CROSS 01
十字架 01

　　I was thirteen at the time when my parents decided to take a holiday to Lakes Entrance. We were staying at a friend of my father’s holiday house and we were very excited. My brother was to sleep in the bedroom with my parents and my two sisters and I had the other bedroom, as there were only two beds in the room, I was to sleep on a camp bed between the two.

　　The house looked very old and we thought it strange that there were pictures of Jesus, Mary and many crosses on the walls.

　　Nothing strange happened for the first couple of days except that my father started to become ill. At first it started as a cough but as each day passed my father seemed to have more difficulty breathing. I feel it is important to state that my father had never suffered from any problems of this sort in the past.

　　Eventually it was decided that my father was too sick to continue the holiday and it was agreed that we would leave the next morning.

　　我父母决定去湖区度假的时候，我13岁。我们住在父亲朋友的度假小屋里，都非常兴奋。我哥哥和我的父母住一个房间，而我和两个姐妹住另一个房间。因为那房间只有两张床，所以我就在她们俩中间架了个行军床。

　　那屋子很旧，墙上还挂着耶稣，圣母玛利亚的画像和许多的十字架，我们都觉得很奇怪。

　　开头几天没什么怪事发生，只是我父亲生病了。刚开始只是咳嗽，但随着日子一天天过去，他的呼吸越来越困难。需要说明的是，我父亲以前从没有类似的毛病。

　　最后，全家一致认为父亲的病实在是太严重了，我们决定不再度假，第二天早晨就离开那儿回家。