The Cat is Buried, What’s Next?貓已經埋葬，接下來呢？

Castor Sung短篇小說作品 Written by Castor Sung

精力充沛的Energetic 去世Pass away 埋葬Bury 鬱鬱寡歡的Moody 空白的Blank 回應Respond to 郊區Suburb 河岸Bank of the river 水流Current 出乎意料的Out of the blue 棲息Perch 憂鬱Melancholy 退休Retire 新陳代謝Metabolism 盡心盡力的Committed 黃昏Dusk

又是星期天了。Miranda必須工作。在劇場工作的每位導演都想要她的音樂。她想要感到精力充沛，但是前一天，她的貓去世了。 So it was Sunday. Miranda had to work. Every director in the theater wanted her music. She wanted to feel energetic, but the day before, her cat passed away.

Miranda在後院埋葬了她的貓。她無法起床，因為感到有些鬱鬱寡歡。 Miranda buried her cat in the backyard. She couldn’t get out of bed, because of feeling a bit moody.

「下床去工作吧。」Miranda告訴她自己。 “Go out there and work,” Miranda told herself. 「但是我的腦袋一片空白。」她回應著她腦裡的聲音。 “But I have nothing in my mind. Blank,” she responded to her voice in her head.

外面下著雨。她想到把那隻貓帶回家的那一天。 It was raining. She thought of the day she took the cat home.

那時候她在度假，從她家開車到好幾英哩外的郊區。當Miranda感到情緒低落，她會去那邊然後單純地就坐在河旁邊的石頭上，那是她可以感受到最平靜的時刻。 She was on vacation then, driving miles away from her house to the suburb. Whenever Miranda felt down, she went there and simply sat on the rock beside the river, the most peaceful moments she could feel. 她在河堤休息，沉思著她的人生，跟工作日比起來完全不忙碌。她看著強勁的水流。 She rested on the bank of the river, pondering her life, not busy at all compared to the workdays. She watched the strong current.

出乎意料地，那隻貓出現了，然後棲息在她身旁。Miranda暫停她正在聽的音樂，跟那隻貓說話：「你像我一樣孤單耶，你這隻可憐貓咪。」 That cat came out of the blue, and perched by her. Miranda paused the music she was listening, and talked to the cat: “You’re alone just like me, you poor kitty.”

「那都是過去的事了，你必須往前走。」Miranda告訴她自己，還是無法起床工作。 「但是我想再陷入這種憂鬱一下下。」她說。 “It was all water under the bridge. You have to move on,” Miranda told herself, still couldn’t get to work. “But I wanted to dive into this melancholy for just one moment,” she said.

爾後她想到要退休。她已經不再年輕。新陳代謝也慢了下來。在音樂產業工作了30年後，這位盡心盡力的音樂家渴望愉快的人生。 And she thought about retiring.She was not young anymore. Metabolism slowed down. After working 30 years in the music industry, the committed musician longed for an enjoyable life.

她還沒有吃東西，已經快黃昏了。Miranda無法自拔地想著在河邊的假期，以及和她的貓咪在一起的日子。 She hadn’t eaten anything, and it was almost dusk. Miranda couldn’t help but keep thinking about the holidays by the river, and the days with her cat.