I Love Girl

I am Oog. I love Girl. Girl loves Boog.

It is bad situation.

Boog and I are very different people. For example， we have different jobs.

My job is Rock Thrower. I will explain what that is. There are many rocks all over the place and people are always tripping[絆倒] on them. So when I became a man， at age eleven， the Old Person said to me， “Get rid of all the rocks.” Since that day， ten years ago， I have worked very hard at this. Whenever it is light outside， I am gathering rocks and throwing them off the cliff.

Boogs job is Artist. I will explain what that is. When he became a man， the Old Person said to him， “Cut down the trees so we have space to live.” But Boog did not want to do this， so now he smears[涂抹] paint inside caves. He calls his smears “pictures.” Everybody likes to look at them. But the person who likes to look at them most is Girl.

I love Girl. I will explain what that is. When I look at her， I feel sick like I am going to die. I have never had the Great Disease （obviously， because I am still alive）. But my uncle described it to me. He said there is a tightness in your chest， you cannot breathe， and you have anger toward the Gods. I was going to ask him to explain more， but then he died. My point is： Girl makes me feel this way， like I am going to die. There are many women in the world. By last count， seven. But she is the only one I ever loved.

Girl lives on Black Mountain. It is called Black Mountain because （1） it is mountain and（2） it is covered in black rocks. Every day， Girl has to climb over the rocks to get to the river. It is too hard. She has small legs and she is often getting stuck[被卡住的]. So one day I decided， “I will clear a path from Girls cave to the river.”

I have been working on Girls path for many years， picking up the black rocks and carrying them away. I never throw her rocks off the cliff like normal rocks. Instead， I put them in a pile[堆] next to my cave. I like to look at the pile， because it reminds[使想起] me of how I am helping Girl.

I have made good progress on Girls path， but there are still many rocks left. The job would go faster， but I am clearing the path in secret by the light of the moon. The reason is—I am afraid to talk to Girl. If she found out it was me clearing all the rocks， Im sure she would say something to me like “Hello” or “Hi there.”And then I would be in trouble. Because the truth is I am not so good at making words.

Boog is very good at making words. For example， last week he showed off his new picture at the Main Cave. Everyone was expecting it to be a horse or a bear（all his pictures so far have been horses， bears， or a mix of horses and bears）. But this picture was not of any animal. It was just a bunch of red streaks[條紋]. People were angry.

“I wanted animals，” the Old Person said. “Where are the animals？”

It was bad situation. I thought that Boog would lose his job or maybe be killed by stones. But then Boog stood on a rock and spoke.

“My art is smart，” he said. “And anyone who does not get it is stupid.”

Everyone was quiet. We looked at the Old Person to see what he would say.

The Old Person squinted[瞇著眼看] at the red streaks for a while. Then he rubbed his chin[下巴] and said， “Oh， yes， now I get it. It is smart. People who do not get it are stupid.”

A few seconds later， everyone else got it.

“It is smart，” they said. “It is smart！”

The only person who did not get it was me. My beard began to sweat. I was scared that someone would ask me to make words about the picture. I headed slowly for the exit. I was almost out of the cave when Boog pointed his finger at me.

“Do you like it， Oog？”

Everyone stopped making words and looked at me.

“It is smart，” I said. I meant for my voice to sound big， but it came out small.

Boog smiled.

“Ah，” he said. “Then why dont you explain it to us？”

I felt a burning on my skin. It was sort of like when you fall into a cooking fire and your body catches on fire. I looked at my feet and people started laughing.

I looked up at Girl to see if she was one of the ones laughing. She was not （thank Gods）. But she could hear all the other people laughing and that was just as bad.

The next day， I decided to become an Artist. I told my plan to Oog （there are several of us named Oog—Im sorry if it is confusing） and he said， “You cant be an Artist. It is hard.”

Oog agreed with him.

“Youre a Rock Thrower，” he said.“Stick with [堅(jiān)持] that.”

