「見到你真是太好了，」他見面就說，然後緊緊地擁抱了我，「可我有事，我只有一個小時的時間。」他接著說。
他把我當什麼了？聽起來像是一小時快速配眼鏡一樣！
可想而知的是，他的新女友並不怎麼歡迎我的突如其來。我們隨便喝了點東西，然後他就把我送回了旅館。我湊了點零錢，找個自動販賣機買了些漢堡包，晚餐就這麼打發了。晚上將就著在旅館裡看了電影台播放的《三人探戈》。
「你應該看一部由《老友記》那幫演員演的一部片子，」電話那邊哥哥同情地勸我說，「你現在看的那部太悲了。」
我和哥哥在老屋門口見了面，就像兩隻歸家的鴿子。我們沿著街道找了家咖啡店，我把這幾天發生的事情告訴了他。哥哥說最後一天就到他新家去住吧，就在市郊的聖布魯諾城。其實我很樂意付98美金一晚住旅館，只要能不麻煩別人，但哥哥似乎真的很想我過去住。
「我喜歡家裡有客人來住！」哥哥堅持說。於是我就跟著去了。
很奇怪為什麼人們總是不願意承認自己已經長大了。看看我哥，我還記得他以前一遍一遍地強迫我看那部老掉牙的電影《傻子格麥派》，而現在他居然有了他自己的房子。哥哥剛搬來不久，地方不大，擺設也少，但卻是他自己的家。冰箱裡面的東西很少，有幾根芥菜、幾片芝士切片，還有十四罐健怡七喜。
我們在一家墨西哥速食店買了些食物，再去租了部電影，啃了點爆米花。後來我就在哥哥的沙發椅上睡著了。
我敢保證，常失眠的人是很難在別人家的沙發上睡著的。可是不知道為什麼這次我卻睡得很好，儘管我整個週末都在苦苦思考一個問題：如果我有家的話，那麼我的家到底在哪裡？我只知道，當我蜷縮在破破的睡袋裡頭，哥哥坐在椅子上看著蹩腳演員主演的電影，就在我的身旁，我會覺得既安全又舒適，或許家的一部分就應該是這樣的。
但這些並不是全部。我可以相信諸如「家就在心中」這樣的老話，也欣賞詩人羅伯特·萊特所說的：「家就是當你想去，人家就得讓你進去的地方。」但同時我也堅信，真正的家既可以如陳詞濫調所形容的那般飄渺，也可以跟26街那扇木門一樣的堅實。
在以後的日子裡，我可能還會不止一次地回到老屋門前徘徊。我會坐在屋子外面，像個小孩看到有人拿走了他心愛的玩具那樣，默默地在心底大喊：「那是我的！」
AWalkInTheWoods林中漫步
Iwaspuzzled!Whywasthisoldwomanmakingsuchafussaboutanoldcopsewhichwasofnousetoanybody?Shehadwrittenletterstothelocalpaper,eventoanational,protestingaboutaprojectedby-passtohervillage,and,lookingatamap,theroutewasnowherenearwhereshelivedanditwasn』tasiftheareawasattractive.Iwasmorethanpuzzled,Iwasintrigued.
Theenquiryintotherouteofthenewby-passtothevillagewasduetotakeplaceshortly,andIwantedtoknowwhatitwasthatmotivatedher.SoitwasthatIfoundmyselfknockingonacottagedoor,beingreceivedbyMarySmithandthenbeingtakenforawalktothewoods.
「I』vealwayslovedthisplace」,shesaid,「Ithasalotofmemoriesforme,andforothers.Weallusedit.Theycalledit『Loverslane』.It』snotmuchofalane,anditdoesn』tgoanywhereimportant,butthat』swhyweallcamehere.Tobeawayfrompeople,tobebyourselves」sheadded.
