佚名/Anonymous
There was this guy who believed very much in true love and decided to take his time to wait for his right girl to appear.He believed that there would definitely be someone special out there for him,but none came.
Every year at Christmas,his ex-girlfriend would return from Vancouver to look him up.He was aware that she still held some hope of rekindling the past romance with him.He did not wish to mislead her in any way.So he would always get one of his girl friends to pose as his steady whenever she came back.
That went on for several years and each year,the guy would get a different girl to pose as his romantic interest.So whenever the ex-girlfriend came to visit him,she would be led into believing that it was all over between her and the guy.
The girl took all those rather well,often trying to casually tease him about his different girl friends,or so,as it seemed!In fact,the girl often wept in secret whenever she saw him with another girl,but she was too proud to admit it.Still,every Christmas,she returned,hoping to rekindle some form of romance.But each time,she returned to Vancouver feeling disappointed.
Finally she decided that she could not play that game any longer.Therefore,she confronted him and professed that after all those years,he was still the only man that she had ever loved.Although the guy knew of her feelings for him,he was still taken aback and had never expected her to react that way.He always thought that she would slowly forget about him over time and come to terms that it was all over between them.Although he was touched by her undying love for him and wanted so much to accept her again,he remembered why he rejected her in the first place-she was not the one he wanted.So he hardened his heart and turned her down cruelly.Since then,three years had passed and the girl never returned any more.They never even wrote to each other.The guy went on with his life……still searching for the one but somehow deep inside him-he missed the girl.
On the Christmas of 1995，he went to his friendsparty alone.“Hey,how come all alone this year?Where are all your girl friends?What happened to that Vancouver babe who joins you every Christmas?”asked one of his friends.He felt warm and comforted by his friends queries about her,still he just surged on.
Then,he came upon one of his many girl friends whom he once requested to pose as his steady.He wanted so much to ignore her……not that he was impolite,but because at that moment,he just didnt feel comfortable with those girl friends anymore.It was almost like he was being judged by them.The girl saw him and shouted across the floor for him.Unable to avoid her,he went up to acknowledge her.
“Hi……how are you?Enjoying the party?”the girl asked.
“Sure……yeah!”he replied.
She was slightly tipsy……must be from the whiskey on her hand.She continued,“Why……？Dont you need someone to pose as your girlfriend this year?”Then he answered,“No,there is no need for that anymore……”
Before he can continue,he was interrupted,“Oh yes!Must have found a girlfriend!You havent been searching for one for the past years,right?”The man looked up,as if he has struck gold,his face beamed and looked directly at the drunken girl.He replied,“Yes……you are right!I havent been looking for anyone for the past years.”
With that,the man darted across the floor and out the door,leaving the lady in much bewilderment.He finally realized that he had already found his dream girl,and she was……the Vancouver girl all along!The drunken lady had said something that awoken him.
All along he had found his girl.That was why he did not bother to look further when he realized she was not coming back.It was not any specific girl he was seeking!It was perfection that he wanted,and yes……perfection!
Realizing that he had let away someone so important in his life,he decided to call her immediately.His whole mind was flooded with fear.He was afraid that she might have found someone new or no longer had the same feelings anymore……For once,he felt the fear of losing someone.
As it was Christmas eve,the line was quite hard to get through,especially an overseas call.He tried again and again,never giving up.Finally,he got through……precisely at 12：00 midnight.He confessed his love for her and the girl was moved to tears.It seemed that she never got over him!Even after so long,she was still waiting for him,never giving up.
He was so excited to meet her and to begin his new chapter of their lives.He decided to fly to Vancouver to join her.It was the happiest time of their lives!But their happy time was short-lived.Two days before he was supposed to fly to Vancouver,he received a call from her father.She had a head-on car collision with a drunken driver.She passed away after 6 hours in a coma.
The guy was devastated,as it was a complete loss.Why did fate played such cruel games with him?He cursed the heaven for taking her away from him,denying even one last look at her!How cruel he cursed!How he hated himself……for taking so long to realize his mistake!!That was in 1996.
