鴿子的奇跡 Abigail’s Dove

卡倫·馬約里·加里森/Karen Majoris Garrison

It bad been the worst snowstorm in ten years, and I’d been caught in it. After hearing earlier that it was supposed to snow later in the night, I had volunteered at our church to take groceries and medical prescriptions to elderly members in need. Since my husband was away on business, I called my mother and she immediately came over to my house to watch my three-year-old daughter, Abigail.

“Can’t someone else help those people?”she had asked me, concerned for my safety.“I have a bad feeling about this, and it looks like it might snow at any minute.”

I glanced out the window and had to admit that the sky looked threatening. I began to feel uncertain.

“Mama will be okay,”my daughter smiled, taking her grandmother’s hand.“She likes helping people. Besides, I’ll be praying for her!”

My heart swelled at her words. We had such a close relationship that sometimes when I breathed, it was as though Abigail exhaled. I decided then that I had to act on what I’d been instilling in my daughter:that sometimes we just have to step out in faith and believe that God will keep us safe. Kissing my mother and daughter good-bye, I set out to make my rounds. On my last stop, the snow began to fall.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”Bill Watkins, a ninety-twoyear-old member of our congregation, scolded. He coughed, trying to get out of bed, but the effort proved too taxing. Giving up, he settled back on-to the pillows.“I told the pastor that I didn’t expect anyone to come to the boonies for me.”

“Nonsense.”I grinned, positioning snacks and drinks by his bed. Beneath his gruff exterior, Bill was sweet as candy. His heart medication had to be taken every day, and living on a modest income without any surviving family members, he needed as much help as possible.

“Well, look what your stubbornness brought you.”he said, pointing to the snow-covered road outside the window. His fingers clasped my hand.“Stay here, Karen. I want you safe.”

I kissed the top of his head but decided to brave the road conditions. It would be worse later, I reasoned.

“I’ll be okay.”I told him, remembering my sweet daughter’s words before I left. Thoughts of Abigail made me more determined to get home. I missed her already.

I got into my Volkswagen and gradually tried making it down the steep hill. Remembering old instructions about driving in the snow, I kept the compact car in second gear. The wind increased, creating waves of blinding white. As I squinted through the windshield, holding my breath, I screamed and jerked the wheel, narrowly missing the deer that stood frozen by my headlights.

The Volkswagen hit the embankment, plummeted off the side of the road, and skidded to the bottom of a ravine below. When the rolling motion finally stopped, I opened my eyes and realized that I had been unconscious for some time. Night had arrived-and with it the forecasted accumulation of snow. Panicking, I tried opening the door, but it wouldn’t budge against the resisting snow. Sliding over to the passenger’s door, I realized that the door had been jammed shut by a tree. I turned the key to start the engine, but the battery was dead. My hopes of rolling down the power windows to crawl out vanished. Without heat and adequate clothing, I curled up on the back seat and waited for help.

The frigid air enveloped me. Shivering, I chastised myself for not preparing for a circumstance like this. My toes and fingers were already numb. An eternity seemed to pass, and as I listened to the wind and snow hitting against the car, I prayed for my family, who would be sick with worry by now. Abigail would probably be drawing pictures for me when I arrived home. Since she’d been old enough to hold a crayon, she’d drawn pictures to brighten the days of her loved ones.

To calm my growing concern about my safety, I closed my eyes and concentrated on pleasant thoughts. Drifting into sleep, I saw Abigail. Abigail in the warm sunlight, laughing as she held out a beautiful white dove to me. The dove’s graceful, serene presence and the love shining in my daughter’s eyes filled me with peace.

The night grew colder, and as I floated in and out of consciousness, I fixed my mind on the image of Abigail and her dove. Together, they kept me company throughout the night. Hours later, as the first rays of daybreak appeared, I heard tapping on my window. Relieved to see an emergency rescue team, my stiff lips tried to smile as they hoisted me onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. At the hospital, I was treated for mild frostbite and a head wound before being told I’d have to stay overnight for observation. Anxious to see my family, I propped myself up on the bed pillows and waited impatiently.

Before long, the door opened and my mother burst into the room.“We were so worried about you!”she cried, rushing over to hug me.“I knew you were in trouble!Mothers sense these kinds of things.”Her maternal instincts surfaced as she appraised the food tray nearby.“Your tea is cold!I’ll be right back.”

Seizing the opportunity to have me all to herself, Abigail climbed onto the bed and buried her face in my neck. I scooped her closer.“I’ve missed you so much.”I murmured softly, brushing a silky strand of hair from her face.“And what have you been doing while I’ve been away?”

“Oh, I forgot!”she exclaimed, jumping out of my arms to grab a large tube of construction paper nearby.“I drew this for you last night when we didn’t know where you were. I thought you might have been scared, and I wanted you to feel better.”

