U2AAchild'sclutterawaitsanadult'sreturn儿时百宝箱老大归家梦Iwatchherbackhernewtruckoutofthedriveway.Thevehicleistoolarge,tooexpensive.She'drefusedtoconsiderapracticalcarwithgoodgasefficiencyandeasytopark.It'sbecauseofme,Ithink.Sheboughtittoshowmethatshecould.我看着她在车道上倒着她的新卡车。车太大，而且太贵。她就是不肯意考虑买辆开起来省油、停起来省心的实用型汽车。我想，原因在我。她买这辆车就是为了让我看看她的能耐。"I'm18,"she'dtoldmesooftenthatmyteethached."Iamanadult!"“我18岁了，”她常常这样对我说，以至于听得我牙都疼了。“我是成年人了！”Ithought,isthattrue?Justyesterdayyouwatchedsomecartoons.Whatchangedbetweenyesterdayandtoday?我心想，真的吗？昨天你还在看动画片呢。今天和昨天又能有多大的转变？Todayshe'sgone,offtobeanadultfarawayfromme.I'mgladshe'sgone.Itmeansshemadeit,andthatI'mfinallyfreeof18yearsofresponsibilities.AndyetIwonderifshecouldtakegoodcareofherself.今天她走了，远离我去寻求成年人的独立。我很高兴她离开了。这意味着她成功了，而我也终于可以从18年的责任中脱身了。可是我仍是担忧她能不能照顾好自己。Sheleftamess.Herbathroomisanembarrassmentofdamptowels,rustedshavingblades,hairinthesink,andnearlyemptytubesoftoothpaste.Ibringaboxofbigblackgarbagebagsupstairs.Eyeshadow,facecream,nailpolish-allgointothetrash.Idumpdrawers,sweepshelvesclearandcleanthesink.WhenIamfinished,itisasneatandimpersonalasahotelbathroom.她留下的是一片狼藉。她的洗手间真是凌乱不堪，有没拧干的毛巾，有生锈的剃刀片，散落在面盆里的头发，还有几支快挤空了的牙膏。我拿了一盒大号的黑色垃圾袋上了楼。眼影、面霜、指甲油——这些通通扔进垃圾袋。我把抽屉清空，把架子打扫干净，还把面盆擦洗干净。我打扫完后，洗手间就像酒店里的那样井井有条，丝毫没有人情味儿。InherbedroomIfindmismatchedsocksunderherbedandpurplepantsontheclosetfloor.Deskdrawersarefilledwithschoolpapers,filedbyyearandsubject.在她的卧室里，我发现床下有不配对的袜子，壁橱底板上扔着紫色的裤子。书桌的抽屉里尽是学校的卷子，依照年份和科目归了类。Icatchmyselfreadingthroughpoemsandessays,admiringhighscoresontestsandreadinghername,printedortypedneatlyintheupperright-handcornerofeachpaper.Ipackthedeskcontentsintoabox.Sixmonths,Ithink.Iwillgivehersixmonthstocollectherbelongings,andthenIwillthrowthemallaway.Thatisfair.Grown-upspayforstorage.我发现自己竟然在翻看她的诗歌和作文，欣赏着考卷上的高分，端详着每张考卷右上角她用印刷体工工整整书写的或是打印的她的名字。我把书桌里的东西整理到一个盒子里。六个月，我心想。若是过了六个月她还不来拿她的东西，我就会把它们一古脑儿全扔了。这算讲道理了吧。成年人寄存东西是要付费的。Ihavetopauseatthebooks.Comicbooks,teenfiction,romanticnovels,historicalnovels,andtextbooks.Alifetimeofreading;eachbookbeloved.Iwanttobepractical,tostufftheminpapersacksfortheusedbookstore.ButIlovebooksasmuchasshedoes,soIstackthemontoasinglebookshelftodealwithlater.轮到整理书的时候，我有些犹豫了。连环漫画册、青少年小说、言情小说、历史小说，还有讲义。阅读是一生的事；每本书都是心爱之物。本来我想现实一点，把这些书塞进纸袋，然后送到旧书店。可是我跟女儿一样爱书如命，于是我把她的这些书归置到一个单独的书架上，等往后再作处置。Igoforherclothes.Dresses,sweaters,andshoesshehasn'twornsinceseventhgradeareplacedintogarbagebags.Iamaplagueoflocustsemptyingthecloset.Twopilesgrowtoclumsyheights:oneforcharity,theothertrash.接下来，我着手整理她的衣服。那些她从七年级起就再也不穿的裙子、毛衣和鞋子都被装进了垃圾袋。就像蝗虫洗劫一样，我清空了壁橱。理出高高的、乱蓬蓬的两大堆东西：一堆捐给慈...
