我們循路走下沙灘,邁克在前頭領路,把我們帶向一圈圓浮木。顯然,這圈浮木之前也曾為像我們這樣的成群結隊的旅人服務過。那里有個擺得恰到好處的篝火堆,上面鋪滿了黑色的灰燼。埃里克和另一個男孩——我想他的名字是本——從樹林邊緣干燥的木頭堆里收集了不少破碎的浮木塊,然后很快在那些經年累月的灰燼上壘起了一個搖搖晃晃的木架。
"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked me. I was sitting on one of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side of me. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.
“你見過浮木篝火嗎?”邁克問我。我坐在其中一張骨白色的長凳上,別的女孩都聚在一起,興奮地說著閑話,坐在了我的另一邊。邁克跪在篝火旁,正在用打火機點燃其中一根比較細的干枝。
"No," I said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.
“沒有。”我說,看著他把那個熊熊燃燒著的細枝小心地放到那堆搖搖晃晃的木架上。
"You'll like this then — watch the colors." He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.
“那你一定會喜歡這個的——看它的顏色。”他點燃了另一根樹枝,并排著放到剛才那根樹枝旁?;鹧骈_始迅速地吞沒著干燥的木塊。
"It's blue," I said in surprise.
“那是藍色的!”我驚訝地說。
"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by me. Thankfully, Jess was on his other side. She turned to him and claimed his attention. I watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky.
“因為有鹽。很漂亮,對吧?”他又點燃了一片木屑,放到木架上火還沒燒到的地方,然后過來坐到我旁邊。謝天謝地,杰西坐在他的另一邊。她轉向他,努力吸引他的注意力。我看著那堆古怪的藍綠色火焰沖著天空劈啪作響。