Marilyn Helmer - April Fooled 汉译

Kevin sat up so quickly that he almost bumped his head on the shelf above his bed. Someone was pounding on his bedroom door.

“Kevin. It’s time to get up,” he heard his sister calling. “Hurry up. You’ve slept in again.”

Kevin stumbled to the door and yanked it open. April was standing in the hall.

“Hurry up.” she said. “You’re going to be late.”

Kevin dashed past her and ran downstairs. The kitchen was empty. The house was dark and silent. As he switched on the light, he glanced at the clock. It was 6:00 a.m.! The calendar beside the refrigerator caught his eye. There was a big red circle around the first day of the month. Kevin let out a loud groan.

Behind him, April giggled. “April Fool.” she teased as Kevin spun around. “I got you, just like I promised.” With that, she flipped into a hand－stand and looked at Kevin with an upside－down grin.

Kevin turned and stomped upstairs. As he got back into bed, thoughts of his sister cartwheeled through his mind. April Bateman, expert gymnast and expert joke－player, was driving everyone crazy. She never walked when she could bounce, flip, or somersault. She never missed an opportunity to play a joke on someone. And of course, April Fool’s Day was April’s favorite day of the year.

Later that morning, Mr.Bateman discovered that his shoes wouldn’t tie and his shaver wouldn’t shave. Someone had removed the laces from his shoes and the batteries from his shaver.

Mrs. Bateman found a huge spider in the middle of the kitchen table. Before she realized that it was plastic, she dropped two soft－boiled eggs on the floor and knocked over a pitcher of orange juice.

Kevin discovered that every one of his T－shirts had been turned inside out. “Where’s April?”he asked when the family sat down to breakfast. “She had an early gym practice,” said his father.

“There’s a gymnastics competition at the Y this afternoon,” his mother said as she buttered a slice of toast. “April has her heart set on winning a medal.”

When Kevin came home at noon, his mother rushed into the kitchen. “Kevin, April’s gym coach phoned. The competition may have to be switched to a different location. If that happens, Mr. Boyer will phone back by 12:30.” She paused to catch her breath. “It’s 12:00 now and I have to be at the office in fifteen minutes. If Mr. Boyer calls, leave me a note.”She pointed to the note pad by the phone. “This is very important, Kevin. Be sure that you write down the message.”

“Trust me, Mom,” said Kevin.“I promise I’ll take care of it.”

Shortly after his mother left, the phone rang. It was Mr. Boyer. “The competition has been switched from the Y to the Oakville Arena,” he explained. Kevin wrote down the new address and directions. “Be sure to leave the note where your mother will see it, Kevin,” he added.

“I’ll take care of it, Mr. Boyer. I promise,” Kevin assured him.

Late that afternoon, Kevin came home from soccer practice. When he went in to the den, April was sitting in the rocking chair, staring out of the window. “How did the competition go?” he asked. “Did you win a medal?”

April looked up. Her face was red and tear－streaked. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t even have a chance to compete,” she said in a shaky voice.

“What happened?” Kevin asked.

“We were late and I was disqualified, thanks to your stupid joke.” April sniffed and tears ran down her cheeks. Kevin stared at her. “What joke? What are you talking about?”

Suddenly their mother appeared in the doorway. She looked right at Kevin. “What happened to Mr. Boyer’s message?” she asked holding up a blank notepad.

Kevin’s eyes widened in surprise. “I wrote everything down like you told me to,” he said.

His mother tapped the blank notepad. “Kevin, there’s nothing written here.” She went on quickly. “When I came home and found this, I figured that the competition was at the Y as scheduled. So that’s where we went.”

“But we were the only ones there,” April interrupted. She glared at Kevin. “By the time we found out the competition had been switched, it was too late.”

“Kevin, what happened to Mr. Boyer’s message?” his mother asked. Kevin pointed to the note pad she was holding. “When Mr. Boyer phoned, I grabbed that pad and the orange pen that was beside it. I wrote down the message just like I promised I would.”

There was a loud gasp from the rocking chair. Kevin and his mother turned to April. April’s mouth was a round “O” of surprise. “You used my trick pen,” she spluttered.

“What? Trick? Pen?” her mother asked. Each word was a separate question.

“I... It’s... It looks okay when you write with it.” April stumbled over the words. “But when the ink dries, the writing disappears. I was going to take it to school to play a joke on my teacher.”She shut her eyes. “Me and my dumb jokes.” she wailed.

Kevin looked at his sister. He wanted to say, “Joke’s on you, April Fool,” but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead he said, “There’s another competition next week, isn’t there?”

April nodded and managed a weak smile.

Mrs. Bateman spoke up. “This time we’ll be in the right place at the right time. I promise.”

April looked at her mother. Then she looked at Kevin. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Speaking of promises,” she said, “I, April Bateman, promise that I will never ever play another joke on anyone as long as I live!” And except for April Fool’s Day, April never... well, hardly ever… did.