Jennifer Paige was halfway down the stairs, her hand trailing lightly along the banister1, when she turned and went back to the door of her room. Though she knew it all by heart, she wanted to take one last look. Good-bye, room... She lingered2 over the soft and faded quilt that lay folded at the foot of bed... the window curtains tied back, framing a view of the elm3 top... Oh, the wide-awake dreams that had often drifted through her head as she gazed out that window.
Not that she was sentimental about such things. Not now. She couldn’t afford to be. Certainly there was no reluctance in her farewell4. It was like the brief pause at the ending of a chapter in a good book, and she was eager to turn the page. All spring she had waited for this day. Longer than that, really. Finishing high school and going away to school was so much more than just going away to school...
Jennifer went down the stairs again to where her mother and father, strangely quiet, were waiting. Mother was sitting on the little chair that no one ever sat on, her head tilted to one side, and Dad just standing there with his hands thrust into his trouser pockets. The best parents in the world—she knew it—if you didn’t consider the few occasions when they were completely unreasonable about some small matter. Sometimes she wondered if they loved her too much. A twinge5 of guilt stirred deep within her when she admitted to herself how longingly she had looked forward to getting “out from under.”
“It seems like only yesterday you were starting to kindergarten,” her mother said.
Jennifer had heard those words at least a half dozen times a day in the last week. “Mother, do you realize how many times you’ve said that lately?” she asked.
“I may say it again before you’re on the train,” her mother said.“I can’t promise that I won’t, dear.”
“Be patient with your mother,” Dad said, winking6.“It isn’t every day she loses a daughter to higher education and career.”
Jennifer smiled in acknowledgment7 and then paused. In front of the hall mirror for a quick glance. The dark cotton dress looked just—appropriate for a warm day, serious enough for someone who was going to be a nurse.
Her raincoat lay across the luggage stacked8 beside the front door.“I keep asking myself if we’ve forgotten anything,” her mother said.“I know, the camera! I want a snapshot9 of you getting on the train.”
“I thought of that,” her father announced proudly.“I put it in the car last night. Just to be sure.”
As they were going out the front door, her mother said,“Around the world would only be a trip... This is a milestone, Jenny.”
Dad put the suitcases in the back of the car, and then came forward to hold the front door open.“Sit in the middle, dear,” her mother suggested, touching Jennifer’s arm gently, and Jennifer noticed her mother was wearing one of those sad-looking smiles. Her mother had enjoyed talking about all of it—the school catalogue10, how lucky Jennifer was to have only one roommate in the dormitory, which clothes to take along. But in the last few days, as the time drew nearer, she had reflected less and less of her early enthusiasm. In fact, Jennifer was afraid her mother might even get weepy at the station.
Her father pulled out of their driveway and Jennifer turned for one last look at the house.
“Do you know what just came to my mind?” Her mother said.“The hanky11. Do you remember when you were in kindergarten all the children were supposed to wear a handkerchief pinned to their clothes?”
“Oh, Mother!” Then she caught her mother’s teasing glance and she had to laugh. She kissed her mother on the cheek, then leaned head back against the seat.“You know something?” she said.“I love you both very much.”
They pulled up at the station then, and suddenly there was no more time. They walked across the gravel to the platform. Dad checked the luggage and placed the ticket in Jennifer’s hand. The train was coming. There were last-minute reminders and questions...last-minute words of advice... and then last-minute embraces.
“Well, I’m on my way,” Jennifer said brightly.
When her father snapped12 the picture, she noticed her mother wasn’t weepy at all—the smile on her face wasn’t even sad-looking.
Through the window, Jennifer held them with her eyes as the train moved slowly from the station. They were standing close together, and somehow it brought back the memory of that day when she was seven... maybe eight—when she had persuaded them to let her ride the big county-fair Ferris wheel“all by myself.” They had stood the same way then, close together, waiting...and she had sat rigidly still in the exact middle of the seat, but certain that even if she fell, even if the Ferris wheel itself tumbled13, even if... she had know they would catch her.
And now they began to blur14 before they were out of sight.“Jennifer Paige, don’t you know you’d bawl15,” she whispered, fumbling16 for a tissue17. She wiped her eyes and thought: isn’t this the weirdest thing? The beginning of something bright and wonderful and she was crying. Tomorrow was shining ahead of her. She wiped her eyes one last time and when she looked again, her parents were out of sight.
