雨中的記憶

She had been shopping with her Mom at Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old；this beautiful brown haired， freckle-faced1 image of innocence2. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes3 over the top of rain gutters4， so much in a hurry to hit the Earth， it has no time to flow down the spout.

We all stood there under the awning（遮篷），just inside the door of the Wal-Mart. We all waited， some patiently， others irritated5， because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized6 by rainfall. I get lost in the sights and sounds of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running， splashing7 so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in， “Mom， lets run through the rain.” she said.

“What？ ” Mom asked.

“Lets run through the rain！ ” She repeated.

“No， honey. Well wait until it slows down a bit.” Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated： “Mom， lets run through the rain.”

“Well get soaked if we do.” Mom said.

“No， we wont， Mom. Thats not what you said this morning，” the young girl said as she tugged at her Moms arm.

“This morning？ When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet？”

“Dont you remember？ When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer， you said， if God can get us through this， he can get us through anything！”

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldnt hear anything but the rain. No one came or left during the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off or scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation8 in a young childs life—a time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith. “Honey， you are absolutely right. Lets run through the rain. If we get wet， well maybe we just needed washing.”Mom said. Then off they ran.

We all stood watching， smiling and laughing as they darted9 past the cars and they held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes， I did too. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

她和媽媽剛在沃爾瑪結束購物。這個天真的小女孩大約6歲，留著漂亮的棕色頭發，臉上帶著可愛的小雀斑。外面下著傾盆大雨。雨水來不及排走，迫不及待地從排水溝涌漲上地面。

我們站在沃爾瑪門口的遮篷下等待，有人很耐心，有人很煩躁，老天給本已忙碌的人們添亂。雨天總引起我的遐思。我出神地聽著、看著老天沖刷洗滌這世界的污垢和塵埃，兒時無憂無慮地在雨中奔跑戲水的記憶洶涌而至，短暫地緩解了我的焦慮。

小女孩甜美的聲音打破了令人昏昏欲睡的氣氛：“媽媽，我們跑過去吧。”她說。

“什么？”母親問。

“我們跑過去吧。”她重復。

“不，親愛的，我們等雨小一點再走。”母親回答說。

過了一會兒，小女孩又說：“媽媽，我們跑過去吧。”

“這樣的話我們會濕透的。”母親說。

“不會的，媽媽。今天早上你不是這樣說的。”小女孩一邊說一邊拉起母親的手。

“今天早上？我什么時候說過我們淋雨不會濕啊？”

“你不記得了嗎？你和爸爸談到他的癌癥時，你不是說‘如果上帝讓我們闖過這一關，那我們就沒有什么過不去的了。”

人群安靜下來。除了雨聲，幾乎什么都聽不到。接下來的幾分鐘，母親停了一下，想著應該說些什么。

有人也許會對此一笑了之，或者責備這孩子不懂事，甚至不把她的話放在心上。但這是這個孩子一生中需要被肯定的時刻。若受到鼓舞，孩子此時單純的信任會發展成為堅定的信念。“親愛的，你說得對，我們跑過去吧。如果淋濕了，那也許是因為我們的確需要沖洗一下了。”母親說完，帶著小女孩沖進雨簾。

我們站在那里，笑著看她們飛快地跑過停下來等候的汽車。她們把購物袋舉過頭頂想擋擋雨，但還是濕透了。人群中有好幾個人像孩子般尖叫著，大笑著，也跟著沖了出去，奔向自己的車子。我也這樣做了，去接受雨水的洗禮。

Tip

※ mess up 搞亂；弄亂

例句：Without training， you will mess up. 不經過訓練，你將會陷入困境。