温馨夜读心灵履痕精简版.docx

1、温馨夜读心灵履痕精简版When night unfurls its silent splendor, please take this book and read in the lamplight. Each sensation will be heightened by the people, their stories and their feelings. You may read the stories in soft voice, with meditation and comprehension. The people, the stories and the feelings p

2、rint your heart.1.Back HomeA gentle breeze blew through Jennifers hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up

3、above in the sky.The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this is what she needed. “Its getting late,” she thought, “I must go home, my parents will be wondering where I am.”She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept

4、on walking, directing herself to bungalow 163, where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.It was really getting dark now, the sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold

5、too. She wished she had her favorite jumper on: it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought dissipated when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict ab

6、out keeping everything clean and tidy, and now. It all seemed deserted. She couldnt understand what was going on.She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said: “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready, I went looking.” Ellen was her mother

7、 but where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadnt slept for days. She was really pale. Jenny would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired to force he

8、r. So Jenny just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up something was different.she wasnt in her mothers room and she wasnt wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas.It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice. “Are you feeling better now,

9、 dear? You know you got us very, very scared.”2.Stopped in Silence 静止 I discovered the power of fear when I became stuck to my driveway, as if my feet were crazy-glued to the cement. As much as I tried, I could not move them. The realization that my daughters were playing in Nancys house, just one-h

10、alf block away, paralyzed my legs making me unable to move when I neared the end of our driveway. Dense, black smoke was rising from behind the Sycamore Maple trees on the other side of the street and was enveloping three houses, making them barely visible. Nancys house was one of them. I tried to c

11、all out for my daughters hoping to see them run safely to my arms, but my voice was also stuckstuck in my throat with no intention of coming out. There I stood; helpless, paralyzed and silenced by fear, unable to protect the two little girls I loved more than even I had realized. Seconds ticked away

12、 like hours as I silently said, “Please let them be okay.” Although trapped in a body that couldnt move or speak, I could still hear. I could hear other mothers anxiously calling their children. I could hear an eerie silence that covered the neighborhood instead of the usual happy voices of children

13、. And, finally, I could hear the siren of the fire engine. As the fire truck rounded the corner the siren announced, “Were on our way,” and instantly it dissolved the crazy glue that had held my feet to the cement and it unlocked the soundproof box that had silenced my voice. I was free to make sure

14、 my daughters were safe. As I continued down the driveway, in what felt like slow motion, two little girls, my two little girls, ran toward me from across the street. They had come home to tell me about the fire in the garage next to Nancys house. Not only did my feet and voice work now, but my eyes

15、 were also in good working order and had no trouble producing tears of happiness and relief. Tears that could only be explained to two little girls by saying, “Because Mommy loves you.”3.The Giving Trees 爱心树 I was a single parent of four small children. Money was always tight, but what we had, if no

16、t a lot, was always enough. My kids told me that in those days they didnt know we were poor. It was Christmas time, and although there wasnt money for a lot of gifts, we had our plans to celebrate. The big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas shopping at the mall. They talked and planned

17、 for weeks ahead of time, asking each other and their grandparents what they wanted for Christmas. I dreaded it. I only saved $120 for all five of us. The big day arrived and we started out early. I gave each of the four kids a twenty dollar bill and reminded them to look for gifts about four dollar

18、s each. Then everyone scattered. We had two hours to shop; and then we would meet back at the “Santas workshop” display. Back in the car driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, laughing and teasing each other with hints and clues about what they had bought. My younger daughter, Ginger,

19、 who was about eight years old, was unusually quiet. I noticed she had only one small, flat bag with her after her shopping spree. I could see enough through the plastic bag to tell that she had bought candy bars fifty-cent candy bars! I was so angry. What did you do with that twenty dollar bill I g

20、ave you? I wanted to yell at her, but I didnt say anything until we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door, ready to be angry again when I asked her what she had done with the money. This is what she told me: “I was looking around, thinking of what to buy, and I stopped to read t

21、he little cards on one of the Salvation Armys Giving Trees. One of the cards was for a little girl, four years old, and all she wanted for Christmas was a doll with clothes and a hairbrush. So I took the card off the tree and bought the doll and hairbrush for her and took it to the Salvation Army bo

22、oth. “I only had enough money left to buy candy bars for us,” Ginger continued. “But we have so much and she doesnt have anything.” I never felt so rich as I did that day.4.Dance with Me 与我共舞 When were young and we dream of love and fulfillment, we think perhaps of moon-drenched Parisian nights or w

23、alks along the beach at sunset. No one tells us that the greatest moments of a lifetime are fleeting, unplanned and nearly always catch us off guard. Not long ago, as I was reading a bedtime story to my seven-year-old daughter, Annie, I became aware of her focused gaze. She was starring at me with a

24、 faraway, trancelike expression. Apparently, completing The Tale of Samuel Whiskers was not as important as we first thought. I asked what she was thinking about. “Mommy,” she whispered, “I just cant stop looking at your pretty face.” I almost dissolved on the spot. Little did she know how many tryi

25、ng moments the glow of her sincerely loving statement would carry me through over the following years. Not long after, I took my four-year-old son to an elegant department store, where the melodic notes of a classic love song drew us toward a tuxedoed musician playing a grand piano. Sam and I sat do

26、wn on a marble bench nearby, and he seemed as transfixed by the lilting theme as I was. I didnt realize that Sam had stood up next to me until he turned, took my face in his little hands and said, “Dance with me.” If only those women strolling under the Paris moon knew the joy of such an invitation

27、made by a round-cheeked boy with baby teeth. Although shoppers openly chuckled, grinned and pointed at us as we glided and whirled around the open atrium, I would not have traded a dance with such a charming young gentleman if Id been offered the universe.5.Grandpas Valentine 爷爷的情人卡 I received a cal

28、l from the nursing home. Grandpa was failing rapidly. I should come. There was nothing to do but hold his hand. “I love you, Grandpa. Thank you for always being there for me.” Memories.memories.six days a week, Grandpa in that old blue shirt caring for those cattle.on hot summer days plowing the soi

29、l, planting the corn and beans and harvesting them in the fall.always working from dawn to dusk. Survival demanded work, work, work. But on Sundays he put on his gray suit and hat. Grandma wore her wine-colored dress and ivory beads, and they went to church. Grandpa and Grandma were quiet, peaceful,

30、 unemotional people. The nurse apologized for having to ask me so soon to remove Grandpas things from the room. It would not take long. There wasnt much. Then I found it in the top drawer of his nightstand. It looked like a very old handmade valentine. What must have been red paper at one time was a

31、 streaked faded pink. A piece of white paper had been glued to the center of the heart. On it, penned in Grandmas handwriting, were these words: TO LEE FROM HARRIET With All My Love, February 14, 1895 Are you alive? Real? Or are you the most beautiful dream that I have had in years? Are you an angel

32、 or a figment of my imagination? Someone I fabricated to fill the void? To soothe the pain? Where did you find the time to listen? How could you understand? You made me laugh when my heart was crying. You took me dancing when I couldnt take a step. You helped me set new goals when I was dying. You showed me dew drops and I had diamonds. You brought me wildflowers and I had orchids. You sang to me and ange