I was angry at Oog. Partly because he always takes Oogs side. But mostly because I did not agree with his words.

“I am going to make a picture，” I told the others. “A good one.”

“Who are you going to show it to？” Oog said. “Your mother？”

Everyone laughed： Oog， Oog， Moog， even Oog.

“No，” I said. “I will show it to Girl.”

No one made words after that.

Girl has a small head， so it is very strange how she fits so many things inside of it. She knows all the numbers：“six，” “eight”—you name it. But she also knows other things nobody else knows.

One time， I followed her down to the river. She was hunting fish in the normal way， by jabbing[戳] a stick in the water. After a long time， she caught a small flat fish[比目魚]. I assumed she would do the normal thing （rip off the head and eat the body）， but instead she did the strangest thing I have ever seen. She put the stick—with the small fish still on it—back into the river. A short time later， she pulled the stick out. A bigger fish was on the stick. I do not understand how Girl did this. But I have thought a lot， and I have developed a theory： she is a witch[女巫] who knows magic.

Even though she is probably a witch， I still love her. My mother says that when you love someone， you love them despite[不管] their flaws[缺陷]. For example， my father was not so good at hunting after a monster[巨獸] ate his arms. But my mother continued to mate[交配] with him， because she loved him.

I decided to make my picture of a horse， because I knew that was a thing. It took a long time， for many reasons： （1） I could only work nights， because of my rock-throwing job; （2） it was my first time making Art; and （another reason） my mother was watching over my shoulder the whole time and making words. “You are bad at this，” she said. “You should stop because you are bad.”I love my mother and will always rub[摩擦] her feet， but sometimes I think she does not know how to help.

Finally， after many days of work， I finished my picture. I was about to add my handprint[手印] when I heard a familiar laugh.

I turned around; Boog was there. “What a smart picture，” he said， clapping his hands.“You are really smart.”

I smiled. It was very nice， I thought， for Boog to say nice things about my picture.

“Thank you，” I said.

“I was being sarcastic[諷刺的]，” said Boog.

A long time passed. I did not know this word， but was afraid to admit it.

“I am glad you like my picture，” I said.

Boog cursed[詛咒] the Gods under his breath. “The picture is bad，” he said. “O.K.？ It stinks[糟透]. I do not like it.”

I sighed. I was beginning to see what he meant.

My plan had been to show my picture to Girl. But I started to worry that she would not like it. The reviews， so far， were not great.

Oog said， “It is the worst picture made yet by a human.”

Moog said， “It is proof that you are a stupid person.”

The Old Person said， “I always knew you were dumb[愚蠢的人]. It is known by everyone. But this picture makes me realize you are even dumber than it was believed.”

I was proud of the picture when I painted it， but peoples words had made me ashamed. I decided it was best to destroy it， before Girl found out about it.

“Dont destroy it yet，” Boog said. “There is someone who wants to see it.”

He grabbed Girl by the arm and thrust[猛推] her in front of my picture. It was bad situation.

“Tell Oog what you think of it，” Boog said.

Girl mumbled[含糊地說] something， but it was too soft for me to hear.

“Tell him！” Boog ordered.

“I do not like it，” Girl said. “You are not smart. I love Boog and not you.”

I stood there in silence. Hot water came out of my eyeballs[眼球].

“Lets go，” he said to Girl.

She started to follow him. As she was leaving， she paused to take a rock from my pile. I was afraid she would throw it at my picture， like Boog had. But instead she held it up to her face and squinted[瞇眼看] at it.

“Lets go！” Boog shouted.

She followed him into the woods， still holding the rock in her hand.

My mother woke me in the night.

“A monster is here to murder us，” she said.

I nodded. This is usual occurrence[發(fā)生].

“What kind of monster？ Wolf？”

She shook her head. “It is a clever monster. Listen.”

