There were other dogs in the neighborhood, but I liked Marshmallow the best,
附近还有其他狗子,但我最喜欢棉花糖,
probably because I saw her nearly every day when the boy went to stay with Chelsea’s mother after school.
也许是因为我几乎每天都能见到她,因为伊森放学后去找切尔西的母亲。
Often when I would head out through the open gate on an adventure Marshmallow would be out, too,
通常,当我从敞开的大门出去冒险时,棉花糖也会出来,
and would accompany me while we explored the issue of other people’s trash cans.
和我一起探索别人家的垃圾桶。
So I was alarmed to hear Chelsea leaning out of her mother’s car one day, calling, “Marshmallow! Marshy! Here, Marshmallow!”
所以,当我听到切尔西从她母亲的车里探出头来喊道:“棉花糖!这里!棉花糖!”的时候,我都吓一跳。
Chelsea came over to talk to Ethan, and before long all the kids in the neighborhood were calling Mashmallow’s name.
切尔西走过来和伊森谈了谈,没过多久,附近所有的孩子都叫棉花糖的名字。
It was clear to me that Marshmallow had been a bad dog and had gone off somewhere on her own adventure.
我很清楚,棉花糖不够义气,她自己去了什么地方冒险去了,没带我。
Her scent was most recent in the area of the creek, but there were so many children and dogs, I didn’t have a good sense of what direction she’d taken.
她最近留下的气味是在小溪附近,但那里有那么多的孩子和狗子,我不太清楚她朝哪个方向走了。
Chelsea was sad and cried, and I felt bad for her and put my head in her lap, and she hugged me.
切尔西很伤心地哭了,我为她感到难过,把我的头放在她的腿上,她拥抱了我。
Todd was one of the children who were helping to look for Marshmallow, and curiously, her scent was on his pants.
托德是帮助寻找棉花糖的孩子之一,奇怪的是,他的裤子上上有棉花糖的气味。
I sniffed him carefully, and he frowned and pushed my head away.
我仔细地闻了闻他,他皱起眉头,把我的头推开。
His shoes were muddy and Marshmallow’s scent was strong there, too, plus other things I couldn’t identify.
他的鞋上满是泥巴,还有棉花糖的味道,还有其他我识别不出来的东西。
“Come on, Bailey,” Ethan said when he saw Todd’s reaction to my examination.
“贝利,过来,”伊森看到托德对我闻他的反应后说。
Marshmallow never did come home.
棉花糖再也没有回家。
I remembered my first mother, running out the gate and into the world without a look back.
我想起了我的第一任母亲,她冲出大门,头也不回地走向了这个世界。
Some dogs just want to be free to wander, because they don’t have a boy who loves them.
有些狗只是想自由自在地游荡,因为它们没有爱它们的男孩。
Eventually Marshmallow’s scent faded from the wind, but I never seemed to stop sniffing for her.
最后,棉花糖的气味在风中消失了,但我一直努力嗅着,想找寻她的踪迹。
When I remembered playing with Marshmallow I found myself thinking of Coco, back in the Yard.
当我回想起和棉花糖一起玩的时候,我就会想起院子里的可可。
I would have loved to see Coco again, and Marshmallow.
我很想再见到可可和棉花糖。