最高台阶上，眺望着夜晚的世界，隐约可见黑暗的房屋和飒飒作响的树木。 黄绳子在街灯的灯光下闪闪发光，从迪诺家的烟囱一直延伸到鲁比和特雷弗家的草地。 她及时赶到了。它还没有长大，还没有。 夜晚的世界让她想起了Al Seven的黑白世界。 虽然她不冷，比恩还是打了个寒颤。 不是绳子的问题。这是孤独。

Click. As Bean watched, Ivy came quietly out her front door. She looked over at Bean's house and waved. Then she ran down her front stairs to the sidewalk and around Pancake Court, all the way to Bean's house. To heck with Al Seven, Bean thought as she watched Ivy run. To heck with laughing at

点击。在比恩的注视下，艾薇悄悄地从她的前门走了出来。 她看了看比恩的房子，挥了挥手。 然后她跑下前门的楼梯，来到人行道上，绕过煎饼庭院，一直跑到比恩家。 去他妈的阿尔·西文吧，宾看着艾薇跑着想。 嘲笑，嘲笑

danger. To heck with being tough. Ivy was the greatest. "Hi!" she whispered, as Ivy came up the driveway. "How'd you get up?" "Timer," whispered Ivy, sitting down beside Bean. "Me too! Is yours a tomato?" "Nope, an egg," said Ivy. She looked at the rope. "It hasn't gotten longer." Bean scooted close to her. "I'm glad you came." "I want to see Mr. Whoever-tied-the-rope," said Ivy. "You do? What if he's big and mean?" asked Bean. "Maybe he'll be little and nice." Bean hoped so. They did some waiting. They did some more waiting. They did some huddling. Then some more waiting. Then their tushes fell asleep. They got to their feet and did some stand-up

危险。去他妈的强硬。 艾薇是最棒的。“嗨！”当艾薇从车道上走过来时，她低声说。 “你怎么起来的？”“计时器。”艾薇小声说，坐在比恩身边。 “我也是!你的是番茄吗？”“不，是鸡蛋。”艾薇说。 她看了看绳子。“时间不会再长了。” 比恩飞快地靠近她。 “我很高兴你来了。”“我要见那个绑绳子的人，”艾薇说。 “你做什么?如果他又大又刻薄怎么办？”比恩问。 “也许他会又小又好。” 比恩希望如此。他们做了一些等待。 他们又等了一会儿。 他们聚在一起。然后是更多的等待。 然后他们的牙齿睡着了。 他们站起来，表演了一些单口相声

waiting. They sat down and waited some more. Nothing happened. Bean put her head down on her knees for a while. The while stretched on. She might have closed her eyes. She opened them and looked across the street. The rope had grown again. Bright and yellow, it crossed the street and went under Jake the Teenager's car, which was parked at the curb. Then it went up Jake the Teenager's lawn and over his driveway and up to Kalia's mailbox.

等待。他们坐下来又等了一会儿。 什么也没有发生。比恩把她的头放在膝盖上一会儿。 时间拉长了。她可能已经闭上了眼睛。 她打开眼睛，望着街对面。 绳子又长了。那辆亮黄色的车穿过街道，从停在路边的少年杰克的车下面开过去。 然后它爬上了少年杰克家的草坪，越过了他的车道，来到了卡莉娅家的信箱。

Bean nudged Ivy. "Wake up. It happened." "I'm awake," said Ivy, even though she wasn't. She opened her eyes. "Wow," she said after a minute. "He must be pretty quiet, Mr. Whoever." "Yeah," said Bean. Mr. Whoever was quiet. He wasn't big and mean. That was an idea that came from being scared. And being scared came from not understanding why anyone would stretch rope all over Pancake Court. Bean didn't understand why either, but she was sure, now, that it wasn't a mean person who had done

比恩推了推艾薇。“醒醒。 它的发生而笑。”“我醒了，”艾薇说，尽管她还没醒。 她睁开眼睛。“哇，”过了一会儿她说。 “他一定很安静，不管谁先生。” “是的，”比恩说。那个人很安静。 他既不高大，也不刻薄。这是一个来自恐惧的想法。 害怕是因为不明白为什么有人会在煎饼阁到处拉绳子。 比恩也不明白为什么，但她现在确信，那不是一个刻薄的人干的