Sam and I walked along the main street, the small buildings giving us a break from the sun. Through the window of the candy shop I could see tubes of colorful jelly beans. A sign on the window’s glass read LOST: Gold and blue necklace. Very special. If found, call Chrissy at 555-9924.
山姆和我沿着主街走，那些小建筑让我们暂时远离阳光。透过糖果店的窗户，我可以看到五颜六色的软糖。窗户玻璃上的标志写着一份遗失启示：金蓝色项链，非常特别。如果找到，请致电XXX-XXXX联系克丽丝。
Chrissy had drawn a crayon version of the necklace at the bottom of the poster and a border made of orange exclamation points.
克丽丝在海报底部用蜡笔画了一条项链，并用橙色感叹号做了边框。
The necklace looked different from the one I clutched in my pocket, I decided. Rounder, bluer. The poster appeared old and weathered. It must have been put up months ago.
我确认了一下，这条项链看起来和我口袋里的那条不一样。更圆，更蓝。海报看起来很旧，有些褪色。它肯定是几个月前贴的。
“Hey,” Sam asked, “are you coming with me?”
“嘿，”山姆问，“你和我一起去吗？”
We continued to walk, and I noticed four more posters. Someone must have returned that necklace by now, I thought.
我们继续走，又看到四张海报。我想，现在肯定有人已经把项链还了。
Once home, I placed the necklace into my old yellow retainer box. I’d cleaned it out and made it my special place for special things. So far, it held twin miniature seashells, a pebble that looked exactly like a bird’s egg, and 11 half-burnt birthday candles.
回到家后，我把项链放进了我的旧黄色固定盒里。我把它清理干净，用这个特殊的盒子存放我特殊的物品。到目前为止，它还放着两个微型贝壳、一块看起来完全像鸟蛋的鹅卵石和11根燃烧了一半的生日蜡烛。
I looked at the stone, so clean and polished. Could it be Chrissy’s? Was it her “very special” necklace?
我看着那块石头，如此干净光亮。它是克丽丝的吗？这是她的“非常特别”的项链吗？
“Uncle Coop,” I called, “would you take me to the store?”
“库叔叔，”我喊道，“你能带我去商店吗？”
We went into town together and stopped at Luann’s. Uncle Coop let me borrow his cell phone to call the number on the poster.
我们一起进城，在卢安家停了下来。库叔叔让我借用他的手机拨打海报上的号码。
“Hello?” said a girl’s voice after one ring.
“喂？”一个铃响后，一个女孩的声音。
“Hi, ”I said, nervous. “Is this Chrissy?”
“嗨，”我紧张地说。“你是克丽丝吗？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“Um, my name is Ryan. I think I may have something that belongs to you.”
“嗯，我叫瑞恩。我想我可能有一些属于你的东西。”
“My necklace?”
“我的项链？”
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at a table across from Chrissy. We were drinking milkshakes and sharing an order of sweet-potato fries while Uncle Coop and Chrissy’s dad drank coffee at the counter.
十五分钟后，我坐在克丽丝对面的桌子旁。我们喝着奶昔，一起点了一份红薯薯条，而库叔叔和克丽丝的爸爸在柜台喝着咖啡。
“It was a gift from my mom,” she said, “before she got sick.”
“这是我妈妈生病前送给我的礼物，”她说。
Chrissy looked down at the blue stone in her hand.
克丽丝低头看着手里的蓝色石头。
“I’m really sorry,” I said. “Holding on to it somehow makes things a little better,” she said. “Do you know what I mean?”
“我真的很抱歉，”我说。她说：“坚持下去会让事情变得更好，你知道我的意思吗？”
I thought about the mean kids at school and how holding on to beautiful things often made me feel better.
我想到了学校里那些刻薄的孩子，以及坚持美好的事物往往让我感觉更好。
I nodded. “I think I do.”
我点了点头。“我想是的。”
