Coming of Age成長

LilyM. 張寧

Lucy stuck the last candle into the cake and stepped back with a sigh1. She looked at the kitchen， completely decked2 out for her dads 60th birthday surprise party. Shiny party hats were neatly stacked3 on the table， and there were so many colorful streamers that it was difficult to see the ceiling. A huge banner hung from the wall read “Happy 60th， Dad！” and the house was filled with the sweet aroma4 of chocolate cake just out of the oven. Everything looked perfect. So why didnt Lucy feel satisfied？

露西把最后一支蠟燭插進蛋糕里，嘆了口氣退了回去。她看著為了她父親60歲生日驚喜派對而裝飾得漂漂亮亮的廚房。桌上整齊地堆放著閃亮的派對帽子，五顏六色的彩帶幾乎遮住了天花板。墻上掛著一面巨大的橫幅，上面寫著“60歲快樂，爸爸！”，屋子里充滿了剛出爐的巧克力蛋糕的香氣。一切看起來都很完美。那么露西為什么感到不滿意呢？

Since the age of six， Lucy had begun to realize that her parents were much older than most of her friends parents. When classmates heard the ages of her mom and dad， they gave her looks of confusion. Now， she was 14， her dad 60. When she was 34， hed be 80. When she was 54， hed be 100. Sometimes she wondered， would her parents be alive to meet her future husband？ Would they get to know her children？ “I dont want dad to turn 60，” she thought. For Lucy， 60 was the age a person became old， growing closer to death. So the beginning of the end of her fathers life didnt seem like something to celebrate; rather it was something she wanted to ignore.

從六歲起，露西就開始意識到她的父母比她大多數朋友的父母年齡大得多。當同學們聽到她父母的年齡時，都顯得很困惑。現在，她14歲，她父親60歲。她34歲時，他就80歲了。她54歲時，他就100歲了。有時她會想，她的父母會活到見到她未來丈夫的時候嗎？他們會知道她的孩子嗎？“我不想爸爸變成60歲。”她想。對露西來說，60歲是一個人開始變老，越來越接近死亡的年齡。因此，她父親生命終結的開始這件事似乎并不值得慶祝，她甚至想要忽略掉它。

What she couldnt ignore， though， were memories of her with her father. Looking around the kitchen， she remembered his warm hands enveloping her little hands as they mixed pancake batter5 together. She thought of him sitting with her at the kitchen table explaining a math problem. And she couldnt count the number of times theyd stood by the sink after dinner， her dad washing the dishes， she drying， both of them laughing at some silly joke. “Why cant I celebrate dad on his birthday， when I love him so much？” Lucy thought.

不過，她不能忽視的是她和父親在一起的回憶。她環顧廚房，想起了他曾用溫暖的雙手把她的小手包在一起，一起攪拌面糊。她想起了他曾坐在廚房的桌子旁給她解釋一道數學題。她數不清有多少次晚飯后他們站在水池邊，她父親洗盤子，她擦干，他們倆都因為一個愚蠢的笑話而開心大笑。“既然我這么愛爸爸，為什么我不在他生日那天為他慶祝呢？”露西想。

“Wow！It looks amazing.” Her mom walked into the room with an armful of gifts. “Hes going to love it！”

“哇！”她母親抱著一大堆禮物走進房間。“他會喜歡的！”

Lucy smiled and said， “Thanks， mom.”

露西微笑著說：“謝謝，媽媽。”

“Everything okay， honey？” Her mother walked over， giving her shoulder a squeeze6.

“一切都還好嗎，親愛的？”她母親走過來，擠了擠她的肩膀。……