拖鞋

布拉德利在上午11点整走进了他的酒店房间.m. 然后开始寻找. He peered into the wooden closet that smelled of fresh paint and found no forgotten items. The drawer to the modern desk made a scraping sound when he pulled it open. In the desk, there was a box of matches with the hotel logo printed on it. 他推开白色浴帘, disappointed to find no left over shampoo bottles or unique smelling soaps like vanilla bean or citrus punch. He tugged open the short bedside table drawer to find a crisp Bible with no annotations that would give Bradley any information about the type of person who read it last. He bent down onto his knees and the green scratchy Berber carpet prickled his bare, 白色皮肤上留有斑点状皮疹. 很快, 带着希望和期待, he pushed away the bed skirt and peered under the dark chestnut frame. 就在那时，他发现了一些东西.

***********

布拉德利已经准备好要出人头地了. He was sick and tired of having no friends and having no personality. 他厌倦了孤独. 但, as much has he hated being lonely, he didn’t know how to be anything else. 他一生中，他的父母是他唯一的朋友. They were the only people he could talk to, the only people that thought he had a personality. 但他们现在已经走了. 他们搬出了加兰, Utah and out of the country when Bradley found a job at the post office and moved into his own apartment. 那是三年前的事了，当时他26岁. So, 布拉德利的父母留下了他们29岁的儿子独自一人, 希望他能找到自己的路.

在过去的三年里, Bradley has not spoken a word to his co-worker in the mail sorting office, 没有对公寓里的一个人笑过吗, 除非万不得已，他是不会离开房间的. So, this trip he took cross country to Philadelphia must have been absolutely necessary for him as it forced him to talk to strangers in order to get his plane ticket and get out of the isolated, 加兰的石头小镇. All of this made Bradley very antsy and uncomfortable, but he knew he had to do it. He decided it was time to get away when his mother arranged a get together for him.

“Bradley, it’s important for you to get out a little,” his mom told him over the phone. “我老朋友的女儿, 史蒂芬妮, is very kind and I’ve set up a time for you to meet with her over dinner next weekend about a half hour from the center of Garland at the Brick Star Restaurant.”

听到这, Bradley’s first thought was whether he should tell 史蒂芬妮 that his name was Bradley or Brad. So, Bradley left on the next flight out of Garland to find his name. 他离开是为了寻找一个有个性的人，让斯蒂芬感兴趣. 史蒂芬妮 could potentially be his first friend and he wanted a friend. 但是，他知道如果他没有勇气的话，没有人会喜欢他的. 所以，他离开去寻找勇气.

***********

Bradley grabbed the old, black striped slipper with white fur inside from under the hotel bed. He decided that since he didn’t know who he was, he would try to be somebody else. He kicked off his left gray sneaker and slipped his foot into the slipper. 而不是打开他那四四方方的箱子, 廉价的t恤, he headed out to the social city of Philadelphia walking in someone else’s shoe, 让它引导着他.

南街是拖鞋带他去的第一个地方. 他的脚告诉他饿了, 所以他直接走进一家披萨店带着一些新发现的, surprising confidence and ordered two slices of the largest pizza in the world. The creamy mozzarella stuck to his throat and the crust coated the inside of his stomach making him feel comfy and secure. Right then and there he decided that his most favorite food in the world is that particular pizza. 番茄酱从来没有这么甜过.
Across the gum-bathed street, Bradley noticed a short green building with black bubbly letters. 那是一家唱片店. Bradley’s feet led him there and guided him right to the punk section where he stood next to a shapely girl with short, 火红的头发和黑色系带长筒靴. 她大概20岁左右.

“嘿，伙计，”她从嚼着泡泡糖的嘴里吐了口唾沫，“这鞋不错.”

Bradley gulped for a second but was soon able to spit that gulp out into words.

“是的,你知道. hg888皇冠手机版都有过这样的日子.”

“I don’t,” she said and kicked her heel up, bending her leg and showing off her rebel attributes.

废话布拉德利认为. 我又来了. 不合适的. 是怪人.

“但, I know what you mean,” she added obviously sensing she hurt him a little.

“在这里,试试这个.”

粉色朋克递给他一张名为 美国白痴 一个叫绿日的乐队, and Bradley couldn’t help but think she gave it to him to send him a message. 好吧，他不会容忍的. 他正要让他的拖鞋说话. 是时候让他说出来了.

“嘿. 这可不太好.”

“哈哈,伙计寒意. 听听它. 你知道，放一个播放器进去. 你看起来挺酷的. 你的生活需要一点情趣. 这会给你的生活增添情趣，”她回答.

Pink punk grabbed the CD from Bradley and took it up to the register and paid the ninety- nine cents for it.

“我请客。”她说着，把钱包还给了他. “答应我你会听.”

