北派小说网

The summer I was 14（第1页）

ThesummerI;

１４岁的夏天

MyfatherwasatrydoctorwhoraisedourfarminsouthernIndiana。Awhitewoodehepropertyhadtobesdpaihreeyears。ThatwastobemyjobthesummerIwas14。Ifthatwasn'tbadenoughnews，oneJunedaymydaddecidedIshouldextendthefence。

&ingattheedgeofthesouthpasture，myfathertookoffhisdwipedhisforehead。Theedtoastandofhemlocks300yardsaway。“Fromheretothere—that'santourfence，”hesaid。“Figureabout110holes，threefeetdeep。Keepthedigger'sbladessharpandyouprobablydigeightortenaday。”

InatightvoiceIsaidIdidn'tseehowIishthatwithalltheotherstuffIhadtodo。Besides，I'dplalesoftballandfishing。“Whydon'terauger?”Isuggested。

“Persdon'tlearnanythingfromwork。Aourfeeachusathingortwo。”hereplied，slappiheback。

Iflioshowmyrese。Iadmiredalotaboutmydad，aorememberthosethimadathim。OnI'dbeenalongononeofhishousecalls，Iwatchedhimtellasianshewasgoingthtbeforeheleftorhewasn'tleaving。Heheldherhandahaheroutofbed。Shesaid，“Why，Doc，Idofeelbetter。”

Iaskedhimlaterhoouldgetbetter。“Idon't，”hesaid，“butifyoukeeptheirmoraleup，mostpatientswillgetthihemselves。”

IfIwaobebymyself，Iwouldretreattoariverbirchbythestreamthatfedourpond。Itfroundlevel，andI'dwedgemybackupagairunkatheother。ThenIwouldlookattheskyorreadorpretend。

ThatsummerIhadn'thadmuytree。Oneeveningmyfathera，hesaid，“Irememberyintothattreewhelekid。”

“Idon't。”Isaidsullenly。

Helookedatmesharply。“What'sgotintoyou?”hesaid。

Amazingly，Iheardmyselfsay，“whatthehelldoyoucare?”ThenIranofftothebarn。Sittia，Itriednottocry。

Myfatheropehedoorandsatoppositeme。Fihisgaze。

&'ssee。Youfeelstrangeinyourownbody，likeitdoesn'tworkthesamewayitalwayshad。Youthinknooneelseislikeyou，andyouthinkI'mtoohardonyouanddon'tappreciatewhatyoudoaroundhere。Youevenwonderhowyougotintoafamilyasdullasours。”

Iwasastohektreaightthoughts。

&hingis，yourbodyisg，”heued。“Andthatgesyourentireself。You'vegotalotmoremalehormonesinyourblood。And，son，there'snotamaninthisworldwhodlewhatthatdoestoyouwhenyou'refourteen。”

Ididn'tknowwhattosay。IknewIdidn'tlikewhatevereningtome。FormonthsI'dfeltoutoftouchwitheverything。Iwasirritablealessandsadfornoreason。AndbecauseI'ttalkaboutit，Ibegantofeelreallyisolated。

&hingsthat'llhelpyou，”mydadsaidafterawhile，“iswork，hardwork。”

Assoohat，angercamesuddenly。“Fine，”Isaidivoiaormedout。

&hersaidworkhemeantwposth，slammingthatdiggerintothegrounduntilIhadtoughyhands。

Ihelpedmyfatherpatchthebarnroof。Weworkedihen，helookedatmeandsaid，“Youaren'taloneyouknow。”

Startled，Istaredathim。HowcouldhepossiblyknowwhatI'dbeenthinking?

“Thinkaboutthis，”hesaid。“Ifyoudrewalinefromyourfeetdownthesideofourbarhaanyouldtthingintheworld。Soyou'reneveralone。Nooneis。”

Istartedtue，butthenotionofbeioalloflifemademefeelsogoodthatIletmythoughtsquietdown。

AsIwhthesummer，Ibegantonoticemyshbigger。Iwasabletodomorework，aedpayiiontodoingitwell。Ihadhatedhole-digging，butitseemedtoreleasesomeknotiheadrivingih。SlowlyIstartedtofeelIcouldgetthroughthisrottentime。

Oheendofthesummer，Igotridofalotofjunkfrommyyoungerdays。AfterwardIwenttositinmytreesasakindoflastvisittotheworldofmyboyhood。Icouldfeelthetruhmyfeetweakehinghadgottenatit—aplainage。

&ernoonIfihefenyfathersittingonagrathesouthpasture。“You'rethinkingabouthowlongthisgrassisgoingtoholdoutwithoutrain?”Iasked。

“Yep，”hesaid。“Howlongyouthi?”

“Another>

&urnedamedeepintheeyes。OfcourseIwasn'treallytalkingaboutthepastureasmuchasIwastryingtofindoutifmyopiohim。Afterawhilehesaid，“Youcht。”Hepausedandadded，“Youdidafinejobonourfence。”

“Thanks。”Isaid，almostoverwhelmedbytheforceofhisapproval。

“Youknow，”hesaid，“ytoturnouttobeonehellofaman。Butjustbecauseygrowmeaoleavebehihingyoulikedwhenyou>

Ikhinkingaboutmytree。Hereatohisjacketpodpulledoutapieceofwoodthesizeofadeckofcards。“Imadethisforyou。”hesaid。