2014-12-06

【Aiden in English】

        There's nothing like ice cream. There's nothing like being with friends. And there's nothing like having an ice cream with friends. Today, our soccer team was invited to Christopher Dock High School (CDHS) for an ice cream party hosted by Montgomery United Soccer Club. Not only I was excited for ice cream, I was also really pumped to be with my buds.

        When Mom and I arrived at CDHS and entered the cafeteria, I saw many, many familiar faces among the sea of people. Most of the kids had come. But as I took one last scan of the cafeteria, I identified only a few teammates there. I realized that I was one of the first on my team and people were already beginning to trickle out the doorway.

         As Mom and I waited for the team to get here, the cafeteria was less and less crowded. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. Mom sensed my impatience and let me go to get ice cream. I was so bored that I even forgot about the ice cream. At that moment, I felt a little stupid inside to ignore the main reason of coming here. I looked around, saw a long, long time of people, and talked with some of my other friends who joined and hopped in line. The line inched forward, however, time flew as m friends and I chatted and chirped away like blue jays on the first day of spring. As I got closer to the place where ice cream was being served, I noticed four different kinds of ice cream. People scooped ice cream out of buckets into small bowls and placed them on the table like a buffet. There were vanilla, chocolate, and some flavors that looked like PB and Cookies & Cream. I took my usual flavor of Cookies & Cream, added some chocolate and M&M's, and headed to the table where my friends were hanging out.

        We devoured our ice cream and an idea then smacked me in the face. At that time, I was almost finished my bowl of ice cream. Thus I looked in the topping’s session and spotted what I was looking for, Reese’s PB Shell. There was barely anyone in line now, so I held up the bottle and squeezed with all my might. The thick and sticky chocolate syrup squirted from the bottle, looking even more delicious than I thought.  I stopped after completely submerging the Cookies & Cream ice cream. Then, I waited for the magic to happen. You see, a chocolate shell was the syrup…… before it’s squirted out of the bottle. The sticky substance dried and became a hard chocolate shell, hence the name, and gave the extra blast of awesomeness to go on top of the ice cream.

        Just like what the Reese's PB Shell does to ice cream, friends give you a blast of awesomeness to your life.

【紅霞譯文】

        天下沒有什麼東西會比冰淇凌更加好吃，世上也沒有什麼事情能比故人歡聚更為開心，與朋友把盞言歡共享冰淇凌盛宴，那可是人生中無以倫比最大的幸福。今天，我們足球隊前往克里斯托弗碼頭高中，應邀參加由蒙哥馬利足球聯合俱樂部舉辦的冰激凌聚會，冰激凌吊人胃口，跟老相識重敘友情同樣令我意氣風發。

        當我和媽媽抵達克里斯托弗碼頭高中學生食堂時，茫茫人海中出現許多熟悉的面孔，多數人早已入席就坐。可等我仔細端詳才發現本隊球員到場的寥寥無幾，想不到自己竟打了頭陣，後續大軍尚在有條不紊地從大門挺進。

        我們靜心等待其他隊友，食堂里已不像剛來時那麼多人，終於我耗得耐不住性子。媽媽有所察覺，建議我不如先拿點冰激凌來吃。我因為興趣索然，竟然傻乎乎地站在原地連到這裡要幹什麼都忘得一乾二淨。我環顧四周，看見等候冰激凌的隊伍很長，索性拽上幾位朋友邊聊天邊排隊。我們湊在一起，猶如開春頭一天的藍喜鵲，嘰嘰喳喳叫個沒完。隨着走近放置冰激凌的櫃檯，我終於看清楚到底有哪些種類。冰激凌被盛在小碗裡並擺放到桌上，共有香草、巧克力、還有看上去像花生醬和餅乾奶油等四種風味。我要來平常愛吃的餅乾奶油冰激凌，先將表面撒上巧克力塊，再點綴巧克力豆，然後端着碗徑直朝哥們集中的那兒走去。

        大伙兒狼吞虎咽，突然我計上心頭。就在這個時候，自己碗裡的冰激凌已吃得差不多了。於是，我放眼甜品櫃檯，目光聚焦在“麗絲”花生醬殼。眼下正好無人排隊，我拿起瓶子對着冰激凌用力擠壓，被擠出來的巧克力糖漿又稠又粘，似乎比想像的還要饞人，直到餅乾奶油表面被裹得嚴嚴實實，我方才鬆手停止擠壓。接下來只要稍候些許，奇蹟就會出現。現在你明白了吧，所謂的巧克力殼無非就是糖漿……在被擠出瓶子之前，這樣粘稠的東西幹了之後隨即變成巧克力硬皮，其名稱的確強烈渲染了點綴在冰激凌之上的甜點魅力。

        正如“麗絲”花生醬殼有助提高冰激凌口感，朋友同樣能給你的生活帶來無窮快樂。