“我保证,”布拉德利说, 他那尴尬的心灵和身体的联系让他走开, 在他出尽洋相之前.

他的脚不住地引导他. 他从唱片店去了嬉皮香店. This shop smelled like cinnamon and licorice mixed with lavender and rose. There were lots of dangling wind chimes and miniature Buddha statues.

“先生，您想要一双新拖鞋吗??” A woman with long braids and a tie-dyed headband composed of browns and creams asked him. “You seem to be missing one and that can’t be very peaceful and enjoyable at night.”

“哦，不，”布拉德利咕哝道. He eyed the “Zen Scents” section of the store and shuffled away from the woman. 她跟着他.

“寻找任何特别的东西?”

“不，”他虚弱地回答.

“你似乎需要一种能增强能量的香水. You know you can never be too ‘Zen’ but it is possible to be like a walking zombie. 这是有区别的,” she proposed pronouncing the word energy as it was some mystical gift from heaven above. “试试这个.”

这种气味被称为“扬”，闻起来像PB&三明治果冻和松树混合. 这是一个独特的组合. 然而, all Bradley could think about was the fact that he had bored yet another person with his “dead” personality. 他突然怀疑这只拖鞋的威力.

“Twenty-five cents a stick or five for a dollar,” she informed him.

布拉德利拿起四根棍子，去柜台付款. The woman grabbed another one as she could tell he obviously wasn’t listening. Bradley just wanted to get away so he wouldn’t feel like he was wasting her time anymore.

After buying a dollar’s worth of incense and leaving with barely a goodbye to the hippie woman, 他的脚把他带到了运动鞋店. 他在那里遇到了一些麻烦. Peppy workers kept shoving new kicks in his face telling him he definitely needed them. 在某种程度上, 布拉德利一句话也没说就走出了运动鞋店, 但还带着一双崭新的蓝黄相间的运动鞋, 一个匹配的风衣, 更轻的钱包.

As the day turned into night and the sky started to look musty and dingy, 布拉德利没有多少时间去探险了. His second to last stop brought him back in the punk scene to an edgy, rock star fashion store. A man sat behind the counter and he briefly looked up to acknowledge Bradley when he entered through the glass door covered with showy posters advertising upcoming events. 布拉德利是当时店里唯一的顾客. 在透明柜台内, there was an orderly arrangement of multiple colors of hair dye that only a unique, 安全的人可以成功. There was Poppin’ Pink matching the record store girl’s hair and her bubblegum. 有像披萨酱一样的红摇滚. There was Pasty Purple matching the lavender incense sticks at the hippie store. There was Breathtaking Blue and Yummy Yellow, which matched Bradley’s new color scheme. Grasshopper Green stood out to Bradley as well because of its tie to the band the pink-haired punk told him about. He was mesmerized by all the colors but then started to question the sanity of some peoples’ desires to look a certain way. 不过他改变了想法, remembering that he was the boring one with no friends and therefore telling himself that he had no right to judge.
哈哈,他认为. 就好像我知道什么是酷一样. As if I would know anything about the pleasure of standing out and being an individual.

“我能帮你吗??染发剂陈列柜后面的人问, obviously a little freaked out by Bradley’s bipolar facial contortions.

Bradley glanced up and noticed an array of T-Shirts plastered to the wall behind the man. 他们就像海报. 他不知道它们都是什么意思. 一个写着Sonic Youth，另一个写着No Doubt.

毫无疑问? 布拉德利在想.

Another shirt read The Cure and had a picture of a boy with untamed hair. Bradley thought that the boy looked like a mad scientist but instead of holding a beaker, 那男孩拿着一把电吉他.

治愈什么? 癌症? 糖尿病? 布拉德利再次质疑. 他决定问问那个人. 他觉得这是个很好的开场白.

于是，布拉德利大声问道:“治愈什么??然后指着那个疯狂的科学家.

那人回头看了看，皱了皱眉毛. 他笑了，以为布拉德利在开玩笑. When he could tell Bradley was absolutely serious, the man said, “Oh, no son…”

很快 and spasmodically, Bradley looked down at the floor, embarrassed. Stupid, get with the program布拉德利认为, calling himself names inside of his head. 当他抬起头的时候, his eyes landed on a Green Day T-Shirt and then he suddenly realized what all these shirts were representing. “Oh…”

His slipper gave him the confidence to try to regain himself in front of the man. 布拉德利穿上他的“酷”，说:“我要绿色日的那辆。.”

“大小?那人问.

“呜……嗯……什么? 哦……很大。”布拉德利终于决定了.

The man stood up with reluctance, obviously interrupting his relaxation. 他翻遍了标签，找到了一个大的. 他把它展开，拿在手里，给布拉德利做模特. 当布拉德利没有点头或说话时，那人问道:“很好?布拉德利迅速点了点头，好像这是例行公事.
“25岁，”那人带着苛刻的口气告诉他.

