Chapter 1

 Tick-de-tock, tick-de-tock, whispered the antique clock on the first floor of the house.

There was no sound save for the ticking—and for the pounding of Ronnie's heart.

He stood alone in his upstairs bedroom. His slender-boned, eight-year-old body trembling, perspiration¹ glittering on his white forehead.

To Ronnie, the clock seemed to be saying:

Daddy's coming, Daddy's coming.

The soft shadows of September twilight² in this year of 2056 were seeping³ into the bedroom. Ronnie welcomed the fall of darkness. He wanted to sink into its deep silence, to become one with it, to escape forever from savage⁴ tongues and angry eyes.

A burst of hope entered Ronnie's fear-filled eyes. Maybe something would happen. Maybe Dad would have an accident. Maybe—

He bit his lip hard, shook his head. No. No matter what Dad might do, it wasn't right to wish—

The whirling whine⁵ of a gyro-car mushroomed up from the landing platform outside.

Ronnie shivered, his pulse quickening. The muscles in his small body were like a web of taut-drawn wires.

Sound and movement below. Mom flicking⁶ off the controls of the kitchen's Auto-Chef. The slow stride of her high heels through the living room. The slamming of a gyro-car door. The opening of the front door of the house.

Dad's deep, happy voice echoed up the stairway:

"Hi, beautiful!"

Ronnie huddled⁷ in the darkness by the half-open bedroom door.

Please, Mama, his mind cried, please don't tell Daddy what I did.

There was a droning, indistinct murmur⁸.

Dad burst, "He was doing what?"

More murmuring.

"I can't believe it. You really saw him?... I'll be damned."

Ronnie silently closed the bedroom door.

Why did you tell him, Mama? Why did you have to tell him?

"Ronnie!" Dad called.

Ronnie held his breath. His legs seemed as numb⁹ and nerveless as the stumps¹⁰ of dead trees.

"Ronnie! Come down here!"

1 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

2 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

3 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

4 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

6 flicking   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• He helped her up before flicking the reins. 他帮她上马，之后挥动了缰绳。
• There's something flicking around my toes. 有什么东西老在叮我的脚指头。

7 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

8 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

9 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

10 stumps   

（被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。