As if it were a treasure map, I unrolled it and oohed and aahed over the images.“Well, that’s our car.”I said, pointing to the red square.“And that’s me.”I laughed, touching my fingertips to a stick person with long hair.“But what am I holding?”

Abigail’s eyes brightened as she pushed her fingertip to the small object on the paper.“That’s God’s spirit.”she said excitedly.“I drew it as a dove like I saw in Sunday school.”She pressed her soft lips against my cheek and added,“I didn’t want you to be alone, Mama, and so I gave you the best friend I could think of.”

“Oh, darling,”I exclaimed, recalling the white dove that had given me comfort in the darkest of nights.“Your dove was with me.”

Taking her hand, I marveled at the heavenly bond between mothers and daughters.

“And what are you two looking at?”my mother interrupted, placing a steaming cup of tea on the nightstand. She started to move away, but I grabbed her hand and brought it between Abigail’s and mine. It was a remarkable feeling, this incredible connection of three generations.

“We’re looking at the love that flows between us.”I whispered, kissing the top of my daughter’s head as I met my mother’s understanding eyes. Returning my gaze to Abigail’s picture, I studied the beautiful bird that had, on such a dismal night, connected my daughter’s heart with mine.

Years later, that extraordinary event in our mother-daughter relationship became known as the“miracle”.The miracle of Abigail’s dove.

這是十年里最大的一場暴風雪，我被困在其中。提前聽說了晚上可能會下雪的消息，我便自愿到教堂去幫助發放一些食物和藥品給那些有需要的老人。因為丈夫出差了，于是我打電話給母親，讓她來照看我三歲大的女兒阿比蓋爾。母親很快就過來了。

母親擔心我的安危，問道：“難道別人不能幫助他們嗎？我有一種不好的預感，似乎大雪隨時都會下起來。”

我瞥了一眼窗外，不得不承認，天空正變得越來越陰沉。我也開始感覺不踏實了。

“媽媽不會有事的。”正牽著外婆的手的女兒笑著說道，“因為她樂于助人。而且，我會為媽媽祈禱的！”

女兒的話讓我的心緒澎湃起來。我們的關系是如此親密，以至于有時候我們會心有靈犀。于是，我決定去踐行對女兒的教導：有時我們需要真實地邁出自己的腳步，并且相信上帝一定會保佑我們的。與母親和女兒吻別之后，我出發去挨家挨戶地給老人們送東西。當我送到最后一家時，天空開始下起雪來。

92歲的比爾·瓦肯是我們教會中的一名成員，他責罵道：“你不應該來這里的。”比爾·瓦肯掙扎著想要從床上下來，可是他咳嗽得很厲害，有些力不從心。他只好放棄，又躺回到枕頭上說：“我告訴過牧師，不希望今天有人來這么偏遠的郊區看我。”

“別胡說了。”我一邊笑著說，一邊將食物和飲料放在他的床邊。盡管比爾外表粗魯，可是有一顆美好的心靈。他每天都需要服用治療心臟的藥物，他沒有家人，僅靠著微薄的收入度日，他需要盡可能多的幫助。

“哎，看你任性的結果是什么。”他指著窗外積雪覆蓋的道路對我說，“留在這兒吧，卡倫，我希望你是安全的。”

我吻了一下他的頭頂，決定勇敢地面對糟糕的路況。我的理由是，再不走情況會更糟。

想著我可愛的女兒在我臨走之前所說的話，我對比爾·瓦肯說：“我不會有事的。”想起阿比蓋爾，更讓我堅定了回家的信心。我已經想念我的女兒了。

鉆進車里，我努力使車沿著陡峭的山路逐漸向下行駛。心里想著雪中駕車規則，我保持著二擋的行駛速度。風力加強了，雪也隨風揚起，擋住了我的視線。我一邊斜視著擋風玻璃，一邊屏住呼吸小心駕駛著。我尖叫著轉動方向盤，差一點兒撞上那只站在我車燈前的凍僵的麋鹿。

我的車撞在路堤上，從路邊垂直落下，掉入底部的一個峽谷。當車子最終停止了旋轉時，我睜開眼睛，意識到有一段時間我失去了意識。夜晚來了——預報中的大雪也來了。驚恐萬分的我試圖打開車門，可是車門被積雪堵住，怎么也推不動。我爬到旁邊的副駕駛座位上，發現那扇門被一棵樹卡住了。我轉動鑰匙想要啟動引擎，可是電池沒電了。因此，搖下車窗爬出車外的希望也落空了。沒有暖氣和足夠的衣物保暖，我蜷縮在后座上等待救助。

寒冷的空氣籠罩了我。我顫抖著，責怪自己沒作好應對這樣的環境的準備。我的腳趾和手指已凍得麻木。似乎很久過后，當我聽到風與雪交織著抽打車子的聲音時，我開始為此刻正在為我擔憂的家人祈禱。我回到家的時候，阿比蓋爾也許為我畫畫了。自從她可以握住畫筆之后，她就為她所愛之人做畫，來使他們的生活變得明亮。

