緊急按鈕

Jill Burns 景一

The horns sudden blare1 shot me so high out of my seat that I hit my head on the visor2， causing a stream of giggling from the back seat. Instead of being frightened， my grandkids， two-year-old Carson and four-year-old Maddy， shrieked3 happily along with each horrendous4 beep.

突然響起的喇叭聲嚇得我從座位上跳了起來，頭撞到了遮陽板上，引起后座上一陣咯咯的笑聲。我的兩個外孫，兩歲的卡森和四歲的瑪迪，并不害怕，而是隨著每一聲可怕的喇叭聲高興地尖叫起來。

Unfamiliar with modern automobiles， I had no idea that a car fob5 had a “panic button” or that my daughter （who had safely locked us in the car） had unknowingly hit it when shed entered the building.

我對現代汽車不熟悉，不知道汽車鑰匙圈上有一個“緊急按鈕”，也不知道是不是我女兒在進入大樓時無意中摁到了它（她把我們安全地鎖在車里）。

Of all the places to get trapped in a honking6 car， this was the worst！My daughter had parked in front of the courthouse on Main Street during the busiest part of the day.

在被困在喇叭叫個不停的車里的所有地點中，這里是最糟糕的！我的女兒在一天中最繁忙的時刻，把車停在了法院門口的大街上。

Shoppers and business people scurried7 by on their lunch breaks， but still found time to stare at us. Most couldnt help shooting me a disapproving8 look. After all， Im sure they thought that， as the “adult”， I should have done something to stop the noise.

購物者和商業人士在午休時間匆匆走過，但仍然有時間盯著我們看。大多數人都忍不住朝我投來不滿的目光。畢竟，我相信他們認為，作為“成年人”，我應該做些什么來阻止噪音。

I was so embarrassed that I ducked on the floor so that no one could see me. Once down， I sat up again， afraid that a well-meaning citizen might decide that my daughter had abandoned9 her children and would call the police. My actions caused an extra-loud explosion10 from my grandchildren， who thought I was playing hide-and-seek with them and the people who glared at us.

我尷尬得身體往下縮，這樣就沒人能看見我了。我一縮下去又坐了起來，生怕某位好心的市民會認定我女兒拋棄了她的孩子，并報警。我的行為讓我的外孫們爆發出特別大的聲音，他們以為我在和他們以及瞪著我們的人玩捉迷藏。

Even though the children swore that they hadnt touched anything， I fiddled11 with buttons and knobs on the dashboard， trying to silence the noise. The more I tried， the harder the children howled. They thought I was a riot12.

盡管孩子們發誓他們什么也沒碰，我還是擺弄著儀表盤上的按鈕和旋鈕，試圖讓噪音停下來。我越是摸索，孩子們嚎叫得越大聲。他們以為我在瞎胡鬧。

Turning around in my seat， I watched my grandkids. Their bodies shaking uncontrollably， cackling13 so hard that they could barely breathe. Suddenly， it hit me—I was the grandma， and these were my grandkids—not my children. Who cared if my daughters car irritated14 everyone on the street or if I looked irresponsible and crazy？ The kids were having the time of their lives， and I wanted in on it. After all， it isnt every day that were locked together in a car making a spectacle15 of ourselves.

我在座位上轉過身來，看著我的孫輩們，他們的身體無法控制地顫抖，咯咯地笑得幾乎喘不過氣來。突然，我想到了——我是外婆，他們是我的外孫，不是我的子女。誰會在乎我女兒的車是不是惹惱了街上的每個人，或者我看起來不負責任，又瘋瘋癲癲？……