要不先上英文版好了,这么短就干脆不贴网址直接粘贴吧~~~~ Away to Home - There is a universal truth about home and it is this: when you leave—no matter how accustomed you may be to traveling footloose and carefree—every reminder of familiar smiles and friendly faces becomes that much more precious with each mile that stretches away to home. - You've dreamed of Spain of sandy beaches and sweeping cathedral spires a language that falls on your ears like honeyed wine liquid and strange and sweet. But as you look through the windows of a taxi driving through the streets of Madrid traffic and people flowing by like tributary streams you find your thoughts instead occupied by the memory of summer rain and pinioned birds in flight. Sami's dark hair tickles your nose when he pulls you into a hug after your first day at practice after silence and newness and just a little too much personal space for it to feel like actual respect. His arms wind around your shoulders unapologetic. Under the perspiration dotting his skin Sami smells like sun and a hint of snow something colder and softer than any Mediterranean sky. You breathe him in. You wish you didn't have to breathe out to breathe in again wish you could live on just one lungful of air and never have to let this go. You text Anna-Maria on the car ride back. Hi how was your day. Good reads the first reply. Then How is madrid? She doesn't ask when you are coming home. Back at the shared apartment you cook pasta for dinner and Sami washes the dishes. You put your feet up on the coffee table headphones over your head leaning back as a melody begins to flood the silence. A light touch on your shoulder startles. Sami leans over the back of the couch; you push the headphones back to hear his voice "Sorry didn't mean to startle you. I got the sound system set up earlier so if you want to play music out loud." You tell him thanks it's fine and in any case you don't want to bother him. "It's no bother." His hand slips from your shoulder. "There's a nice view from the balcony. Wonder if you can see the moon yet." His footsteps pad softly over the carpet. The porch screen pulled back the faint sound of traffic drifting upward from below. Cities all sound the same. You tip the headphones back over your ears; in the small space between speakers-left and speakers-right at least everything is under control. - Settling in sounds like something that should be soft and effortless and slow. In reality it's nothing like that—except for the slowness. Slowly you learn the names of the streets around your apartment the words and the phrases of everyday conversation rolling the syllables over your tongue and memorizing new vocabulary in your head. Slowly is how you get to know the rest of the team. And slowly the jersey stops feeling quite so new though you wonder if it will
ever feel completely yours. Slowly the apartment fills up a little. With waterbottles and plastic bags that Sami forgets to put into the recycling. Letters and magazines a pile of paper on the coffee table crowding your feet. A calendar by the fridge and flowers on the windowsill gifts from a kind elderly lady next door (her eyes crinkled with smiles when you thanked her in halting Spanish taking the potted primroses with careful hands). Time passes slowly and you travel quickly—taxis buses planes—wondering if perpetual motion can change the relativity of space. Home begins to feel strange and Madrid less so. But Thomas' smile is lopsided as ever and Lukas still ruffles your hair Sami's hand warm on your shoulder. The pitch is level green and rain still falls cold. You wonder how it is that already you find it difficult recall the sound of Anna-Maria's voice. Instead you fall asleep the sound of Sami humming softly to himself in the room next to yours and when you wake you wake to Sami's voice talking on the phone and it is from moments like these that you learn just how beautiful the German language can be. He finds you sitting on the steps outside the apartment one cool September evening head in your hands and phone on the concrete beside you. You forgot your keys you tell him; Anna-Maria never calls back. You want home home—and you don't know how to continue how to describe what this feels like the longing so strong that it floods your heart and pulls you ever farther out to sea. Sami picks up the phone moves it aside fills the space with himself as his arms encircle you. He's warm the material of his jacket soft under your cheek the his hair just long enough to brush the corner of your lips and catch the first tear that falls. You don't even notice yourself reaching out until your hands are fisted in his shirt. His hands broad and firm against your shoulder blades. A brush of lips over the top of your head and a whisper like promises "It's okay shh. It's okay." Eventually you find the strength to extricate yourself from his arms. He helps you up leads you inside with one hand around your wrist. He doesn't let go until you're back in the apartment the door closed behind you and lights setting every window aglow. - He cooks dinner with you that night and you help him with the dishes afterwards drying every plate and fork that he washes. He flicks soapy dishwater at you; you whack him with the towel in return and his laughter chases away the silence. It takes you a few minutes to figure out the sound system. You get there eventually with the judicious help of a user manual and you take it as a sign that your Spanish is improving. The CD slides in. A windy evening has blown the sky clear of clouds. You step out onto the balcony barefoot shivering. Sami is leaning against the railing. He turns as light and music spill outwards from within eyes flickering from your face to your unshod feet and you let him pull you close to occupy the space beside him. "Thanks" you tell the moon-lit lamp-lit city lights. "No problem" he says—and this time you let yourself believe him. The wind picks up bringing with it the sounds of the streets and whispery hints of autumn. Sami is solid comfort at your side. You close your eyes and beneath it all there is the scent of rain of snow on mountains and wild things with wings outstretched in flight. - There is a universal truth about home and it is this: no matter how far you may go—though your footsteps may echo your name slip from strangers' tongues—wherever there is a friendly face to wear the familiar smile that lights up your heart there you will find your way to home. -END-