Terri Elders

“Well find something special to putbetween these，”Ken said， weighing thepair of heavy black A-and Z-shaped bookendsin his hands.“What a nice gift.”

The two of us toured the house，looking for a suitable place to display1 thisChristmas present from our youngest son.

“Maybe on top of the entertainment2center？”I asked.

I always followed my husbandsadvice on house decoration3. Id oftenthought that he was really good at it.

“Sure. We can put them there nowand find out what books theyll holdlater.”

A few months later， I received a noticethat one of my stories had been selected4to appear in an upcoming book. Later， Ireceived my copy—the first book Id everheld that contained one of my stories. Idsigned my name on the books I collectedmany times， but this was different. Thiswas a book contained my story！ I handedit to my husband.

“Look inside where I stuck thebookmark. Its my story. I know its onlyone book， but can we put it between the Aand Z bookends？”

“Ive never heard of bookendsholding only one book，”Ken said with achuckle5.

“Oh， dont worry，” I replied.“Illsoon have more.”

I walked over to the bookends， putmy book between them， and stepped back.It looked a little lonely there， like anorphan6 in need of a family.

“How many books do you think wouldfit up there on top of the entertainmentcenter？”

Ken cast7 a professional eye inits direction.

“If theyre all paperbacks， thereseasily room for fifty. But even two or threewould look better than one.”

“Well， that ones pretty special，since its my first. But Ill conjure8 upsome of its companions9 soon. Fiftysounds about right.”

Ken raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“Didnt you say they want truestories， things that have actually happened？Do you think you really have fiftystories to tell that people would want toread about？”

“I dont know. Ive got lots ofmemories Id love to share. Youre right，though. Fiftys a lot.”

“Baby， make it easy on yourself. Tryfor a dozen.”

“No... you said theres room forfifty.”

Ken shrugged10 and walked away as Ihunkered11 down at my computer.

So I wrote and sold a second story，and then a third. From time to time， Kenwould ask，“How many books have you gotup there now？”Sometimes Id overhearhim on the phone， bragging12 to friendsthat Id placed yet another story.

Id always read them to him before Isent them out.

Hed ask in wonder， “How do youremember every word your mother said toyou when you were six？”

“I dont，”I confessed13. “Its literary14license.”

“Arent they supposed to be true？”

“They are，”I insisted15. “But I writewhat I think sounds like what Mama or mybrother or you would have said.”

Ken smiled. Unable to recall muchabout his own early days， he liked hearingabout mine. So I continued to track downmemories I could translate into tales.

By June 2009， eleven books were putbetween the bookends.

As I write this， Ive lined up morethan fifty books， with several morescheduled16 to be published17 over theremainder of the year. Now Ive set mysights on seventy-five.

When Im feeling tired， it lifts myspirits to see the books between the A andZ bookends， and the bookmarks inserted18between the pages where my stories begin.I have used to begin my morning with acup of tea and a chat with Ken whilereading my books.

If I write an autobiography19， I doubtif Id find an interested publisher. Im notfamous. My names not a household word.However， Im lucky to have found a way topublish my lifes story， chapter by chapter，through these books.

A few months ago， I had aworkshop20 at my local library，“A Pennyfor Your Thoughts，”on writing. Sixteenpeople showed up， want to learn how toput their lives on paper.

“Nobody gets rich writing for lifestories，”I said. “But look at the otherthings you get. Writing puts zing21 intoyour days， zest22 into your life.”

“Yeah，”one man agreed， “and youvegot a published work！ ”

Later， I received a note from thelibrarian. She wrote， “It was such a treat tohear you read your stories... Your tips andexperience in the field were so valuable！ ”

Id read two of my stories—one aboutmy grandmother， and one about becoming agrandmother myself. When I finished， thepeople there applauded23. Even Ken，appreciative as he may have been， neverdid that.

What a wonderful gift those bookendsremain： A for applause24... and Z for zingand zest！

“我們會找到一些特別的東西放在這兩者之間。”肯說。他用手掂了掂那對沉重的黑色A 形和Z 形書擋?！岸嗝春玫亩Y物啊?！?/p>

我們兩人巡視了房子，尋找一個合適的地方來展示來自我們小兒子的圣誕禮物。

“也許放在電視柜的頂上？”我問道。

我總是聽從我丈夫關(guān)于房屋裝飾的意見。我常常認(rèn)為他真的很擅長這個方面。

“當(dāng)然可以。我們現(xiàn)在可以把它們放在那里，然后再看看它們以后會裝些什么書?！?/p>

幾個月后，我收到通知，我的一篇故事被選入即將出版的書中。之后，我收到了我的那本———這是我拿到的第一本包含我故事的書。我在我收集的書上簽過很多次名，但這是不一樣的。這次一本包含我故事的書！我把它交給了我丈夫。

“看看里面我貼書簽的地方。這是我的故事。我知道這只是一本書，但我們能把它放在A 和Z 書擋之間嗎？”