We were silent for a while; soon， I heard a strange sound. The monster was throwing rocks against the cave， one after the other.

I took my kill stick and headed outside. I saw a figure[輪廓，體型] in the shadows and was about to charge it when the moon appeared suddenly between the clouds.

“Girl？”

She was standing on the edge of the forest， a black rock in her hand.

“Sorry if I scared you，” she said. “I came to say thank you.”

I was confused. “For what？”

“For clearing me a path.”

“How did you know it was me？”

“I took a rock from your pile and compared it with the ones on my mountain. Theyre the same kind.”

I walked cautiously[謹(jǐn)慎地] toward her.

“Are you a witch？” I asked.

She laughed. “Im not a witch！ I just used common sense. I mean， there are thousands of black rocks piled up next to your cave.”

I was still confused. She put her hand on my arm and the hairs on it stood up.

“Thank you for clearing all the rocks，” she said， looking into my eyes. “It is a good path. You are good at clearing the rocks.”

For the second time that night， hot water came out of my eyeballs.

“Im sorry I said those mean things about your picture，” Girl said. “Boog made me.”

I was shocked; that had not occurred to[想到] me. Boog had been clever.

“Does that mean you like my Art？” I asked.

She looked at my horse and hesitated[遲疑].

“Its interesting，” she said. “But you know what I really like？ Your rock pile.”

She walked over to it. “Its sort of like a sculpture.”

“What is sculpture？”

“Like a picture in three dimensions[三維].”

Much time passed in silence.

“Can I impregnate[使懷孕] you？” I asked.

“What？”

“I know I am not smart like Boog. I do not understand Art and I am bad with the numbers. But I will work hard to clear the rocks for you. And when you have child I will clear the rocks for the child. I will clear all the rocks for you and the child until I am eaten by a monster or…or die of the Great Disease. I will make you many paths so you can go all the places you want.”

I paused to catch my breath. It was the most words I had ever made at one time.

She smiled and kissed me on the cheek. It was like it had been in my dreams.

We made many words that night. Girl explained that she never really loved Boog. He just seemed like her only option[選擇]. No one else had ever asked to mate with her. The other six men on earth， including me， had been too afraid.

I confessed[承認(rèn)] that I did not understand Boogs last picture and she laughed.

“No one did，” she said. “Not even Boog.”

The stars were out and Girl counted them out loud until I fell asleep.

I love Girl. Girl loves me.

It is good situation.

她看著我的馬，有些遲疑。

“它很有趣，”她說。“但你知道我真正喜歡的是什么嗎？是你的石頭堆?！?/p>

她走向石頭堆?！八拖袷莻€(gè)雕塑一樣?！?/p>

“什么是雕塑？”

“就像是一幅三維立體的畫。”

沉默中過了很久。

“我能讓你懷孕嗎？”我問道。

“什么？”

“我知道我不像布戈一樣聰明。我不懂藝術(shù)，也不大會(huì)數(shù)數(shù)。但我會(huì)努力為你清除石頭的。等你有了孩子，我會(huì)為孩子清除石頭。我會(huì)為你和孩子清除掉所有石頭，直到我被猛獸吃掉或者死于致命的疾病。我會(huì)為你清理出許多條路，讓你們可以去所有想去的地方?！?/p>

我停下來喘口氣。我頭一次一口氣說出這么多話。

她微笑著吻了吻我的臉頰。那感覺像是做夢(mèng)一樣。

那晚我們說了很多話。女孩解釋說她從沒真正愛過布戈。他只是她唯一的選擇。沒有其他人要求過和她交配。地球上另外六個(gè)男人，包括我，都太膽小了。

我承認(rèn)我看不懂布戈的上一幅畫，她笑了。

“沒有人看得懂，”女孩說?！吧踔吝B布戈也不懂?！?/p>

星星出來了，女孩大聲地?cái)?shù)著，直到我睡著。

我愛女孩。女孩愛我。

這是好情況。