有一個篤信真愛的年輕人，決定耐心地等待，直到自己心愛的姑娘出現。他相信，一定有一個特殊的人也在人海中尋找他。但是，那個姑娘卻沒有出現。
每年聖誕節，他的前任女友都會從溫哥華回來看他。他知道，她還懷有一些希望，希望他們的戀情能重來。但他不想讓她誤會，所以，每當她回來時，他總會找一些女性的朋友來冒充他的女朋友。
就這樣過了幾年，冒充年輕人新歡的女孩子每年都不同，所以，他的前任女友誤以為他們之間，真的一切都結束了。
女孩平靜地麵對這一切，偶爾還會取笑他那些不同的女朋友。當然，這隻是表麵上的！實際上，女孩經常因為看到他與其他的女孩子在一起而暗自垂淚，但她的自尊讓她不想承認這一切。於是，每年的聖誕節，她還是會帶著重歸於好的希望，回來看他，卻總失望而歸。
最終，她決定不再玩這種遊戲了，所以，她當麵向他坦白，這麽多年過去了，她唯一愛過的男人始終是他。年輕人大為震驚，盡管他明白她對自己的感情，但從未想到過她會有這樣的舉動。他一直以為，隨著時間的消逝，她會慢慢地忘記他，接受他們之間分手的事實。盡管她堅貞不渝的愛讓他深深地感動，他也很想再一次接受她。但是，他記起自己以前拒絕她的原因——她不是他的真愛。所以，他狠下心殘忍地拒絕了她。從那以後，三年過去了，女孩沒有再回來過，他們甚至不曾通過信，年輕人的生活仍在繼續……他仍在尋找真愛，可不知為什麽，內心深處，他很想念那個女孩。
1995年的聖誕節，他獨自一人去參加朋友的聚會。“嘿，今年怎麽一個人來了？你那些女朋友上哪兒去了？那個每年和你一起過聖誕節的溫哥華小姐怎麽樣啦？”一個朋友問道。問起她來，他感到了些許溫暖和慰藉，不過也隻是略起波瀾而已。
後來，他偶然碰到了一個曾冒充過他女朋友的女孩。他實在不想理睬她……不是他沒有禮貌，隻是在這個時候，跟這些女孩子在一起讓他很不舒服，就好像他要任由她們評判似的。在房間的另一邊，女孩看見了他，並大聲喊他。他沒辦法躲避了，隻好向她走過去。
“嘿……你還好嗎？玩得開心嗎？”女孩問道。
“當然開心！”他答道。
她有些喝醉了——一定是手裏的威士忌喝多了。她繼續說：“為什麽……今年你不需要人來冒充女朋友了嗎？”然後，他答道：“不，不再需要了……”
還沒說完，他就被打斷了，“噢，是的！你一定是找到女朋友了！過去，你一直沒有找，對吧？”年輕人抬起頭來，好像發現了金子一樣，他麵露喜色，直直地盯著喝醉了的女孩，答道：“是的……你說得對！過去我一直沒有找過。”
就這樣，他穿過房間，衝出房門，留下那個女孩迷惑地呆在那裏。他終於意識到，他已經找到了夢想中的女孩，就是她——一直都是那個溫哥華女孩！喝醉的女孩說的話讓他如夢初醒。
一直以來，他早就找到了自己心儀的女孩。正因為這樣，所以，當他知道她不會再回來，也就不想再費心去找其他女孩子了。他尋找的不是哪一個特殊的女孩，而是完美，是的……完美的女孩！
想到自己曾讓生命中最重要的人離去，他決定立刻打電話給她。擔心充斥著他的整個思緒，他擔心她有了新的朋友，或者，對他沒有感覺了——第一次，他嚐到了害怕失去一個人的滋味。
因為是平安夜，電話很難接通，特別是國際長途。他試了一次又一次，沒有放棄。終於，電話打通了——剛好是在午夜十二點。他向她表白對她的愛，女孩感動得哭了。她好像從未忘記過他！過了這麽多年，她還在等她，從來沒有放棄。
想到要見到她，開始他們的新生活，他激動不已，決定飛往溫哥華和她在一起。這是他們生命中最幸福的時光！但是，幸福時光是短暫的。就在他準備飛往溫哥華的前兩天，他接到了一個電話，是她父親打來的。一個醉酒司機駕車迎麵撞向了她，昏迷六個小時後，她離開了人世。
年輕人仿佛失去了一切，他崩潰了。命運為什麽跟他開了一個這麽殘忍的玩笑？他詛咒老天把她從自己身邊帶走，甚至不讓他見她最後一麵！他惡毒地詛咒！他痛恨自己——這麽久才意識到自己的錯誤！那是1996年。
心靈小語
都說：“世界上最遙遠的距離不是生與死，而是我站在你麵前，你卻不知道我愛你。”這樣的結局是悲慘的，而最悲慘的卻是當兩個人終於明白彼此的愛意，決定在一起的時候，卻到了生與死的國界。
詞匯筆記
vancouver[v?nku:v?]n.溫哥華市（溫哥華）
When do we arrive in Vancouver?
我們什麽時候到達溫哥華？
Christmas[krism?s]n.聖誕節
Do you still remember our first Christmas since our
acquaintance?
還記不記得我們相識後的第一個聖誕節？
tipsy[tipsi]adj.微醉的
I am feeling a little tipsy.
我感覺有點醉了。
perfection[p?fek??n]n.完美；完善
“Pursuing brilliance and creating perfection”is our aim.
“追求卓越，創造完美”是我們的追求目標。
小試身手
每年的聖誕節，她還是會帶著重歸於好的希望，回來看他，卻總是失望而歸。
她當麵向他坦白，這麽多年過去了，她唯一愛過的男人始終是他。
第一次，他嚐到了害怕失去一個人的滋味。
短語家族
Finally she decided that she could not play that game any longer.
not……any longer：不再
Then,he came upon one of his many girl friends whom he once requested to pose as his steady.
come upon：遇見（突然產生；向……要求；成為……的負擔）