4 Packed Lunch Post-it Notes

4 Packed Lunch Post-it Notes It was hard for Peanut to put into words how much she missed her dad. He had disappeared a year ago, and not a minute went by without her wishing with all her might that he'd walk into the room, scoop her up in his arms and give her one of his famous bear hugs. Every single time she heard a phone ring or saw a door open, she half expected it to be him. Each time that it wasn't, she felt the pain of his absence anew. Peanut's dad was an artist, like her. A painter, to be more precise. And he was good—or at least Peanut thought he was. She had inherited her passion for drawing and creating art from him. He was her hero. She'd loved hanging out in the small,

4 便当便签 皮纳特很难用言语形容，她有多么想念爸爸。 爸爸已经失踪一年了，每一分每一秒，皮纳特都拼尽全力盼着他能走进房间，把她抱进怀里，给她一个他标志性的大熊抱。 每一次听到电话铃响，或是看见门被打开，她都会下意识觉得是爸爸回来了。 结果每次都不是，失去爸爸的痛苦就会重新涌上心头。 皮纳特的爸爸和她一样，也是一名艺术家。 更准确地说，是一名画家。 他画得很棒——至少在皮纳特心里是这样。 她对绘画和创作的热爱，就是从爸爸那里继承来的。 爸爸是她的英雄。 她以前总爱待在那间小小的

bright conservatory at the back of the house that Dad had used as a studio. It had been chaotic, but always full of the most interesting objects: half-empty tubes of paint, old mugs filled with paintbrushes, colour charts Sellotaped to walls, poseable wooden dolls, and easels of every size imaginable. But best of all were the paintings, which had been scattered all over the studio. Some were finished, some were half-finished and some looked finished, only to have been crossed out at the last minute. Peanut loved them all, but her absolute favourites were the empty canvases. Paintings yet to be. There was something so magical about them. Every time she saw that expanse of pure white, she knew that her dad would soon turn it into something more. Something new. She'd felt so lucky to have a father who could conjure beauty out of thin air.

明亮的温室花房里，那是房子后院爸爸用作画室的地方。 画室乱糟糟的，但总是堆满了各种有意思的东西：用了一半的颜料管，插满画笔的旧杯子，胶带贴在墙上的色卡，可摆造型的木头人偶，还有各种尺寸应有尽有。 不过最棒的还是散落在画室各处的画作。 有的已经画完，有的画了一半，还有的看起来画完了，结果在最后一刻被划掉了。 皮纳特全都喜欢，但她最爱的还是空白画布。 那是还没诞生的画作。 它们身上有种特别的魔力。 每次看到那一大片纯净的白色，她就知道爸爸很快会把它变成不一样的东西。 一样崭新的东西。 能拥有一位可以凭空变出美的爸爸，她觉得自己超级幸运。

And then there were the Post-it notes. When she was little, Peanut had been very nervous about leaving nursery and starting school. At nursery, she'd only had to stay for the morning, whereas at school she would have to stay for the whole day. She'd been dreading it. She would miss the fun afternoons she and Dad had spent together and she'd cried for a week in the build-up. Her parents had been very worried. "I've got an idea," Mum had said, the day before Peanut was due to start. "What if, every day, Daddy draws you a little picture on a Post-it note and we put it in your lunchbox? That way, you'll have something to look forward to all morning, and something to laugh about all afternoon. I think it will really help. And just like that, Peanut's Packed Lunch Post-it Note Collection started. Every day, her dad would draw her a picture on a small square of yellow paper and hide it among the sandwiches, yogurts and fruit bars. She couldn't wait to see what she would get each day. He drew pictures of her favourite

除此之外，还有那些便利贴。 皮纳特小时候，要离开托儿所升小学的时候，她特别紧张不安。 在托儿所她只需要待一上午，但上小学后得待上整整一天。 她一直特别害怕这件事。 她会想念和爸爸一起度过的快乐午后，为此在开学前整整哭了一周。 她的爸爸妈妈都很担心她。 “我有个主意，”皮纳特开学前一天，妈妈说道。 “不然这样，每天爸爸都给你在便利贴上画一小幅画，我们把它放进你的便当盒， 这样一整个上午你都有盼头，下午也能开开心心的。 我觉得这个办法会有用的。 就这样，皮纳特的便当便签收藏正式开始了。 每天爸爸都会在一小块黄纸上画一幅画，把它藏在三明治、酸奶和水果棒中间。 她每天都迫不及待想看到当天会得到什么样的画。 爸爸会画她最喜欢的

characters from books, TV shows and films, portraits of family members, mini versions of famous paintings and much more besides. Anything and everything Dad could think of. And every single one would have the words "Love you forever x" hidden somewhere within the drawing. Throughout the whole of primary school and the start of her time at Melody High, Dad didn't miss a single day, and Peanut treasured every note. She would carefully bring them home each afternoon and put them in a plastic bag under her bed. Then, last year, Dad made a special wooden box for her to store them in and "keep them all safe'.

书籍、影视里的角色，家人的肖像，名画的迷你版本，还有好多好多别的内容。 凡是爸爸能想到的，他都画过。 而且每一幅画的某个角落里，都会藏着一行字“永远爱你x”。 从整个小学到皮纳特刚上梅洛迪高中，爸爸一天都没落下，她也把每一张便签都视若珍宝。 每天下午她都会小心地把便签带回家，放进床底下的塑料袋里。 后来去年，爸爸给她做了一个特制木盒装这些便签，“把它们都好好收起来”。

"Why "Little Tail"?" she had asked, reading the inscription on the box. "Well," he'd replied, "pencillus, the Latin word for "artist's paintbrush", translates to "Little Tail" in English. It's also where the word "pencil" originally comes from. I thought it was appropriate considering a paintbrush and a pencil is mainly what I use when I draw them for you. Peanut still had the box, full to the brim with more than 2,000 drawings. Of course, there had been no new Post-it notes since Dad had gone. In fact, the daily reminder of his absence she got when she opened her lunchbox to find no drawing inside was like a knife to her heart. Lunchtime had gone from being the best time of day to the worst. Every day, she asked herself the same question: Where is he?

“为什么叫‘小尾巴’？”她读着盒子上的刻字问道。 “这个嘛，”爸爸回答，“拉丁语里表示‘画家画笔’的单词pencillus，翻译成英文就是‘小尾巴’。 “铅笔”这个词最开始也是从这个词根来的。 我给你画便签主要用画笔和铅笔，所以我觉得这个名字很合适。 皮纳特至今还留着那个盒子，里面塞得满满当当，装了两千多幅画。 当然，爸爸走了之后，就再也没有新的便签了。 事实上，每天打开便当盒发现没有画，都会再次提醒她爸爸不在了，这像一把刀插在她心上。 午餐时间从一天中最棒的时光，变成了最糟糕的。 每天，她都会问自己同一个问题：他到底在哪里？