我还是不停地猜测这位匿名送花者。有时，我最喜欢做的事就是揣测这个人，或许他是一个无比优秀的人，但过于腼腆或者性格古怪，而不愿透露身份。
母亲也和我一起猜测，很多猜想还源于她的点拨。她会问我，是不是给做了件好事，所以人家用这种方式来答谢。或许是邻居吧，我曾帮她卸下满满一车杂货。也有可能是马路对面的那位老先生，寒冬时，我帮他取过邮件，这样他就不必冒着滑倒的危险去取了。然而，正值花季的我，宁愿相信这个人是我喜欢的男孩，或是暗恋我而我浑然不知的某个男生。
17岁那年，一个男生深深地伤害了我。他最后一次打电话给我的那晚，我失声痛哭，后来，就不知不觉地睡着了。第二天早上醒来时，我看见镜子上有一行潦草的字，是用红色唇膏写的——“切记：半仙离去，真神到来”。我一直没擦去这些字。爱默生的这句话，我想了很久，最后终于想通了。于是，在我去拿玻璃清洁剂时，母亲知道一切又恢复正常了。
记忆中，我从未冲母亲发过脾气，然后甩门而去，还吼道：“你根本不理解！”因为母亲太了解我了。
在我高中毕业的前一个月，父亲因心脏病离开了人世。我的情绪波动很大，时而悲痛哀伤、自暴自弃，时而恐惧胆怯、怨气冲天。我知道，父亲再也不能亲眼目睹我人生中的大事了。我沉浸在这种痛苦中不能自拔，对临近的毕业典礼、演出和舞会全然没有了兴趣。而母亲，虽然也承受着巨大的悲痛，但执意让我参与那些活动。
父亲去世的前一天，我和母亲上街买我在舞会时要穿的衣服。我们选中了一件极漂亮的衣服，上面印有红、白、蓝三色小圆点。穿上它，我感觉自己像郝思嘉，只是大小不合适。父亲病故后，我就把那件衣服忘了。
但母亲没忘。毕业舞会的前一天，我发现那件衣服——大小适宜——挂在客厅的沙发上，看起来是那么华丽端庄。它并不是装在盒内，而是像店里送来的那样，亮丽典雅地呈现在我眼前。有没有新衣服，我无所谓，但母亲很在乎。
母亲希望我能感受到他人的情爱，能招人喜欢、有创造力，想象丰富，也希望我相信世间总有奇迹，相信即便是身处逆境，也会有美好。事实上，母亲希望我视自己为洁白的栀子花——可爱、健壮、完美——并带着神奇的芳香和些许的神秘。
我结婚10天后，母亲就撒手人寰了。当时我22岁，也就是在那一年，再没人送来洁白的栀子花了。
蓝眼睛朋友
My Blue-Eyed Boy
亚历山德·曼迪斯 / Alexandra Mandis
My dog, Harry, and I are very close. Harry, an eighty-pound Dalmatian, listens to me when I am upset, comforts me when I am blue and goes everywhere with me. He cares for no other person like he does for me, his beloved mama. Having raised him since he was an eight-week-old pup, I feel the same way about him—he is my blue-eyed boy.
One beautiful Sunday morning, Harry and I went to Central Park. Harry was running off leash on Dog Hill, along with all the other city dogs, while their owners enjoyed a spring day in the park.
I was feeling down because I had been recently laid off from the job I' d held for ten years. Being in the park with Harry was one of the ways I forgot for a while that I was out of work—and that my prospects were not looking good in a tough economy.
I was standing at the bottom of Dog Hill talking to another dog owner when all of a sudden, we heard someone shout, "He peed on my leg!" I turned to look, and lo and behold, at the top of the hill I saw a lady gesticulating at my beloved boy, who apparently was the culprit. Horrified, I rushed up the hill. Harry had never done anything remotely like this before.
When I got to where the woman was standing, I reached down quickly and grabbed hold of Harry' s collar in case he decided to do anything else untoward. The woman was bent over, trying to clean up her leg. She was pulling off her shoe because the pee had dribbled down her leg all the way into her shoe.
We straightened up at the same moment, and for a shocked instant, we looked at each other.
"Alexandra!" she said.
"Valerie!" It was my former boss—the one who laid me off three months before.
I apologized to Valerie for Harry' s behavior, but all the way home, I laughed and laughed, and gave Harry lots of kisses and hugs. Harry, of course, was thrilled that he clearly had pulled off a winning stunt—though, fortunately, he has never repeated his performance. To this day, when I think about all of Harry' s wonderful qualities, his "revenge for mama" still makes me laugh the hardest.
我的小狗名叫哈里，我们是一对亲密无间的朋友。哈里是一只重达80磅的达尔马提亚狗，当我不安的时候，他会倾听我的诉说；当我忧郁的时候，他会抚慰我，陪着我走遍各地。他对于其他的人与物从来没有像对我那样尽心尽责，因为我是他最爱的妈妈。我收养他的时候，他才八个星期左右。我对他也有同样的感情，因为他是我的蓝眼睛男孩。
在一个阳光明媚的星期日早晨，我带着哈里去了中心公园。哈里很快就挣脱了绳索的束缚，跑上了狗山，跑去和其他的城市小狗一起玩了。与此同时，他们的主人们也享受着公园里的春日。
最近，我的心情很低落，因为我失业了。那份工作我已经做了十年。和哈里在公园里玩耍，可以让我在短时间内忘记失业的不愉快，还有我那拮据的经济前景。
我站在狗山下，与其他狗主人聊天。突然，我们听到有人在喊：“他在我的腿上撒尿！”我转过身一看，山顶上有一位女士正指着我的那只可爱的小狗，很显然，他就是罪魁祸首了。我有些害怕，迅速跑到山上。哈里以前从未做过这样荒谬的事情。
当我来到那位女士旁边，我马上蹲下来，抓住哈里的项圈，这样他就不可能再做出一些奇怪的事情了。那位女士弯着腰，擦着她的腿。她脱掉了鞋子，因为小狗的尿顺着她的腿流到了鞋子里。
我们同时站直了身子，很惊奇地看着对方。
“亚历山德！”她说道。
“瓦莱丽！”她是我的前任老板——三个月之前，就是她将我从公司开除了。
我为哈里的所作所为向她道歉，不过在回家的路上，我一直笑个不停，热切地拥抱了哈里，并送给他许多香吻。哈里，当然，也摇头摆尾，因为他做了一个惊人的表演——不过，幸运的是，他再也没有那样做过了。这一天，我一想起哈里那令人惊奇的才华——为母亲报仇，就会开怀大笑。
为妈妈弹琴
For the Love of Mother
佚名 / Anonymous
When William, a 10-year old boy and somewhat scruffy looking enrolled himself to learn the piano, the music teacher was reluctant to accept him. She preferred her students to start their music lessons at a younger age when their fingers are nimble.