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A call at midnight reveals a young girl's pain over her conflicts with her mother and her yearning to go back home and be accepted. The mother who receives the call also learns a valuable lesson from the phone conversation about the importance of learning to listen when communicating with her child.
一通午夜電話揭示出年輕女孩和母親爭吵后的傷痛以及她渴望回家得到媽媽原諒的心情。接到電話的媽媽也從電話交談中吸取了寶貴的教訓，她學到了和孩子交流時傾聽的重要性。
The Call at Midnight
午夜來電
by Christie Craig
克里斯蒂·克雷格
We all know what's it like to get that phone call in the middle of the night. This night's call was no different. Jerking up to the ringing summons, I focused on the red illuminated numbers of my clock. Midnight. Panicky thoughts filled my sleep-dazed mind as I grabbed the receiver.
那種午夜來電的情形眾所周知。那晚的電話也沒什么不同。鈴聲一響，我騰地坐了起來，盯著時鐘上發紅光的數字。正值午夜。我腦子一片昏沉，驚慌失措地抓起聽筒。
Hello?
“喂？”
My heart pounded, I gripped the phone tighter and eyed my husband, who was now turning to face my side of the bed.
我的心評枰直跳。我握緊聽筒，看著丈夫，他正朝我這邊翻身。
Mama? I could hardly hear the whisper over the static. But my thoughts immediately went to my daughter. When the desperate sound of a young crying voice became clearer on the line, I grabbed for my husband and squeezed his wrist.
“媽媽？”電話里有靜電噪音，我幾乎聽不清那頭傳來的微弱聲音。但我立刻想起了女兒。當我逐漸聽清電話里那陣陣年輕的急切的哭泣聲時，我一把抓住丈夫，握緊他的手腕。
Mama, I know it's late. But don't ... don't say anything, until I finish. And before you ask, yes, I've been drinking. I nearly ran off the road a few miles back and ...”
“媽媽，我知道已經很晚了。但是，……別說話，什么也別說，先讓我說完。是的，不用你問，我一直在喝酒。就在離家幾英里的地方，我差點沖出了馬路……”
I drew in a sharp shallow breath, released my husband and pressed my hand against my forehead. Sleep still fogged my mind, and I attempted to fight back the panic. Something wasn't right.
我猛地吸了一口氣，松開丈夫的手，把手貼在額頭上。我仍睡意蒙昽，努力克制著我的恐慌。事情有些不對勁。
And I got so scared. All I could think about was how it would hurt you if a policeman came to your door and said I'd been killed. I want ... to come home. I know running away was wrong. I know you've been worried sick. I should have called you days ago, but I was afraid ... afraid ...”
“我很害怕。腦子里就一個念頭，如果警察去家里說我出禍死了，你該有多傷心啊。我想……回家。我知道離家出走不對，我知道你擔心極了。幾天前我就應該給你打電話，可當時我害怕，……害怕……”
