Without a Nightligh（在线收听）

The moon shone down on the lake like a spotlight. It was a warm summer evening, and I found the night sky, with its ¹⁾glistening stars, relaxing to watch. Five of us were sitting on the dock, wishing we could go for a swim. Paul asked Chelsea and me if we wanted to get on a big yellow tube and go across the ²⁾cove. It sounded like fun. 

We were on the tube, ³⁾paddling across the lake, when Chelsea said that she was having doubts. Was it safe crossing the lake in this tube? Paul said he had done this before and that there was nothing to worry about. The boat speed limit was five miles an hour and all boats needed to have at least two lights on.

We were ⁴⁾cruising along when, suddenly, Kari started yelling from the dock, saying she heard a boat coming. We didn’t think anything about it, figuring we were on the opposite side from where the boat would be. Then suddenly, the noise became loud enough for us to hear over our splashing feet. We all began to panic.

We yelled back to the dock, asking them if they could see a boat, but no one could. So we kept going until the ⁵⁾roar was louder than our voices. Then, all of a sudden, Kari started screaming, “Come back!” Her voice sounded scared, so we desperately started looking for a boat. Out of nowhere, over the roar of the engine and the kicking of our feet, Kari yelled, “Oh my God, there’s a boat!” The way she said it terrified me and I started to cry. None of us knew what to do.

We stayed as still as we could. Chelsea and I were on the tube. She was on my left and Paul was on my right, floating in the water. Once we were still, all I could hear was my heart pounding, the yelling all around me, and the roar of a boat coming closer and closer every second. Then suddenly, right in front of me, was my worst nightmare. There, just a few feet away, was the boat. It was coming right at us!

Chelsea froze right in her spot, screaming. I pushed her into the water and jumped in after her, just in time to save my own life. As I went under the water, I felt the boat skidding over my shoulder like a jet.

I looked up through the water, but at first I could not find the surface. Finally, I got to the top and took the biggest breath I’ve ever taken. But the terrifying situation was not over. The boat came back, looking for what it had struck, and almost hit us again.

Chelsea was above the water by the time I came up, and I could hear her yelling for Paul and me. I answered her, but Paul did not. It seemed as though we were calling for Paul forever, but thinking back, it was only about twenty seconds. At last, Paul came to the surface, and we made it back to the dock. Kari had to pull me in with the life rope because I felt like I could not move. Once we all got onto the dock, one of the men who was in the boat brought our tube in for us.

Paul kept saying that it was all his fault and that he was to blame for us almost being killed. We assured him that we had made the decision to go and he was not to blame. We sat on the dock telling our own versions of what had happened. The only way that our stories differed was the way the boat hit all of us. The boat hit me on the shoulder while I was trying to push off the bottom of the boat. Chelsea pushed off the boat with her hands; Paul got hit on the head. Everyone agreed that I had saved Chelsea by pushing her off the tube.

The next afternoon, which was Father’s Day, my parents and I went over to Paul’s house to have a cookout. When we were all sitting on the dock, we told them our story. I spent a lot of that day thinking about how lucky we were just to be alive. That moment gave me nightmares for almost a year. To this day, I can still see the color of the waves and feel the way my heart was beating when I finally came up for air. That was one experience that I will never forget.

Without a doubt, the next time we go out on the lake at night, we’ll bring along a light! CE

16、无灯之夜

月亮如聚光灯般直射着湖面。那是个暖和的夏夜，我看到群星闪烁的夜空正悠悠闲闲地瞧着我们五个人。我们坐在码头上，一心盼着去游泳。保罗问切尔西和我想不想坐在一只大黄气胎上划过小湖湾。这听起来是个挺有趣的主意。

我们坐到气胎上，荡桨划过湖面，切尔西边说出她的顾虑∶坐气胎过湖安不安全？保罗说他以前就这么做过，没什么好怕的。当时的船速都被控制在五英里内，所有的船上都应该至少配备两盏灯。

我们向前行驶着，突然间，卡丽在码头上大喊起来，嚷着说她听到有船过来。我们压根没多想，以为自己与来的船不在一边。可噪声忽然大起来，大得盖住了我们踢水的声音。我们慌张失措起来。

我们朝码头喊回去，问他们是否看见有船，但没人看到。于是我们继续前进，船的轰鸣逐渐大得超过我们的声音。而后卡丽突然尖声叫道：“回来！”她的声音里充满恐惧，所以我们紧张地搜索着船的踪影。卡丽正对着引擎轰鸣声处和我们脚踢着水的地方大喊起来∶“啊，天啊，船在那儿！”她说话的样子把我吓得魂不附体，我于是大哭起来。人人都没了主意。

我们尽量不乱动。切尔西和我都趴在气胎上，她在我左边，保罗在我右边，浮在水里。一停下来，我只听到自己的心脏狂跳不已，四周的叫喊声此起彼落，每过一秒船声就越近。接着，突然正在我前方出现了我最惊怕的恶梦。一艘船就在几尺开外，它正朝我们驶来！

切尔西僵在原处惊叫着。我把她推入水里并随后也扎了进去，差点自己就没命了。我潜到水底，感觉到船像只喷气机般从肩头碾过。

我在水里抬起头，一时找不着水面。后来还是浮了出来，深深地大呼一口气。但险境尚未结束。船为了检查刚才撞到什么又开了回来，差点再次撞着我们。

我露出水面时切尔西已出来了，我听到她在呼喊着保罗和我。我答应了她，可保罗没有动静。当时好像是喊了保罗无穷久，但现在回想起来，只有二十秒。保罗终于从水里钻出来，我们朝码头游去。卡丽是用救生绳把我从水里拖出来的，因为我那时已经无法动弹了。等我们全都上了码头后，船上的一个人帮我们把气胎拉回来。

保罗不停地自责，说他差点害了大家。我们安慰他说，决定是一起做出的，不能怪他。我们坐在码头上讲述刚才各自的经历。三人故事的不同之处在于被船撞到的位置不一样。船在我努力避开船底的时候撞着了我的肩膀。切尔西是用双手推开船的，保罗被撞着的是头。人人都认为我把切尔西从气胎上推下去是救了她一命。

第二天正是父亲节，下午，父母和我到保罗家去一起外出会餐。我们在码头上坐下后，我们跟他们讲述了那番经历。那天很长的时间里我一直在想，我们能活下来真是太幸运了。那次事件在随后将近一年的时间里让我恶梦频频。时至今日我还能看见水波的颜色，能感到露出水面时的心跳。我将永远铭记那次经历。

确凿无疑的是，下次我们再在晚上游湖，一定会带盏灯！CE