布拉德利数了数他的钱，正好给了他25美元. He grabbed his shirt and left the store walking as fast as humanly possible without running.
The bookstore in Old City his feet took him to last was unlike any other bookstore he has ever been in, 不像他在很多电影里演过. Its shelves were looming high above, and he could not stop sneezing. There was an odd silence that filled the bookstore though, and Bradley kind of liked that. All day he had been going back and forth between people talking at him, 他试图回答, 并试图为所有的市民提供一些娱乐. 能有片刻的时间思考，感觉很好. He traced the shelves with his finger and collected a thin layer of a gray mix. 这使他想起了自己. 他脸色灰白，呆滞如尘. 灰尘是无用的.  布拉德利认为自己一无是处. 他把自己的名字写在灰尘上，旁边点了三个点.

“布拉德利……”信上写着，他让其他的书把他的故事讲完.

这是在费城南街的旅程, 布拉德利发现披萨很好吃, 粉色头发的女孩知道什么是最好的, 嬉皮士女人可以改变你对生活的看法, 运动鞋店的工作人员喜欢让人们看起来很酷, 疯狂的科学家们现在组成乐队, t恤太贵了, 书店本身就能告诉你一个故事.

但, he ultimately learned nothing about the person whose slipper he was wearing, 除了他们有许多不同的兴趣. The slipper took him and all his new stuff back to the hotel but not without stopping at his favorite pizza shop to buy two more monster slices for dinner. When he got to the room he took off all his clothes and lay on the bed, bare and naked. 炎热的夏日把他累坏了，他需要凉快一下.

呼吸了几分钟后，他又站了起来. 他重新穿上牛仔裤，试穿他的新t恤. 酷，他想，辣. 接着他穿上了风衣. He tied his new sneakers onto his feet and smiled at his obnoxious appearance. 但在某种程度上，他还是挺喜欢的. 他长得很有趣. 他从来没见过自己身上穿这么亮的蓝黄相间的衣服. Bradley hopped back on the bed and started looking through the lyric book that came with the 美国白痴 CD. 他喜欢歌词. 它们朗朗上口，直截了当. 他喜欢他们这样惊呼. 因为他在尝试他所有的新产品, he lit the incense with the box of matches he got from the desk drawer and stuck them in a flowerpot. Feeling that he needed more than just energy from the Uplift scent, he dug into his pizza.  Now that he had enough energy, he put on the Green Day CD and started singing along, lyrics in hand.

“我不想当美国白痴. 不想让国家在新媒体下. 你能听到歇斯底里的声音吗?”

在这一瞬间，布拉德利觉得自己很独特. 还有谁能坐在朋克里, 但同时, flashy outfit while getting energy from hippie spirits and rocking out to Green Day while swallowing large globs of mozzarella cheese? 突然间，布拉德利意识到这是他自己的问题. 现在，他只是他自己. 他告诉自己, 我是不同的他对自己笑了笑.

Bradley grabbed the Bible from the bedside table and began annotating it, 了解更多生活背后的故事. 布拉德利相信生命的馈赠. 他相信上帝永远是他的朋友, 即使他是单调乏味的, 即使当他感到无聊和无趣的时候.

It only took one day for Bradley to feel like he found something in Philadelphia and he headed back to Garland the next day. 他觉得自己已经准备好迎接自己的工作和邻居了. He felt ready to walk down the streets of Garland just because he wanted to get out. He felt ready to pet strangers’ dogs and smile just because he could. Bradley was ready to meet 史蒂芬妮 and he promised himself that he was good enough.

***********
下一个周末, Bradley put on his Green Day top and blue and yellow getup and blasted “美国白痴” while he got ready to meet 史蒂芬妮. 不幸的是，他已经用完了所有的香.  当他准时到达“五星级”餐厅时, 他发现自己穿得不得体，感到很恼火.

我什么都做不好. 我很奇怪他对自己说. 但 史蒂芬妮 walked into the waiting area before he could even think about going home to change.

“你好，”她对女主人说. “hg888皇冠手机版有两个人. 我想应该叫斯蒂芬吧.”

“好吧，看来现在这里只有你一个人. I can seat you while you wait for the other to arrive,” the hostess explained.

布拉德利知道他需要站起来向斯蒂芬介绍自己. 她一走进来，他就爱上了她的美貌. 她冲进来时蓝色长裙飘逸的样子. The way her knuckles turned pale as she grasped her fat black pocketbook. 她是完美的, 他认为. And couldn’t help but think that she was going to be much more interesting than him. 但是，布拉德利现在有能力对自己微笑了. 于是，布拉德利对自己笑了笑，站起来，然后对斯蒂芬笑了笑. 史蒂芬妮笑了笑回.

“嗨，”他说，“我叫布尔……”