詹妮弗·佩奇轻轻地扶着楼梯扶手下楼，走到半道又转身返回房门口。尽管她悉数在心，但她还想最后再看一眼。再见了，房间……她的目光慢慢扫过床尾叠好的柔软褪色的被子……束起的窗帘，显出窗外的榆树梢……噢，还有她凝望窗外时常浮现在脑海里的漫无边际的梦想。
并不是因为她正在为这些东西感伤，现在不行，她没有时间。当然，她的告别没有勉强的成分。这就像一本好书中某一章结尾时的短暂停顿一样，她急于想翻到下一页。整个春季，她都在等待着这一天。真的，时间比那还要长。中学毕业离家上学和平时上学大不一样……
詹妮弗又下了楼梯，来到父母那里。他们正在等着她，出奇的安静。妈妈坐在一把从来没人坐过的小椅子上，头歪向一边；爸爸站在那里，两手插在裤袋里。她知道，如果不计较他们偶尔在一些小事上完全不讲道理的话，他们是世界上最好的父母。有时她想知道他们是否爱她爱得过分。当她自己承认她曾多么渴望从父母亲的“羽翼下钻出来”时，她深感内疚。
“就像昨天你才开始上幼儿园似的，”她妈妈说。
上周，詹妮弗每天至少听妈妈这样说过五六次。“妈妈，你知道这话你最近说了多少遍吗？”她问。
“在你上火车前我可能还会说，”妈妈说，“我不能保证我不说，亲爱的。”
“对你妈妈要有耐心，”爸爸眨眨眼说：“并不是每天她都有机会送个女儿去上大学，去成就事业。”
詹妮弗默然一笑，然后在大厅镜子前停住脚步，飞快地瞥了一眼。黑棉布裙看上去正合适——适合暖和天穿，而且对一个即将当护士的人来说，这套衣服也足够庄重。
她的雨衣搭在前门旁边的行李上。“我一直在想是否忘记了什么，”妈妈说，“我知道了，照相机！我要抓拍一张你上火车的照片。”
“我早就想到了，”爸爸得意地说，“昨晚我把它放在汽车里了，就怕万一忘了。”
他们一边走出前门，她妈妈一边说：“周游世界只是一次旅行……这是一个里程碑，詹妮。”
爸爸把皮箱放进车后面，然后走过来，打开前门。“亲爱的，坐在中间，”妈妈建议，轻轻地抚摸着詹妮弗的胳膊。詹妮弗注意到妈妈脸上伤心的微笑。妈妈曾热衷于谈论大学目录说明中所有的内容，詹妮弗多么走运，宿舍里只有一个室友，要带些衣服。但最近几天，随着日期越来越近，她早先的那种热情变得越来越少。真的，詹妮弗真怕妈妈甚至会在车站流泪。
爸爸将车驶出车道，詹妮弗转身最后看了一眼房子。
“你知道我突然想起了什么？”妈妈说，“手帕。你还记得当初你在幼儿园时，所有的孩子都要在衣服上别一块手帕吗？”
“噢，妈妈！”这时，她看到妈妈取笑的眼神，便忍不住笑了起来。她亲了亲妈妈的脸颊，然后仰头靠在座位上，说：“你们知道吗？我非常爱你们。”
他们把车停在车站。这时，他们突然发现时间已经不多了。他们走过碎石路，来到站台，爸爸检查了行李，将车票放到詹妮弗手里。火车来了。于是，他们再作临别的提醒和询问……临别的嘱咐……然后是临别的拥抱。
“好了，我走了，”詹妮弗兴高采烈地说。
当爸爸按动快门时，詹妮弗看到妈妈一点没有流泪——她带着笑容的脸上甚至看不出伤感。
火车慢慢驶离车站。詹妮弗透过车窗目送着父母，只见他们紧紧地站在一起。不知怎么的，这使詹妮弗想起她七八岁时的一天，那时她说服父母同意让她“独自一人”去坐当地博览会上的摩天轮，他们那时就是这样站着，紧紧地靠在一起，等待着……她当时坐在座位的正中央一动都不敢动，但心里确信：即使她摔下去，即使摩天轮翻倒，即使……她知道父母一定会接住她。
此时，詹妮弗泪眼模糊地望着父母，他们依然站在那里。“詹妮弗·佩奇，你莫不是要哭了吧，”她低声说着，摸出一张纸巾，擦了擦眼睛，心里想：这是不是世界上最不可思议的事儿？辉煌而精彩的事情有了开端，她却在哭泣。未来在她面前是那样灿烂美好。她最后一次擦去眼中的泪水，再看时，父母已经不见了踪影。
1. banister n. 栏杆，扶手
2. linger v. 留恋，徘徊，逗留
3. elm n. 榆树
4. farewell n. 再会，再见
5. twinge n. 剧痛，阵痛
6. wink v. 眨一只眼（尤指向某人使眼色）
7. acknowledgment n. 承认，默认
8. stack v. 堆放
9. snapshot n. 快照
10. catalogue n. 目录，大学情况一览
11 hanky n. （口）手帕
12. snap v. 拍快照
13. tumble v. 翻滚；打滚
14. blur v. 变得模糊不清
15. bawl v. （口）大哭
16. fumble v. （笨拙地或紧张地）摸索
17. tissue n. 卫生纸，手巾纸