A Place for　Everything物有所归

“Jackson， I love you. But you may bethe messiest1 boy in the world，”Jackson’smother said as she placed clean clothes onhis already messy dresser2.

“No way， Mom.”

“No？ Why not？”

“Because you haven’t met every boy inthe world， so there is no way you couldknow that！ ”

Mom smiled. “Maybe. But I bet3 youare in the top ten！ Put all of these clothesaway before you go to bed.”

“Okay. I will. Thanks for washingthem.”

“Thanks for putting them away.Remember， before you go to bed！ A placefor everything， and everything in its place.”

“I know. I know. I’ll put them away. Ipromise4！ ”

“杰克逊，我爱你。但你可能是世界上最脏的男孩。”杰克逊的母亲一边把干净的衣服放在他已经凌乱的衣橱上，一边说道。

“不可能，妈妈。”

“不是么？为什么不可能呢？”

“因为你没有见过世界上的每个男孩，所以你不可能知道！”

妈妈笑着说：“也许吧。但我敢打赌你是前十名！睡觉前把这些衣服都收起来。”

“好的。我会的。谢谢您洗了它们。”

“谢谢你把它们收好。记住，睡觉前！各得其所，各归其位。”

“知道啦，知道啦。我会把它们放好。我保证！”

After his mom left the room， Jacksonlooked around. His room wasn’t thatmessy！ Sure， there were many things onthe floor， on top of the dresser， and underhis bed， but he could still walk aroundwithout stepping5 on stuff.

It was a beautiful summer day.Jackson couldn’t wait to get outside andride his bike. So he rode his bike throughthe yard6 and toward the road. He alwayslooked both ways to be sure no car wascoming. Far down the road， he could seesomeone riding a bike. Who was that？Then he saw the bright blonde hair andhe knew. Kelly！ The new girl in firstgrade！ They rode the same bus， sat inthe same class， but still Jackson hadnever talked to her. Ever！ Today wouldbe the day！

He looked down at his jeans. Theywere dirty and the knees were green fromplaying in the grass. His shirt was evenworse！ Jackson turned his bike and rodeas fast as he could back to the house. Heran to his room. He pulled on cleanclothes from the stack7 his mom left andthen looked into the mirror8.

妈妈离开房间后，杰克逊环顾四周。他的房间没那么乱！当然，地板上、衣橱上和床下有一些东西，但他仍然可以行走自如且不会踩到东西。

这是一个美丽的夏日，杰克逊迫不及待地想出去骑自行车。于是他骑着自行车穿过院子向马路奔去。他不停朝两边看，以确保没有车开过来。在路的尽头，他可以看到有人骑着自行车。那是谁？然后看到那头明亮的金发他就知道了。是凯莉，那个一年级新来的女孩！

他们搭同一辆公共汽车，在同一个班级，但杰克逊从未和她说过话，从未。今天是时候开口了！他低头看看自己的牛仔裤。裤子很脏，膝盖处因为在草地上玩耍而留下了绿色痕迹。他的衬衫更糟！杰克逊调转车头，以最快的速度骑回了家。他跑向他的房间，从妈妈留下的一叠衣服里换上干净衣服，然后照了照镜子。

“My comb9！ ”Jackson looked for itat the top of his dresser， under the clothesand toys.“Where’s my comb？”It shouldbe on top of his dresser， but it wasn’tthere！ He looked out the window andtried to see down the road. He couldn’tsee Kelly yet. But she’d be here soon！

He ran back toward his room，slipped10， and fell11 on the floor.“Ouch！”he shouted. Jackson got to his feet andhurried back to his room. Dropping13 tohis knees， he looked under his bed for thecomb. Nothing but parts of his dirtysocks， and his old football.

Jackson rubbed14 his sore15 knee ashe got up and then ran back to hisdresser. He pushed his hair down and putthe cap on. “Oh well，”he said as helooked at his hair. He turned and rantoward the door then. Just before hereached it， he stepped on something andfell hard. His face hit16 the floor and hefelt pain17. He looked over at the footballhe just tripped18 over. He was done. Hecould not go out there and talk to Kellyfor the first time ever.

“我的梳子！”杰克逊在他的衣橱顶部、衣服和玩具下面找了一遍。“我的梳子呢？”它应该在他的衣橱上面，但是它不在那里！他向窗外望去，试图看看路的尽头。

他还没看见凯莉。但是她很快就会过来了！他跑回自己的房间，然后滑倒摔在地板上。“哎哟！”他喊道。

杰克逊站起身，匆匆回到自己的房间。他双膝跪地，在床底下寻找梳子。除了他的脏袜子和旧足球外什么也没有。杰克逊起身时揉了揉酸痛的膝盖，然后跑回衣橱前。他放下头发，戴上帽子。“哦，现在好了。”他边说边看着自己的头发。然后他转身向门口跑去。就在他快要碰到门时，脚踩到了什么东西，重重地摔了一跤。他的脸撞在地板上，感到很痛。他看了看刚刚绊倒自己的足球。他完蛋了。他不能出门和凯莉进行有史以来的第一次交谈。

He stayed on the floor.This was the worst day ever.

After a few minutes， herolled19 to his side. As he did，he could see his comb. Underthe dresser. He rememberedhis mom saying， “A place foreverything， and everything inits place.”He stood slowly.Maybe he would go for a bikeride later. Right now， he wasgoing to clean his room.

他待在地板上。这是有史以来最糟糕的一天。

几分钟后，他翻了个身。在翻身时，他看到他的梳子了，在衣橱下面。他想起他妈妈说过：“每样东西都有一个位置，每样东西都应在它的位置上。”他慢慢地站起来。也许他过会儿才会去骑自行车。现在，他要打扫他的房间了。

（英语原文选自：readingvine.com）