7 THE DOOR IN THE CEILING

THE DOOR IN THE CEILING

天花板上的门

There was no reason, Bean told herself, why Nancy should have a good day while she had a bad one. She had been waiting her whole entire life to see the attic. "And besides," she whispered to Ivy as they tiptoed down the hall, "if there's nothing up there, how can it be dangerous?" "Exactly," whispered Ivy. "Where are the stairs?" "There aren't any stairs," said Bean. She opened the hall closet. "We go this way." She closed the door behind them and pointed at the ceiling. "See?" Ivy looked up, up the shelves of sheets and towels to a square wooden door set in the closet ceiling. "My mom says it's not an attic," Bean said. "She calls it a crawl space." "Crawl space," said Ivy. "Sounds like something's crawling around up there. Like a monster with slimy arms that drip down to the floor."

比恩对自己说，南希没有理由过得很好，而她却过得很糟糕。 她一生都在等着看阁楼。 “再说，”当他们蹑手蹑脚地走过大厅时，她小声对艾薇说，“如果上面什么也没有，怎么会有危险呢？”“没错，”艾薇低声说。 “楼梯在哪儿？”“没有楼梯，”比恩说。 她打开门厅的壁橱。 “我们走这边。”她关上了他们身后的门，指着天花板。 “看到了吗?”艾薇抬头看了看被单和毛巾的架子，看到了壁橱天花板上的一扇方形木门。 “我妈妈说这不是阁楼，”比恩说。 “她称之为爬行空间。” “爬行空间，”艾薇说。“听起来好像有什么东西在上面爬。 就像一只手臂黏糊糊的怪物，滴到地板上。”

Bean didn't like the sound of that. "My mom says there's nothing up there." "Well of course she'd say that," Ivy said. "Parents never want you to know anything."

比恩不喜欢这句话。 “我妈妈说上面什么都没有。” “她当然会这么说，”艾薇说。 “父母永远不想让你知道任何事情。”

"It's my house," Bean said. "I should know what's in it." She looked up to the door in the ceiling. "Maybe there's another kid up there." "Or some old dolls," said Ivy.

“这是我的房子，”比恩说。 “我应该知道里面有什么。” 她抬头看了看天花板上的门。 “也许上面还有另一个孩子。” “或者一些旧娃娃，”艾薇说。

Bean wiggled with excitement. "There could be anything! Let's get going!" She put her foot on the first shelf. It wasn't as sturdy as she expected. It bent in the middle. She gripped the shelf above—the one that held a lot of washcloths—and pulled herself up. It was harder to hang on to a shelf than a tree branch. Shelves were too smooth. She climbed one shelf higher. Hello, wrapping paper. She tried not to step on the fancy white tablecloth, but she did, just a little. Another shelf. Ugly green towels she had never seen before. Bean looked up. The wooden square was getting closer. She looked down. The floor was far away. Ivy waved. "You're doing great." "Aren't you coming?" asked Bean. "Oh. Sure." Ivy stepped onto the bottom shelf. "Gosh. It bends." She took a deep breath, caught hold of the washcloth shelf, and pulled herself up. "You guys have a lot of towels." "Uh," Bean grunted. She was concentrating. She climbed past a bowl of fake fruit and bonked her head on the ceiling. "Ow." Holding on to the shelf

比恩兴奋地扭动着身体。 “什么都有可能！”我们走吧！”她把脚放在第一个架子上。 它不像她想象的那么结实。 它在中间弯曲。她抓住上面的架子——那个放了很多毛巾的架子——把自己拉了上去。 把它挂在架子上比挂在树枝上更难。 架子太光滑了。她又爬了一个架子。 你好，包装纸。她尽量不让自己踩到漂亮的白色桌布，但还是踩了一下。 另一个架子上。她从未见过丑陋的绿色毛巾。 比恩抬起头。木广场越来越近了。 她低下头。地板离得很远。 艾薇挥手。“你做得很好。” “你不来吗？”比恩问。 “哦。当然。”艾薇走到最下面的架子上。 “天啊。它弯曲。”她深吸了一口气，抓住毛巾架，把自己拉了起来。 “你们有很多毛巾。” “呃，”比恩咕哝道。她在集中注意力。 她爬过一碗假水果，头撞在天花板上。 “噢。”抓住架子

as tight as she could, she looked up. The door to the attic wasn't really a door. It was a square of wood in a frame. It didn't have a handle or hinges or anything. Bean leaned out, trying not to look down, and pushed against the wood square with her hand. Nothing happened. "What's going on up there?" said Ivy. "Can't get it open," Bean puffed. "Scooch over." Now Ivy was leaning out, too. "We'll push at the same time. One."

她紧紧地抬起头来。 通往阁楼的门其实并不是门。 那是一个方框里的木头。 它既没有把手也没有铰链什么的。 比恩探出身子，尽量不往下看，用手推着木头方块。 什么也没有发生。“上面发生了什么事？”艾薇问。 “打不开。”憨豆喘着气说。 “挪过去。”现在艾薇也探出了身子。 “我们会同时推。 一个。”