2015-04-19

【Aiden in English】

        There are just some experiences in life that are etched into your memory like when a nail went into my knee or when I went on Space Mountain in Disney World. I can never forget these images, and another image was about to be included.

        Green Lane Park is just about as peaceful as any other quiet, peaceful, and old-people-sitting-on-bench parks. That was until the Guang Hua Chinese School crashed the grand party today. We brought Chinese food, folk music, mandarin, bikes, dodge balls, ropes, square dance, and so on. Carnival games were hosted as you had Chinese parents running them. “Awww, c’mon! You should’ve had that!” “Really, I thought I told you to throw it harder!” “What is X when Y is 14X + 7?” Absolutely encouraging. So when I arrived, my friends and I met up. We went to the place where all old people went and did what old people did. We went fishing.

        After two hours, we caught something. Ahhh, I got you there, didn’t I? You were sitting on the edge of your seat going like “wow”! Aiden’s a fisherman? Well, we technically caught something. Yep, Aiden’s seaweed, the freshest you would ever see. Not only that, but the fishing rod got tangled up at least 5 times. So that idea became a big no-no. 

        Next thing was biking. For some time, I’ve been reluctant to try biking. What was about to happen just made me want to burn my bike, but also sparked a little excitement. My friend Andrew stole my bike for a little while. Once he had enough falling over more than once and knocking some sense into himself, he returned it back to me. I went riding off with my other friend Kevin.  So we went on a little, rocky path off road and ended up at the steepest road I’d seen in a while. Now considering how stupid my friend was and that I kind of thought that he did (creepy!), I suddenly had a very bad feeling. Yeah, we were riding down this hill. 

        So we went around the base of the “mountain” and picked through some areas to see whatever, then finally the moment of truth came. Right before, however, I decided to take a bathroom break, just to feel the sensation one last time before …… you know. As I made my way up that hill, panting like a…. whatever that panted loudly, I knew it was going to be the highlight of the day. No, month.

        I couldn’t see the bottom. At the peak of the hill, and all I could see was the road ahead, not the slope. Heart in my throat, hands gripping the brakes tightly, mind pleading that I had life insurance; all the way through, I was thinking about suing Kevin who dragged me into this mess. Then, I pedaled. The all too horrifying feeling when the vehicle you’re riding on tipped forward to whatever lay at the bottom came upon me. I began picking up speed, wind blowing. At the very moment, I noticed. Down the slope, at the bottom, where the max speed would surely be, there’re a number of potholes. Now I’m not exactly a scientist, but I know what would happen if I were to hit a pothole at twentyish miles an hour on a bike. The speed was starting to reach its peak, wind whooshing past; every bump seemed like an earthquake. The potholes, which looked like holes to he-uhh… the boiler-room itself, approached ever so slowly. I learned right to avoid it first, steering clear, veered back left to dodge a crack. Later, I slammed the front wheel brake slightly to control the pace. I was aiming at an opening between two potholes, a pretty wide gap of solid concrete. In a flash, I passed through along with all the other holes. Only then did I notice the small side trail that both of us were going to take rush towards me. I squeezed to brakes so hard that my front knuckles turned white. I skidded, back wheel still spinning, onto the trail. Turning around, I saw a girl with rollerblades on top of the hill.

        This memory is a memory filed into my brain, and it isn’t exactly placed in the “happy” section. But not all memorable memories are happy or exciting, because when being scared half to death tends to be engraved into your mind.

【红霞译文】

        世上不少经历让人终生难忘，譬如说膝盖打了铆钉或者去迪士尼乐园太空山乘坐飞车，由此留下的记忆会刻骨铭心，眼下又将增添一幅崭新的画面。

        绿荫公园与其它宁静祥和大叔大婶闲逛的公园没什么两样，直到今天光华中文学校到此举行盛大的春游聚会才使它焕然一新。我们带来了中餐、民乐、国语、自行车、追身球、跳绳、广场舞等，由华人父母亲自主办的狂欢游艺甭提有多热闹。“噢，动手吧！你应会玩那个！”“真的，记得我曾经对你说过要多使点劲！”“如果Y等于十四乘于X加上7，那么Y是多少呢？”绝对令人振奋。当我抵达公园，旋即与朋友会合，咱哥们一块来到大叔大婶去的地方，干起大叔大婶乐衷的事情——钓鱼。

        两小时过后，我们好歹有点收获。唉哟，我可逮到这个家伙，是不是？“哇塞！”当时你碰巧坐在凳边，肯定不无惊讶。莫非儿歌真是渔民不成？确实，凭咱十八般手艺钓点东西岂不小菜一碟。没错，这是儿歌的河草，恐怕你有生以来从未鉴赏过如此新鲜的淡水产品，更何况你正有幸目睹鱼线缠竿，而且少说五次以上，趁早打住吧。

        接着，大伙打算千里走单骑，起初我并非情愿蹬脚踏车出游，下面即将发生的事情更叫我恨不得烧毁这辆车子，但转眼发觉自己又有点蠢蠢欲动。朋友安頔抢先偷走了我的自行车，等他摔得腿破血流之后才想起把车子还了回来，我随即跟在另一位朋友艺博后面上了路。我俩沿一条高低不平的林间小道前行，想不到一下子来到久违了坡度最为陡峭的山脚下，都怪这位老兄只顾闷头骑车不抬头看路，结果害得我要面对这么可怕的路段，心中一种不祥的感觉油然而生，妈呀，还要沿这条山路狂飚而下。

        我们围着山麓绕来绕去，试图看清远处山路，终于到了接受考验的时刻。就在这个节骨眼上，我决定先去一趟厕所做好临……前最后的准备，你知道我要表达的意思。待好不容易爬上山坡，我已像……反正出气声音最大的那种动物呼嗤带喘，这下可要成为当日头版头条；不，应该是本月新闻。

        我人在山巅却一眼望不到山下，唯一能看到的不是脚下悬崖峭壁而是前方穷途末路。这时，心都要蹦到嗓子眼，我双手紧紧紧攥住车刹，暗自念叨事先该上人寿保险，整个一路我始终考虑如何起诉艺博，怪他让自己走往深渊；然后，我脚踩踏板，只要自行车顺势向下移动，眼前就会闪现出令人发毛的恐怖画面。我开始加速，一溜风似地飞驰而去，此刻我突然注意到，自坡上至山底车速加到最大的地方出现很多地坑，虽说我不是科学家，但却十分清楚一旦以每小时廿多英里/卅多公里的速度冲锋陷阵，后果不堪设想。速度最快的时候，疾风呼啸惊天，路面颠簸得如同地震一般强烈，而这些地坑又大如地洞乃至跟“地”有关的……地下室锅炉房，一个接一个没完没了。我得先学会躲闪，握住车把，迂回躲避地面裂缝，然后再轻刹前闸，控制车速，看准两个地坑之间水泥地大块空隙，说时迟那时快，我飞身一跃跨过所有障碍，方才意识到车子飞速驶向路边小径。我使劲按住手闸，因为用力过猛，指关节变得煞白，车速降了下来，可后轮继续朝野地方向滑动，待转身掉过头来，我看到山顶上正有位小姑娘脚上竟然穿的是旱冰鞋。

        这种经历实在触目惊心，虽然并未真正给我带来“快乐”，但世上不是所有记忆都让人愉快兴奋，因为当被某件事情吓得半死，人是不会轻易忘掉它的。