Itwasindeedpleasantthatdayandthesongsofmanybirdscouldbeheard.Squirrelsgazedfromthebranches,quiteboldintheirmovements,obviouslyfewpeoplepassedthiswayandtheyhadnothingtofear.Icouldimaginethenoiseofvehiclespassingthroughthesepeacefulwoodswhentheby-passwasbuilt,soIfeltthatsheprobablyhadsomethingtherebutasIholdstrongopinionsabouttheneedsofthecommunityover-ridingtheopinionsofprivateindividuals,Isaidnothing.Thevillagewasquiteadangerousplacebecauseofthetrafficespeciallyforoldpeopleandchildren,theirsafetywasmoreimportanttomethananoldwoman』swhims.
「Takethistree」,shesaidpausingafterashortwhile.「Toyouitisjustthat,atree.Notunlikemanyothershere」.Shegentlytouchedthebark.「Lookhere,underthisbranch,whatcanyousee?」
「Itlooksasifsomeonehasdoneabitofcarvingwithaknife」Isaidafteracursoryinspection.
「Yes,that』swhatitis!」shesaidsoftly.「Therearelettersandalover』sheart」.
Ilookedagain,thistimemorecarefully.Theheartwasstillthereandtherewasasuggestionofanarrowthroughit.Thelettersononesidewereindistinct,butontheotheran『R』wasclearlyvisiblewithwhatlookedlikean『I』afterit.「Somebuddingromance?」Iasked,「Didyouknowwhotheywere?」
「Ohyes,Iknewthem」,saidMarySmith,「itsaysRHlovesMS」.
IrealizedthatIcouldbegettingoutofmydepth,andlongedtobeinmyoffice,awayfromhereandthisoldlady,snug,andwithamugofteainmyhand.
Shewenton,「Hehadapenknifewithaspikeforgettingstonesfromahorse』shoof,andIhelpedhimtocarvemyinitials.Wewereverymuchinlove,buthewasgoingaway,andcouldnottellmewhathewasinvolvedinthearmy.Ihadguessedofcourse.Itwasthelasteveningweeverspenttogether，becausehewentawaythenextday,backtohisUnit.」
MarySmithwasquietforawhile,andthenshesobbed.「Hismothershowedmethetelegram.『SergeantRHolmes…KilledinactionintheinvasionofFrance』」.
「『IhadhopedthatyouandRobinwouldonedaygetmarried』shesaid,『Hewasmyonlychild,andIwouldhavelovedtobeaGranny.Theywouldhavebeensuchlovelybabies』.Shewaslikethat!」
「Twoyearslatershetoowasdead.『Pneumonia,followingachillonthechest』waswhatthedoctorsaid,butIthinkitwasanoldfashionedbrokenheart.Achildwouldhavehelpedbothofus.」
Therewasafurtherpause.MarySmithgentlycaressedthewoundedtree,justasshewouldhavecaressedhim.「Andnowtheywanttotakeourtreeawayfromme.」Anotherquietsob,thensheturnedtome.「Iwasyoungandprettythen,Icouldhavehadanybody,andIwasn』talwaystheoldwomanyouseeherenow.IhadeverythingIwantedinlife,alovelyman,healthandafuturetolookforwardsto.」
Shepausedagainandlookedaround.Thebreezegentlymovedthroughtheleaveswithasighingsound.「Therewereothers,ofcourse,butnotapatchonmyRobin!」shesaidstrongly.「AndnowIhavenothing—exceptthememoriesthistreeholds.IfonlyIcouldgetmyhandsonthatawfulmanwhowritesinthepaperaboutthevalueoftheroadtheyaregoingtobuildwherewearestandingnow,Iwouldtellhim.Hasheneverloved,hasheneverlived,doeshenotknowanythingaboutmemories?Wewerenottheonlyones,youknow,IstillmeetsomewhocamehereasRobinandIdid.Yes,Iwouldtellhim!」
Iturnedaway,sickatheart.
我實在不明白！為什麼這個年老女士會對一片毫無用處的老灌木林如此緊張呢？她給當地報紙寫了信，甚至給全國性的報紙也寫了信，對擬將在她們村子裡修建小路的方案表示抗議。但從地圖上看，這條擬建的小路離她家並不近，那一帶也並非風景優美。這不僅使我感到迷惑，還激起了我的好奇心。