我和“討嫌鬼”做搭檔

By+Priya+Ann+Mathew

Noone sat next to Leon. Not if they could help it. Thats why when I shot into art class just before the bell， the only seat left was beside him. Ms. Priestley said，“Sit down， Nimmy.”I dont think Ms. Priestley likes me. I am terrible in art. She said，“Today， well drawafantasylandscape.”Leonraisedhishand.“Can it be anything we want？”Leon loved art and loved Ms. Priestley.Ms.PriestleylovedartandlovedLeon.

“Anything—as long as it isnt something from real life.”“This will be fun！”Leon said. Thats why no one liked to sit by Leon， especially in art. He was too enthusiastic. He gave his partners suggestions. Sometimes he even added to their drawings！ Plus his nosealwaysdripped，andheneverusedtissues.

I drew wild zigzags and two lines racing across the page.“What are you drawing？”Leon asked， sniffing. I sighed，“Mountains and a river.”“Thats not fantasy.”“Ive never seen mountains and Ive never seen ariver. SoImfantasizing what theyd look like，”Isaid.

“But its still real.”I ground my teeth and scribbled in some skinny trees，“Have you seen a mountain range with pointed tips？”“No， thats just bad drawing. Why dont you make it a dragon instead？”Iglared.

“The mountains could be the scales along its back， the river could be a long tail， and the dragon could be eating the trees.”Leon smiled hopefully. To my surprise， I could see the dragon take shape. He continued，“So not all of it would be on the page， but that would just tell us how big it is.”I could see why Ms. Priestley loved him. No one else in class thought likethat，andmostpeopledidntcareenoughtotry.

“Dragons dont eat trees，”I said. Leon swiped his dripping nose with his sleeve.“Some dinosaurs ate trees. So why cant some dragons？ Its fantasy.”A sound argument， I had to admit. Leon sniffed again. Ms. Priestley was moving around the room. She looked at everyones work and made comments. Usually shedstopatmineandsigh.TodayI wanted toimpress her.ButthedragonwasLeons，notmine.

I started drawing in the body.“Thats a very nice idea， Nimmy.”Ms. Priestleys voice made me jump. She beamed. At me.“Youre being creative， and its paying off.”I smiled shyly， blushing because it wasnt totallymyidea.Leonwasbeaming，too.

“ItwasLeonsidea，”Iconfessed.Ms. Priestleys beam grew wider.“Excellent， Leon. We must always be willing to share our ideas.”Then she said，“Nimmy， why dont you offer some suggestions on Leons drawing.”

Leon propped his drawing where I could see it.“Its a space farm，”I said. There was a rocky surface with little domes. The domes had plants and some weird animals in them. In one dome，there was a cow ormaybeabigdog.

Leon waited. I added，“Maybe ... maybe you could add ... bales of hay ... and make a dome with levels. Each level for something different.”Leon nodded happily，“Like corn on one level and hens on theother.Likeamultilayerfarm.”

“See， its not so hard，”Ms. Priestley said， and walked on. I breathed. Id just said the first thing that came to me. But Leon liked my idea. Maybe I could be OK in art. I watched Leon adding levels on his farm. Leon looked up for a moment.“We should be partners inart，”hesaid.Ilikedthat.Ipennedmynamenear his space！hens.Leongrinnedandsignedmydragon.

沒有人想坐在利昂旁邊，能不坐那兒就不坐那兒。這就是為什么當我踩著鈴聲沖進美術課教室時，只剩他身邊的座位是空的了。普里斯特利女士說：“尼米，請坐下。”我覺得普里斯特利女士不喜歡我。我的美術很差。她說：“今天我們要畫一幅幻想的風景畫。”利昂舉起了手：“我們想畫什么就畫什么嗎？”利昂愛美術課，也愛普里斯特利女士。普里斯特利女士愛美術課，也愛利昂。

“畫什么都行———只要它不是來自現實生活。”“這肯定很有趣！”利昂說。這就是為什么沒有人愿意坐在利昂旁邊，特別是在美術課上。他太熱情了。他給同桌提各種建議，有時候甚至還幫別人畫幾筆。此外，他總是淌著鼻涕，還從來不用面巾紙擦。

我胡亂地畫了一些鋸齒狀線條，還畫了兩條貫穿畫紙的直線。“你在畫什么呢？”利昂邊問我，邊吸溜了一下鼻子。我嘆了口氣，說：“群山和一條河。”“這不是幻想的啊。”“我從來沒有見過山脈，也沒見過河流。所以，我在幻想它們的樣子。”我說。

“但這還是真實的啊。”我把牙齒磨得嘎嘎響，胡亂地畫了幾棵瘦不拉幾的樹，說：“你見過尖頂的連綿大山嗎？”“沒有，可這就是沒畫好。你為什么不把它改成一條龍呢？”我生氣地瞪起了眼睛。

“這些山脈可以是它背上的鱗片，河流可以是個長尾巴，這條龍可以正在吃著那些樹。”利昂滿懷希望地笑著。令我驚奇的是，我能夠看到那條龍開始成形了。他繼續說著：“盡管它不會完整地出現在紙上，但這可以告訴我們它有多大。”我能明白為什么普里斯特利女士喜歡他了。班里其他人都不會那樣去思考，大多數人對畫畫這件事不夠在乎，因此不愿去嘗試。

“龍是不吃樹的。”我說。利昂用袖子抹去流下來的鼻涕，說：“有些恐龍是吃樹的。那為什么有些龍不能吃樹呢？這就是幻想啊。”很合理的論證，我不得不承認。利昂又吸溜了一下鼻子。普里斯特利女士在教室里來回巡視。她檢查每個人的畫并給些評語。通常，她停在我身邊的時候都會嘆氣。今天我想給她留個好印象。但是，這條龍是利昂的，不是我的。

我開始畫龍的身子。“這個想法非常棒，尼米。”普里斯特利女士的聲音嚇了我一跳。她笑容滿面，是沖著我笑的。“你現在變得很有創造力，它正給你帶來好處呢。”我害羞地笑笑，臉都紅了，因為這不完全是我的想法。利昂也笑得很開心。

“這是利昂的想法。”我坦白了。普里斯特利女士笑得更開心了。“太棒了，利昂，我們應該總是樂于分享自己的想法。”她接著說，“尼米，你為什么不給利昂的畫也提一些建議呢？”

利昂把他的畫架起來，放在我能看到的地方。“這是一個太空農場，”我說。畫中布滿巖石的地面上有一些小小的圓頂屋。圓頂屋里有許多植物和一些奇怪的動物。其中一個圓頂屋里還住著一頭奶牛，或者是一只大狗。

利昂等待著。我補充道：“或許……或許你可以增添……大捆的干草……還可以畫一個分層的圓頂屋，每一層放一些不同的東西。”利昂高興地點頭：“比如一層種玉米，另一層養母雞，就像一個多層農場。”

“看到了吧，這并沒那么難。”普里斯特利女士說完便繼續巡視去了。我舒了一口氣。我只是說了腦子里閃現的第一個想法，但利昂喜歡我的想法。或許我的美術能學得不錯。我看著利昂在他的農場里加了幾層。利昂抬頭看了一下。“我們應該在美術課上做搭檔。”他說。我喜歡這個提議。我把自己的名字寫在了他的太空母雞旁邊。利昂咧嘴笑著把名字署在了我的龍旁邊。