（一）
从睡梦中惊醒，五岁的棉棉揉一揉朦胧的睡眼，努力回想自己究竟是在什么地方。噢，想起来了，是在外婆的家里。天黑的如此的沉，只有几颗稀疏的星星眨巴着眼冷漠地看着大地。周围高低不齐的楼房和树将月影投射在院子的空地里，阴森森令人胆寒。半夜的风没有一丝凉意，逼得人们到处换地方睡觉。在院子中凉椅上坐起来发楞的小女孩儿被一只过路的黑猫吓得尖叫一声。可是为何她睡着前还充满几间屋子的大人没有一个人跑来过问？棉棉又大叫了几声外婆和二舅，可是仍然只能听到蟋蟀的叫声。她于是意识到什么了，她很想回屋子去查看大人们都去哪儿了，可是她不敢。那几个不太熟悉的房间，黑漆漆的，一直延伸到走廊尽头，真不知道里面会有什么奇物。棉棉越想越怕，拉上薄薄的被单将自己从头到脚捂了起来。恐惧和孤单一瞬间象洪水猛兽朝她袭来。她想通过一种方式呼唤亲人回来，因为她是多么的需要她们。加上掩饰不住的恐慌，棉棉终于忍不住放声大哭，彻夜不停，声嘶力竭。越不见亲人回家就越伤心地哭泣！
ONE
Translated by: 北美大牛
Awoke startled from her dream, Cotton, a five year old rubbed her sleepy eyes
and struggled to remember where she was. Ah, she was at her maternal
grandmother’s house, as she finally collected her senses. It was so dark, that
sparsely only a few stars in the sky twinkled toward the earth. The shades
projected to the empty courtyard from the jagged shapes of the builds and trees
around the house were tenebrous and frightening. Although it was midnight,
there was relief from the breeze, people had to change places to sleep. Now the
absent minded girl had gotten up and sat in a wicker chair. She was startled by
the meow from a black cat walking across the street. She wondered why none of
the adults in all the rooms of the house before she went to sleep came to
inquire about her. Cotton yelled loudly for her grandma and uncle, but all she
could hear was the chirps of the crickets. She then realized something and
wanted to go back to the house to see where all the adults were. But she was
too frightened to move. Those unfamiliar rooms were all pitchy dark and
extended to the end of the long hallway. She was afraid of seeing strange
things in those rooms. The more Cotton thought about those things, the more she
became frightened, then, she pulled up the thin bed sheet and wrapped herself
up in it from head to toe. Fear and loneliness flooded her mind like a beast.
She tried to find a way to bring her people over, because she found her
desperately needed them. But nobody came, the fear overwhelmed her and Cotton
finally broke into a loud cry, which lasted throughout the night. She was
exhausted from crying, but the lonelier she felt away from her parents, the
more she cried.
and struggled to remember where she was. Ah, she was at her maternal
grandmother’s house, as she finally collected her senses. It was so dark, that
sparsely only a few stars in the sky twinkled toward the earth. The shades
projected to the empty courtyard from the jagged shapes of the builds and trees
around the house were tenebrous and frightening. Although it was midnight,
there was relief from the breeze, people had to change places to sleep. Now the
absent minded girl had gotten up and sat in a wicker chair. She was startled by
the meow from a black cat walking across the street. She wondered why none of
the adults in all the rooms of the house before she went to sleep came to
inquire about her. Cotton yelled loudly for her grandma and uncle, but all she
could hear was the chirps of the crickets. She then realized something and
wanted to go back to the house to see where all the adults were. But she was
too frightened to move. Those unfamiliar rooms were all pitchy dark and
extended to the end of the long hallway. She was afraid of seeing strange
things in those rooms. The more Cotton thought about those things, the more she
became frightened, then, she pulled up the thin bed sheet and wrapped herself
up in it from head to toe. Fear and loneliness flooded her mind like a beast.
She tried to find a way to bring her people over, because she found her
desperately needed them. But nobody came, the fear overwhelmed her and Cotton
finally broke into a loud cry, which lasted throughout the night. She was
exhausted from crying, but the lonelier she felt away from her parents, the
more she cried.
