My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines.
我长得像我妈妈，但她头发较短，而且脸上带有笑纹。
I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes.
看着她那双天真烂漫的大眼睛，我涌起一阵心痛。
How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself?
我怎么可以撇下我可爱、古怪、率性的母亲，让她独自一人去生活呢？
Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid,
当然，眼下她有菲尔，账单会有人去付，
there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car,
冰箱里会有吃的，汽车没油了有人去加，
and someone to call when she got lost, but still...
迷了路也有人可求，但还是……
"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar,
“我真的想去，”我撒了个谎。我一直都不太会说谎话，
but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.
不过这个谎话最近一直在说，最后连自己都深信不疑了。
"Tell Charlie I said hi." "I will."
“代我向查理问好。”“我会的。”
"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want—
“我很快就会来看你的，”她坚持道，“你想回家的话，随时都可以回——
I'll come right back as soon as you need me."
你说一声需要我，我马上就回来。”
But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.
不过，从她眼中我能看出这样的诺言会让她做出怎样的牺牲。
"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."
“别为我操心，”我劝她，“一切都会很好的。我爱你，妈妈。”
She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.
她紧紧地搂了我一会儿，然后等我登上了飞机，她才离开。
It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle,
从凤凰城到西雅图要飞四个小时，
another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles,
然后在西雅图换乘小飞机往北飞一个小时到天使港，
and then an hour drive back down to Forks.
再南下开一个小的车就到福克斯了。
Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.
坐飞机我倒不怕；不过，跟查理在车上相处的那一个小时却令我有些担心。
Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing.
查理对这件事情的态度从头到尾都非常不错。
He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence.
我第一次来跟他一起生活，即使还有些许做秀的成分，但他似乎真的很高兴。
He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.
他已经为我在高中注册了，还打算帮我弄辆车。
But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie.
但是跟查理在一起肯定会很别扭。
Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose,
我们都不是那种在谁看来都很啰嗦的人，
and I didn't know what there was to say regardless.
何况，我也不知道有什么好说的。
I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision—
我明白，他被我的决定弄得摸不着头脑了——
like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.
就像我妈妈在我面前那样，我不喜欢福克斯，这一点我从来都没有掩饰过。
When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining.
飞机在天使港着陆时，天空正在下着雨。
I didn't see it as an omen—just unavoidable.
我没有把它看作是某种征兆——下雨在福克斯是不可避免的。
I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.
我已经跟太阳说过再见了。
Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser.
查理开着巡逻车来接我，
This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks.
这也是我预料之中的事。查理·斯旺是福克斯善良人民的斯旺警长。
My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds,
我尽管手头不宽裕，但还是想买辆车，
was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top.
主要就是因为我不想让一辆顶上有红蓝灯的警车拉着我满街跑。
Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.
交通不畅，警察的功劳谁都望尘莫及。
