HINTS:

十以上數(shù)字、年份、百分率、金額等都用阿拉伯?dāng)?shù)字表示，數(shù)字采用千位逗號(hào)隔斷

Vanetian Blinds


And then I'm back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma's bed and angle my face toward the open window. I flip the pillow, hunting for the cooler side. Grandma sees me thrashing. "if you just watch for the breeze," she says, "you'll cool off and fall asleep." She cranks up the Vanetian Blinds. I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to flutter. Lying still and waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window, the bug chorus. Neighbours, porch sitting late, speaking in hazy words with sanded edges that soothe me. "Mom, did you hear that?" my seven-year-old blurts, "I think it was an owl family." "Probably." I tell him, "Just keep listening!" Without the droning air-conditioner, the house is oddly peaceful, and the unfiltered noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I'm awake tonight when the first breeze sneaks in.
回到童年炎熱的夏天，回到了外婆的小屋，我把枕頭移到外婆的床位，臉朝著窗。之后我又把枕頭翻了過(guò)來(lái)，讓比較涼爽的一頭朝上。 看到我翻來(lái)翻去地睡不著，外婆說(shuō)：“只要用心去感受和祈盼，風(fēng)會(huì)來(lái)的，這樣你就可以一身清涼地入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)了。”她把百葉窗拉了起來(lái)，于是我就一直注視著朦朧的白窗簾，等待它的飄動(dòng)。靜靜地躺著，祈盼著，這時(shí)我忽然找到，窗外世界的生命。小蟲(chóng)的清唱；門廊外閑聊著的鄰居，他們模糊不清的喋喋細(xì)語(yǔ)開(kāi)始催我入眠 “媽媽，您聽(tīng)到了嗎？”我7歲的孩子囔道，“我覺(jué)得那是一頭貓頭鷹一家子在叫?！?“很有可能！”我跟他說(shuō)，“再仔細(xì)聽(tīng)!” 沒(méi)有了空調(diào)機(jī)的嗡嗡聲，房間飄逸著一種奇異的祥和氣氛，還有未經(jīng)過(guò)濾的、親近的伸手就可觸及的夜聲。真的希望，當(dāng)?shù)谝豢|清風(fēng)悄然而至的時(shí)候，我依然能夠迎接她的到來(lái)。