英语灵异故事-Voodoo Magic(伏都巫术) 02

My mother turned to me and said, "Sarah, do you want to go visit your grandmother and grandfather?" I nodded, clutching¹ the dolls till in my hand. After stretching our legs, my mother became pretty upset at how I kept carrying the doll around. I hadn't let it go since we left the market. She took it from me and threw it on the ground. In her defense², she had been taking pills for depression, and her hormones³ had been incredibly active. I cried for about an hour after we left. We went to the graveyard⁴, and we said our prayers.

　　My mom needed to use the restroom in the funeral home, so while she was gone, I went exploring. It was pretty windy- the effects of Hurricane George. There was hardly anything worth telling about, as it wasn't too bad. I gradually sauntered into the woods and looked around, bored out of my mind. I stopped and did a double-take when I thought I saw my voodoo doll hanging from a tree, suspended⁵ by the neck, with a large bird by its side (strange, yes, I know).

　　I have no cordial⁶ relationship with birds. I neither like them nor dislike them. I don't know much about them at all. But I don't think I've ever seen such a large bird. It a little bigger than a vulture, but it probably wasn't by much.

　　A few years later, my step dad and my mother were gone from the house- a completely different house. They were both out to have a romantic dinner by themselves. It wasn't my first time being alone. I was lying on their bed, watching TV, when I heard something at the door. By that time, we had two dogs in the backyard. I went outside and walked around, one dog (a jack⁷ Russell) in my arm, the other dog (a chocolate lab) being dragged there by the collar. I looked to the window. Nothing. I turned back around, and my breath was taken.

母亲转过身对我说：“莎拉，想去看看你的祖父、祖母吗？”我点点头，把那些人偶紧紧抓在手里。下车后，母亲对我无论去哪儿都一直拿着人偶的行为变得非常不安。我们离开市场后，我就没放下过它。她把它抢过去，扔在地上。为了保护自己，她在服用抗抑郁的药物，激素活动极其活跃。我们离开后我哭了大概一个小时。我们去了墓地，做了祷告。在殡仪馆，母亲去了洗手间。她去的时候，我出来闲逛。那天风很大——是受了“乔治”飓风的影响。关于飓风没什么可说的，因为天气不是太坏。我慢慢地逛进了树林，到处看着，无聊得发疯。当我以为看到了我的伏都人偶时，恍然回神，停了下来。它挂在树上，脖子被吊着，一只大鸟站在旁边（很奇怪，是的，这我知道）。我对鸟类没什么激烈的感情，不喜欢它们，也不讨厌。我对它们根本不怎么了解，但是我想我从没见过这么大的鸟。它比秃鹰还要大一点，但是可能大的不多。

　　几年后的一天，我继父和母亲出了家门——那是一所完全不同的房子。他们单独出去吃浪漫的晚餐。那不是我第一次一个人在家，我躺在他们的床上，看着电视，其间听到门口有什么响动。那时我们在后院喂了两只狗，我出去转了一圈，抱着一只狗（一只杰克罗素梗 ），拖着另一只（一只巧克力色的拉布拉多寻回犬）的项圈。我看向窗户。什么也没有。我转过身，呼吸一下停住了。

1 clutching   

抓住，紧紧抓住( clutch的现在分词 )； （因害怕或痛苦）突然抓住

参考例句：

• He was clutching the magazine lovingly with both hands. 他紧紧地捏着杂志，好像害怕琴会把它抢去似的。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Children clutching empty bowls form a line. 紧紧抓着空碗的孩子们排成一队。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

4 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

5 suspended   

a.被暂时搁置的

参考例句：

• A lamp was suspended from the ceiling. 一盏吊灯悬在天花板上。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area. 英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 cordial   

adj.（指感情或行为上）热忱的，诚恳的

参考例句：

• The conversation was carried on in a cordial and friendly atmosphere.会谈是在亲切友好的气氛中进行的。
• The meeting of the old classmates was extremely cordial.老同学聚会在一起,分外亲热。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。