The Memorable Cooler 冷藏箱里的難忘記憶

Grandmother’s house was the favorite holiday destination for Tisha’s family. They would load up the car and make the long drive to a farm located deep in rural south Georgia. The trip was always fun. Tisha and her two sisters played road games on the way. These consisted of playing “I spy”， making faces at passing motorists， spotting interesting billboards， singing loudly along with the radio and counting various colors of cars on the road. They always had fun and the trip seemed to fly by.

Tisha and her sisters always fell asleep before reaching grandmother’s house. They would awaken to car doors opening and grandmother calling out “Here you are！” They would explode into the farm house that looked small from the outside， but was actually perfect， large and very comfortable. Grandfather and Tisha’s father would often go on hunting and fishing trips together. On one occasion， they came back from one such trip and they left a huge red cooler open in grandmother’s kitchen. It was empty except for a small towel hanging off the side.

Tisha spotted the empty cooler in the kitchen and she loved to play hide and seek. She climbed into the cooler， closed the lid and could still see out of it because the towel kept it from closing all of the way. She remembered thinking how much fun it would be for the family to not know where she was. She watched the activity in the kitchen for a while and then fell asleep. She woke up an hour or so later.

Tisha heard her father ask had anyone seen her. Then she heard her grandfather come in， saw his tan colored pants and boots that he always wore. They came closer to the cooler. She held her breath waiting. She could not wait anymore. About the same time that her grandfather reached down to open the cooler， she sat up， flinging the lid open and saying “Boo！”The look on his face was priceless . He started laughing and Tisha was delighted. Her father was also in the kitchen and he started laughing， too.She had gotten them good. The entire family converged in the kitchen to see what was up. Mom was not amused. Neither was grandmother.

Tisha’s sisters were in awe that she pulled off such a wonderful prank and surprised their grandfather and father. Tisha was only four years old at the time. The famous red cooler was banned from grandmother’s house after that memorable event. Later， Tisha and the red cooler incident would be one of the first memories she could remember. It was a good one. She cherishes her first memory of love and laughter with her grandfather. First childhood memories really stick with you. Tisha knows this for a fact. She still can’t pass by a red cooler without smiling， to this very day. It was a very memorable cooler.

對蒂莎一家人來說，奶奶家是他們在節假日最樂意去的地方。他們會把行李裝上車，然后驅車長途跋涉，前往位于佐治亞州南部鄉村深處的一個農場。這段旅途總是充滿了樂趣。一路上，蒂莎會和兩個姐姐一起玩旅途游戲，包括“眼力大比拼”、朝路過的汽車司機做鬼臉、尋找有趣的廣告牌、跟著收音機大聲唱歌以及數路上的車都有哪些顏色。她們總會玩得很開心，而旅途中的時間也似乎過得飛快。

蒂莎和姐姐們總是還沒到奶奶家就睡著了，而后又隨著車門打開的聲音和奶奶的“你們來啦！”的招呼聲醒來。接著她們就會一下子沖進奶奶家的農舍。農舍從外面看起來很小，但其實既寬敞又非常舒適，相當完美。蒂莎的爺爺和爸爸常會一起去打獵和釣魚。有一次，他們打獵和釣魚歸來時，忘記關上奶奶家廚房里一個巨大的紅色冷藏箱的門了。冷藏箱里空空如也，只在側邊掛了一條小毛巾。

蒂莎發現了廚房里的這個空冷藏箱，喜歡玩捉迷藏的她便爬進冷藏箱里，并關上了箱門。由于那條毛巾的緣故，冷藏箱的門關不嚴，所以她還可以看到外面。她記得自己當時想，如果家人都不知道她在哪兒，那該多有趣呀。她觀察了一會兒廚房里的動靜就睡著了。差不多一個小時以后，她才醒來。

蒂莎聽到爸爸在問有沒有人看到過她。然后，她聽到爺爺走進廚房，看到了他常穿的棕黃色褲子和靴子。他們離冷藏箱越來越近。蒂莎屏住呼吸等著。她再也等不及了，就在爺爺伸手打開冷藏箱的同時，蒂莎坐了起來，猛地打開冷藏箱的門，還發出“噓”的聲音。……