我更加擔心自己的安危，為了讓這種愈加強烈的擔憂平靜下來，我閉上雙眼，讓自己集中精力回想那些高興的事情。漸漸地，我睡著了，夢里看到了阿比蓋爾。她站在溫暖的陽光里，笑著遞給我一只美麗的白鴿。白鴿的優雅安靜，還有女兒眼中閃爍的愛意，讓我覺得很安詳。

晚上，天氣變得更加寒冷，當我的意識時而清醒，時而模糊時，我將自己的思緒集中在想象阿比蓋爾和她的白鴿上。它們陪伴我度過了整個漫長的夜晚。數小時后，當黎明的第一束光亮出現時，我聽到有人在拍打我的車窗。我放心地看到有一支急救隊。就在他們把我抬到擔架上面，送進救護車時，我那僵硬的嘴唇露出了一絲微笑。在醫院里，醫生診斷我為輕度凍傷，頭部的一個傷口需要住院觀察一晚才有結果。我急切地想見到家人，靠著枕頭坐在病床上，焦急地等待著家人的出現。

沒多久，病房的門開了，母親沖了進來。她猛地抱住我，哭著說道：“我們快擔心死了！我就知道你遇上麻煩了！母親就是能預感到。”當她評價旁邊的餐盤時，她的母性便表現了出來。她說：“你的茶涼了！我去去就來。”

阿比蓋爾抓住只有我們兩個人的機會，爬上床，將臉埋在我的脖子里。我把她抱得更近些，用手將她那絲滑的頭發從臉上拂開，輕聲對她說：“我好想你。我離開的時間里，你都做了些什么？”

“噢，我都忘記了！”她興奮地叫道，并掙脫了我的懷抱，抓起旁邊的一卷紙張。“昨晚不知道你在哪里的時候，我為你畫了這張畫。我想你可能會感到害怕，我希望你能感覺好點。”

就好像這是一張藏寶圖一樣，我打開它，驚訝于眼前看到的畫面。我指著上面紅色的方塊說：“噢，那是我們的車子。”我用指尖指著一個有長頭發的棒狀小人，笑著說：“那個是我。可是，我手中拿的是什么？”

當她將指尖落在畫面上那個小物體時，阿比蓋爾的眼睛明亮起來。她興奮地說道：“是上帝的靈魂。我把它畫成了鴿子，就像我在主日學校里看到的那樣。”她用那柔軟的嘴唇在我的臉頰上吻了一下，然后補充說：“媽媽，我不想讓你孤單，于是我就畫了我能想到的最好的朋友給你。”

回想起在那個最黑暗的夜晚帶給我安慰的白鴿，我驚呼起來：“天哪，親愛的，你的鴿子真的陪伴在我身邊。”我握著她的手，為母女之間的心有靈犀感到震驚。

“你們在看什么？”母親打斷了我們，將一杯熱氣騰騰的茶放在床頭的茶幾上。她轉身準備走開，而我卻抓住她的手，放在我和阿比蓋爾的手指間。三代人之間的這種奇妙的關聯，給我們一種極其特別的感覺。

“我們正在看我們之間的愛流。”我輕聲說道。親吻女兒的頭頂時，我的目光與母親會心的目光相遇。我再次凝視著阿比蓋爾的畫，仔細看著出現在如此恐怖的夜晚的這只鳥兒，它將我與女兒的心緊緊連接在一起。

很多年后，我們母女間那個特別的夜晚，成為我們熟知的“奇跡”。那是阿比蓋爾的鴿子的奇跡。

心靈小語

因為是上天的禮物，所以要好好珍惜這份意外的愛。

詞匯筆記

prescription[pri'skrip??]n.藥；治療方法；藥方；秘訣

例 The doctor dispensed a prescription to his patient.醫生開處方給病人配藥。

brave[brev]adj.勇敢的；新穎的

例 He is a brave soldier.

他是一位勇敢的戰士。

adequate['?ikwit]adj.充分的；適當的；勝任的

例 We need adequate rest.

我們需要足夠的睡眠。

construction[k?'str?k??]n.建造；建筑業；結構

例 The building is a peculiarly shaped construction.這是一棟造形獨特的建筑物。

小試身手

我瞥了一眼窗外，不得不承認，天空正變得越來越陰沉。

譯________________________________________

我更加擔心自己的安危，為了讓這種愈加強烈的擔憂平靜下來，我閉上雙眼，讓自己集中精力回想那些高興的事情。

譯________________________________________

阿比蓋爾抓住只有我們兩個人的機會，爬上床，將臉埋在我的脖子里。

譯________________________________________

短語家族

The door opened and my mother burst into the room.

burst into：匆匆進入（某處）；突然開始（某事）

造________________________________________

She started to move away.

move away：離開；搬到別處去住；改變（見解）

造________________________________________