“我從來沒聽說過書擋之間只放一本書的?！笨陷p聲笑著說。

“哦，別擔(dān)心。”我回答，“我很快就會有更多的書?！?/p>

我走到書擋前，把我的書放在在書擋中間，然后退了回去。它在那里看起來有點(diǎn)孤獨(dú)，就像一個需要家庭的孤兒。

“你認(rèn)為在電視柜頂能放多少本書？”

肯向那個方向投去了他專業(yè)的眼光。

“如果都是平裝書，放五十本很容易。但即使是放兩三本也比放一本好看。”

“唔，那本書很特別，因?yàn)槭俏业牡谝槐?。但我很快就會變出出它的一些同伴。五十本聽起來不錯。”

肯揚(yáng)起眉毛笑了起來。

“你不是說這些書需要真實(shí)的故事嗎，真實(shí)發(fā)生過的事情？你覺得你真的有五十個人們想讀的故事要講嗎？”

“我不知道。我有很多回憶想和大家分享。不過，你說得對。五十本相當(dāng)多?！?/p>

“寶貝，放松點(diǎn)。試著來一打?！?/p>

“不……你說過有放五十本的空間?！?/p>

我蹲坐在電腦前，肯聳聳肩走開了。

所以我寫了第二個故事并賣掉了，然后是第三個故事?？蠒粫r地問：“你現(xiàn)在在那上面有多少本書了？”有時我會無意中聽到他在電話里向朋友們吹噓我又放了一本故事書。

在把它們送出去之前，我總是把它們讀給他聽。

他會驚訝地問：“你怎么會記得你六歲時你媽媽對你說的每一句話？”

“我沒有。”我承認(rèn)，“這是文學(xué)特許的?！?/p>

“它們不應(yīng)該是真的嗎？”

“是的?！蔽覉?jiān)持說，“但我寫的是我認(rèn)為聽起來像是媽媽、我哥哥或你說過的話?！?/p>

肯微微一笑。由于回憶不起他自己早年的經(jīng)歷，他喜歡聽我的故事。所以我繼續(xù)追尋我可以轉(zhuǎn)化成故事的記憶。

到2009 年6 月為止，有十一本書被放在了書擋之間。

在我寫這篇文章的時候，我已經(jīng)擺了五十多本書，還有幾本計(jì)劃在今年余下的時間里出版?，F(xiàn)在我的目標(biāo)是七十五本。

當(dāng)我感到疲倦的時候，看到A和Z 書擋之間的書，以及插在我的故事開始的書頁之間的書簽，我的精神就會振奮起來。我已經(jīng)習(xí)慣早晨從一邊閱讀我的書，一邊喝著茶和與肯聊天開始。

如果我寫自傳，我懷疑我能否找到一個感興趣的出版商。我并不出名。我的名字并不是家喻戶曉的。然而，我很幸運(yùn)地找到了一種方法，通過這些書，一章一章地出版了我的人生故事。

幾個月前，我在本地的圖書館舉辦了一個關(guān)于寫作的研討會，名為“給你一便士，告訴我你在想什么”。16 個人到場，想要學(xué)習(xí)如何將自己的生活寫在紙上。

“沒有人會因?yàn)閷懭松适露赂?。”我說，“但看看你得到的其他東西。寫作會讓你的日子充滿活力，讓你的生活充滿激情?！?/p>

“是的，”一名男子同意道，“而你已經(jīng)有了一部出版的作品！”

后來，我收到了圖書管理員的一張便條。她寫道：“聽到你讀你的故事真是太棒了……你在這個領(lǐng)域的訣竅和經(jīng)驗(yàn)太寶貴了！

我讀了兩篇我的故事———一篇是關(guān)于我祖母的，另一篇是關(guān)于我自己成為了祖母的。當(dāng)我結(jié)束時，那里的人們鼓起了掌。即使是肯，盡管他可能很欣賞，但也從未這樣做過。

那些書擋留下的禮物是多么美好：A 代表著掌聲……而Z 代表活力和熱情！

Notes

1. display 展示；陳列

2. entertainment 娛樂；娛樂表演

3. decoration 裝飾；裝飾品

4. select 選擇；挑選

5. chuckle 輕聲笑；暗自笑

6. orphan 孤兒

7. cast 將……視線；目光；投向

8. conjure 變魔術(shù)；使……變戲法般地出現(xiàn)、或消失

9. companion 同伴

10. shrug 聳肩

11. hunker? 蹲下；盤坐

12. brag 吹牛；自夸

13. confess 承認(rèn)

14. literary 文學(xué)的；文學(xué)上的

15. insist 堅(jiān)稱

16. schedule 安排；預(yù)定

17. publish 出版；發(fā)行

18. insert 插入；嵌入

19. autobiography 自傳

20. workshop 研討會

21. zing 活力；生命力

22. zest 熱心；強(qiáng)烈的興趣

23. applaud 鼓掌

24. applause 掌聲；喝彩