星期五（上）
Friday (part 1)
Name: ________________ Date: ________
早上七点，闹钟响了。
小夏没有打开眼睛。她觉得很热，很不舒服，有个东西坐在她脸上。
“毛毛，下来。”
毛毛没有下来。毛毛是她的猫，很大很大的一只。它最喜欢坐的地方，不是椅子，不是床，是小夏的脸。
小夏拿下毛毛，坐了起来。外面在下雨。不是大雨，是小雨，下了一个晚上，还在下。
“下雨。”她说，“今天星期五啊，为什么要下雨？”
毛毛看着她，意思是：下雨是我的问题吗？我要吃饭。
小夏今年二十四岁，一个人住，在一家很小的咖啡店上早班。咖啡店在公交车站旁边，每天早上八点半开门。她不太喜欢早上，也不太喜欢上班，但是她喜欢星期五。星期五过去了，星期六就来了。星期六，她可以睡到中午十二点。
她给毛毛做了早饭，自己只喝了一点儿水。
七点半，电话响了。
小夏看了看手机。是妈妈。
妈妈每天早上七点半都打电话来，一天也没有少过。妈妈要问什么，她都知道：吃早饭了吗？衣服穿得多不多？什么时候回家？有男朋友了没有？
电话响啊响。小夏没有接。她去找雨伞了。
“下班再给她打电话吧。”她跟毛毛说。
毛毛没有说话。它已经睡了。
八点十分，小夏到了公交车站。车站上人很多，大家都打着雨伞，看着手机，没有人说话。
一个小女孩站在她旁边，六七岁，手里拿着一个红色的气球。气球很大，在这个下雨的早上，非常好看。
小女孩看见小夏在看她的气球，就笑了：“这是我的。”
“真好看。”小夏说。
这时候，小女孩的手一松，气球就飞走了。它飞过公交车站，飞过前面的楼，飞得很高很高，一会儿就看不见了。
小女孩看着天上，哭了。她哭得很大声，车站上的人都看着她。她妈妈说：“乐乐，别哭，别哭，妈妈再给你买一个。”
“我不要你再买一个！”乐乐哭着说，“我就是要那个！”
小夏看着天上，想说些什么。但是公交车来了。她上了车，在车上往外看，乐乐还在哭。
八点半，小夏来到了咖啡店。
王老板已经在店里了。王老板四十多岁，做什么都快：走路快，说话快，吃饭也快。他看见小夏，第一个字是：“快快快！”
“王老板，早上好。”
“早什么早？快快快！今天人多！”
小夏穿上店里的衣服，开始做咖啡。一杯，两杯，三杯。门开了，人进来了，门又开了。
八点四十五，一位先生来拿生日蛋糕。蛋糕很大，是王老板昨天晚上做好的，上面有很多水果，还写着四个字：生日快乐。
“是给我女朋友的。”那位先生说，“今天是她的生日。”
王老板拿着蛋糕，从里面走出来，走得很快：“来了来了，快快快——”
但是地上有水。
王老板没站好。蛋糕飞了出去。
蛋糕到了地上。上面在下面，下面在上面。“生日快乐”的“快”字，到了王老板的鞋上。
店里一下没有人说话了。
那位先生看着蛋糕，王老板看着那位先生，小夏看着那个“快”字。过了一会儿，王老板说：“……我们给您重新做一个。很快，很快。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 打开 | dǎkāi | to open |
| 眼睛 | yǎnjing | eye |
| 舒服 | shūfu | comfortable |
| 下来 | xiàlai | (after a verb) indicates completion or continuation from past to present (as in 坚持下来) |
| 床 | chuáng | bed |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside; out |
| 意思 | yìsi | meaning; idea |
| 旁边 | pángbiān | beside; next to; nearby |
| 过去 | guòqu | (in the) past; former; to go over; to pass by |
| 过 | guò | (particle) marks a past experience: have ever |
| 车站 | chēzhàn | station (bus or train); stop |
| 打 | dǎ | to play (a ball game, cards) |
English (for the teacher)
It’s seven in the morning, and the alarm goes off.
Xiaoxia doesn’t open her eyes. She feels hot and uncomfortable; something is sitting on her face.
“Maomao, get down.”
Maomao doesn’t get down. Maomao is her cat, a very, very big one. His favourite place to sit isn’t a chair, and it isn’t the bed: it’s Xiaoxia’s face.
Xiaoxia lifts Maomao off and sits up. It’s raining outside. Not heavy rain, just a fine drizzle that has been falling all night and still hasn’t stopped.
“Rain.” “It’s Friday,” she says. “Why does it have to rain?”
Maomao looks at her, as if to say: is the rain my problem? I want my breakfast.
Xiaoxia is twenty-four, lives alone, and works the early shift at a tiny coffee shop. The shop is next to a bus stop and opens at half past eight every morning. She isn’t keen on mornings, or on work, but she likes Fridays. Once Friday is over, Saturday comes. On Saturday she can sleep till twelve noon.
She makes Maomao his breakfast and has only a little water herself.
Half past seven, and the phone rings.
Xiaoxia glances at it. It’s Mum.
Mum calls at half past seven every morning; she has never missed a single day. Xiaoxia knows exactly what she’ll ask: Have you had breakfast? Are you wearing enough? When are you coming home? Have you got a boyfriend yet?
The phone rings and rings. Xiaoxia doesn’t answer. She goes to find her umbrella.
“I’ll call her back after work.” She says this to Maomao.
Maomao says nothing. He’s already asleep.
At ten past eight, Xiaoxia reaches the bus stop. It’s crowded; everyone is holding an umbrella and looking at a phone, and nobody is talking.
A little girl of six or seven stands next to her, holding a red balloon. It’s a big balloon, and on this rainy morning it looks wonderful.
The girl sees Xiaoxia looking at her balloon and smiles: “It’s mine.”
“It’s lovely.” Xiaoxia says.
Just then the girl’s grip slips, and the balloon flies away. It flies over the bus stop, over the building in front, higher and higher, and in a moment it’s gone.
The little girl looks up at the sky and starts to cry. She cries very loudly, and everyone at the bus stop looks at her. Her mum says, “Lele, don’t cry, don’t cry, Mummy will buy you another one.”
“I don’t want you to buy another one!” Lele sobs. “I want that one!”
Xiaoxia looks up at the sky and wants to say something. But the bus comes. She gets on, looks out of the window, and Lele is still crying.
At half past eight, Xiaoxia gets to the coffee shop.
Boss Wang is already there. Boss Wang is in his forties and does everything fast: he walks fast, talks fast and even eats fast. When he sees Xiaoxia, his first word is: “Quick, quick, quick!”
“Good morning, Boss Wang.”
“Morning? What morning? Quick, quick, quick! We’re busy today!”
Xiaoxia puts on her shop uniform and starts making coffee. One cup, two cups, three cups. The door opens, people come in, the door opens again.
At a quarter to nine, a man comes to collect a birthday cake. It’s a big cake that Boss Wang made last night, covered in fruit, with four characters written on top: 生日快乐, Happy Birthday.
“It’s for my girlfriend.” The man says, “It’s her birthday today.”
Boss Wang comes out from the back with the cake, walking very fast: “Coming, coming, quick, quick, quick—”
But there’s water on the floor.
Boss Wang slips. The cake goes flying.
The cake lands on the floor. Top side down, bottom side up. The 快 of 生日快乐 ends up on Boss Wang’s shoe.
All at once, nobody in the shop says a word.
The man looks at the cake, Boss Wang looks at the man, and Xiaoxia looks at that 快. After a while, Boss Wang says: “… We’ll make you a new one. Quick, very quick.”