撿椰子，等“風(fēng)”來

在颶風(fēng)即將來臨之前被派去撿椰子是一種怎樣的感覺？

This is how I learned about Calvin. I came out of my room this morning and found Mom and Dad standing in front of the TV. Standing meant they weren&apos；t watching for fun—something was happening. On the screen， Tony Verrazo pointed to an orange pinwheel1）. Calvin， he said， had turned west and was headed for land.

I didn&apos；t understand what was happening， but suddenly Mom and Dad were in a big hurry to do stuff.

"I&apos；m going to check on the generator2），" said Mom. "I&apos；m going to the grocery store，" Dad said. He turned to my brother， Mike. "You can start closing the shutters3） while I&apos；m gone." "You pick up coconuts， Jason，" Dad said， pointing at me.

"Coconuts？" I couldn&apos；t think of anything else to say， so he left.

I prepared my own cereal4） and went outside to look things over. We had a bunch of palm trees5） and plenty of coconuts， but we&apos；d never bothered with them before. Why pick them up now？

I found Mom and Mike in the utility room6）. "The barometer7） has gone down again，" Mom was saying. "That&apos；ll pull Calvin right in，" answered Mike.

"Have I ever been in a hurricane？" I asked before they could talk more Martian8）. "Yes，" Mom nodded. "Its name was Flora， but I bet you don&apos；t remember anything about it." "You were too little，" said Mike. "You had a babysitter while we got ready."

I wanted to ask about the coconuts， but Mom shook her head. "I&apos；m sorry， Jason， but I don&apos；t have time for more questions，" she said. "And you have a job to do."

I had been too little. No wonder I felt as if I&apos；d landed on Mars. I had no idea what was going on.

I kicked a few coconuts until my toes hurt and then opened the back gate and walked down to the beach. I wanted to be the first one to spot Calvin， but I wasn&apos；t really sure what to look for.

The beach was deserted except for two men in street clothes standing in the sand. One held a camera on his shoulder. The other， with his back to the ocean， was talking into a microphone. I&apos；d recognize Tony Verrazo anywhere. He was the same guy I&apos；d seen on TV this morning.

"Folks，" Tony Verrazo was saying， "we have a hurricane watch for Calvin， which means hurricane conditions are possible in the next thirty-six hours. Stay tuned9） for another update in thirty minutes."

"Hi， kid，" said Tony Verrazo， smiling. "What&apos； up？" "I&apos；m just hanging out，" I said. "You&apos；re not helping your folks？" "Oh， I am. I&apos；m taking a break from picking up coconuts，" I lied. I expected him to laugh； instead， he took a pen and small notebook out of his pocket. "Coconuts，" he said thoughtfully. "I forgot all about them."endprint

He started writing while walking away. Halfway up the beach， he turned around. "Hey， kid， you want to be on TV？ Stand over here and tell the camera who you are and what you&apos；re doing."

"Hi，" I said awkwardly， taking the microphone. "My name is Jason. I&apos；m picking up coconuts because Calvin is coming." "Thanks， kid，" Tony Verrazo said， taking back the microphone. "I have to get going. You better head home and finish your job！"

I think being mad gave me energy to pick up coconuts. Dad gave me this silly job， Mom didn&apos；t prepare breakfast， and Mike didn&apos；t come to help me. But mostly I was mad at Tony Verrazo for making me tell all of America what I was doing—or not doing. I was trapped10）.

After hours of working， I&apos；d filled every trash bag I could find. At last， Mike came to get me. "You better clean up while we still have running water，" he said.

I had been too busy to notice the blackening sky. The ocean， too， had gotten dark and angry. Large waves broke hard and fast on the beach， and globs11） of sea foam blew in my face. "Calvin？" I asked. "It&apos；s coming，" said Mike. When we got inside， history was repeating itself—Mom and Dad were standing in front of the TV， and Tony Verrazo was talking.

"Folks，" he was saying. "We&apos；re going to show you this footage12） again because if you haven&apos；t done so already， you need to go pick up coconuts."

"I saw this before，" Mike said， grabbing my arm and pulling me in front of the TV. "It&apos；s so cool. See， they take a coconut and put it inside a wind tunnel13）. At eighty miles an hour， the coconut busts through a board as if somebody shot it out of a cannon14）. You&apos；ve never seen anything like it."

I tried to understand. "Don&apos；t you get it？" asked Mike. "Hurricane-force winds15） can make flying coconuts really dangerous！"

Tony Verrazo&apos；s face came back on the screen. "Folks， we want to give credit to the person who gave us the idea for this story."

And suddenly there I was， holding the microphone and saying， "Hi， my name is Jason. I&apos；m picking up coconuts because Calvin is coming." "Great， Jason！" said Tony Verrazo after I faded out16）.

"Wow！" Mike grinned and nudged17） me with his elbow. I finally found my voice again. "All day， I thought I had to pick up coconuts just because I was little and had to stay out of everybody&apos；s way." "And yet you did it anyway？" asked Mom. "I picked up every single one，" I told her. "Tony Verrazo made me." "Tony Verrazo？ I can&apos；t wait to hear that story，" said Mom. "But first， let&apos；s go over the checklist."endprint

She nodded at the rest of us. "The generator is ready to run if the power goes out." "The windows are OK， and the shutters are locked tight，" said Mike. "We have plenty of food and drinking water，" Dad said. "There&apos；s gas in the car in case the water gets too high and we have to leave."

They turned to me. "There are no coconuts on the ground，" I said proudly. "Then we&apos；re agreed，" Dad said. "This family is ready！"

After hearing about Calvin all day， I was more than ready.

以下就是我如何了解卡爾文的。今天早上我從自己的房間出來，發(fā)現(xiàn)爸爸媽媽正站在電視機(jī)前。站著看電視意味著他們并不是為了消遣，而是有事情發(fā)生了。屏幕上，托尼·維拉佐指著一個橙色的玩具風(fēng)車。他說卡爾文已經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)而向西并朝陸地進(jìn)發(fā)了。

我不明白發(fā)生了什么，但爸爸媽媽趕緊忙活了起來。

“我去檢查發(fā)電機(jī)。”媽媽說。“我去雜貨店。”爸爸說。他轉(zhuǎn)向我的哥哥邁克，“我離開以后，你就可以開始關(guān)百葉窗了。”“你去撿椰子，賈森。”爸爸指著我說。

“椰子？”我想不出來還能說點什么，于是他就走了。

我自己做好了麥片，然后就走到外面去查看情況。我們有一片椰子樹和好多椰子，但以前我們從未為它們操過心。為什么現(xiàn)在要把它們撿起來呢？

我發(fā)現(xiàn)媽媽和邁克在儲物間里。“氣壓又下降了。”媽媽說。“這很快就會把卡爾文給招來的。”邁克回答。

“我之前經(jīng)歷過颶風(fēng)嗎？”在他們可能會說更多的火星文之前我問道。“經(jīng)歷過。”媽媽點點頭，“那次颶風(fēng)名為弗洛拉，但我敢打賭你什么都不記得了。”“你那時候太小了，”邁克說，“我們在做準(zhǔn)備時你還被保姆照看著。”

我想問一下有關(guān)椰子的事，但媽媽搖了搖頭。“抱歉，賈森，可我沒時間回答更多的問題了，”她說，“況且你還有活兒要干呢。”

當(dāng)時我太小了。難怪我覺得自己現(xiàn)在就跟降落在了火星上似的，不知道發(fā)生了什么。

我踢開了幾個椰子，直到腳趾都踢疼了，然后我打開后門朝海灘走去。……