杰克向窗外望去。
他看看书上的那幅画。
他又回头看窗外。
外面的世界跟那幅画中的世界一模一样。
无齿翼龙正掠空而过。地面上覆盖着羊齿植物和高高的青草。一条蜿蜒的小溪,一座平缓的小山,还有远处的火山群,一切都不差分毫。
“我们,我们这是在哪儿呀?”杰克结结巴巴地说。
无齿翼龙滑行到他们所在的那棵树的底部,缓缓地停下来,一动不动。
“这到底是怎么回事儿啊?”安妮问。她看着杰克,杰克也看着她。
“我不知道,”杰克说,“我刚才在看书上的那幅插图——”
“接着,你说了,‘哇!真希望我能看到一只真正的无齿翼龙。’”安妮补充道。
“是。然后我们就看到了一只,就在蛙溪湾的树林里。”杰克说。
“是呀!然后风就呼呼地刮,树屋就开始转!”安妮说。
“然后我们就降落在这儿!”杰克说。
“然后我们就降落在这儿!”安妮重复着。
“这就意味着……”杰克说。
“这就意味着……什么呢?”安妮问。
“没什么,”杰克摇摇头,“所有这一切都不可能是真的。”
安妮又朝窗外看去:“可是,这个怪物是真的呀,千真万确的呀!”
杰克和安妮一起望着窗外。无齿翼龙正在橡树底下站着。巨大的翅膀向两侧展开,就像一个卫士。
“你好!”安妮喊道。
“嘘!”杰克说,“我们不应该来这儿的。”
“可是,这是哪儿?”安妮问。
“我也不知道!”杰克说。
“你好!”安妮再次跟那只怪物打招呼。
无齿翼龙抬起头看着他俩。
“这是什么地方呀?”安妮向下喊道。
“你疯了吗?它不会说话,”杰克说,“不过这本书应该能告诉我们答案。”
杰克低头看书,无齿翼龙插图下面有两行文字:
这种会飞的爬行动物生活在白垩纪时代,于6500万年前灭绝。
不,不可能。他和安妮不可能降落到6500万年前。
“杰克,”安妮说,“那只无齿翼龙很友好。”
“友好?”
“是,我看得出来,咱们下去跟它说说话吧。”
“跟它说话?”
安妮开始下绳梯。
“嘿!”杰克大叫。
可是安妮继续往下爬。
“你疯了?”杰克大喊。
安妮已经下到地面上,她勇敢地向那只远古动物走去。
“Help!A monster!” said Annie.
“ Yeah,sure,” said Jack. “A real monster in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania.”
“Run,Jack!” said Annie. She ran up the road.
Oh,brother.
This is what he got for spending time with his seven-year-old sister.
Annie loved pretend stuff. But Jack was eight and a half. He liked real things.
“Watch out, Jack! The monster’s coming! Race you!”
“No, thanks,” said Jack.
Annie raced alone into the woods.
Jack looked at the sky. The sun was about to set.
“Come on, Annie! It’s time to go home!”
But Annie had disappeared.
Jack waited.
No Annie.
“Annie!” he shouted again.
“Jack!Jack!Come here!”
Jack groaned. “ This better be good,” he said.
Jack left the road and headed into the woods. The trees were lit with a golden late-afternoon light.
“Come here!” called Annie.
There she was. Standing under a tall oak tree. “Look,” she said. She was pointing at a rope ladder.
The longest rope ladder Jack had ever seen.
“Wow,” he whispered.
The ladder went all the way up to the top of the tree.
There—at the top—was a tree house. It was tucked between two branches.
“That must be the highest tree house in the world,” said Annie.
“Who built it ?” asked Jack. “I’ve never seen it before.”
“I don’t know. But I’m going up,” said Annie.
“No. We don’t know who it belongs to,” said Jack.
“Just for a teeny minute,”said Annie. She started up the ladder.
“Annie,come back!”
She kept climbing.
Jack sighed. “Annie,it’s almost dark. We have to go home.”
Annie disappeared inside the tree house.
“An-nie!”
Jack waited a moment. He was about to call again when Annie poked her head out of the tree house window.
“Books!” she shouted.
“What?”
“It’s filled with books!”
Oh,man!Jack loved books.
He pushed his glasses into place. He gripped the sides of the rope ladder,and up he went.