I didn't know if there ever was a choice, really.  我甚至不知道这里面是否真的有过一个抉择。

I was already in too deep. Now that I knew, 我已经陷得太深了。我知道

if I knew, I could do nothing about my frightening secret.  如果我真的知道的话，对于我这个吓人的秘密，我什么也不会做的。

Because when I thought of him, of his voice, his hypnotic eyes,  因为每当我想起他，想起他的声音，他能够催眠的眼睛，

the magnetic force of his personality, I wanted nothing more than to be with him right now.  他极具吸引力的个人魅力的时候，我只想立刻和他在一起，除此之外便别无所求了。

Even if… but I couldn't think it. Not here, alone in the darkening forest.  即使……但我不能再想下去了。不能在这里，独自一人待在越来越黑的森林里想。

Not while the rain made it dim as twilight under the canopy  不能在这个时候，不能在雨水让天边的暮色变得黯淡，

and pattered like footsteps across the matted earthen floor. 滴滴答答的声音就像走过铺着瓷砖的地板的脚步声的时候想。

I shivered and rose quickly from my place of concealment,  我颤抖着，赶快从我的隐蔽之所站起来，

worried that somehow the path would have disappeared with the rain. 担心着那条小路也许会消失在雨中。

But it was there, safe and clear, winding its way out of the dripping green maze.  但它仍在那里，安全又清晰，蜿蜒着穿过那片湿漉漉的绿色迷宫。

I followed it hastily, my hood pulled close around my face, becoming surprised,  我慌忙沿着小路走回去，我的兜帽拉得很低，垂在我的脸旁。我开始惊慌起来，

as I nearly ran through the trees, at how far I had come.  几乎是跑着穿过树林，因为我觉得已经走了像来时那么远的距离了。

I started to wonder if I was heading out at all,  我开始怀疑自己是不是已经冲过头了，

or following the path farther into the confines of the forest.  又或者是沿着小路走到了森林里更远的地方。

Before I could get too panicky, though,  但在我变得更加惊慌失措以前，

I began to glimpse some open spaces through the webbed branches.  透过密密麻麻像蜘蛛网一样的树枝，我隐约能瞥见一些开阔地了。

And then I could hear a car passing on the street, and I was free,  然后我听到了一辆车穿过街道的声音，我自由了。

Charlie's lawn stretched out in front of me, the house beckoning me, promising warmth and dry socks. 查理的草坪出现在我的面前，那所房子在召唤着我，许诺着温暖以及干燥的袜子。

It was just noon when I got back inside.  我走回屋里的时候刚好是正午。

I went upstairs and got dressed for the day, jeans and a t-shirt, since I was staying indoors.  我走上楼，换上这一天的装束——牛仔裤和T恤衫——因为我会一直待在家里。

It didn't take too much effort to concentrate on my task for the day,  全力以赴解决今天的任务不会花上太多的工夫，

a paper on Macbeth that was due Wednesday.  只是一份周三截止的关于麦克白的论文而已。

I settled into outlining a rough draft contentedly,  我心满意足地投入工作，罗列出了一份粗略的草稿。

more serene than I'd felt since… well, since Thursday afternoon, if I was being honest. 这份宁静的心境是我许久没有感受过的，自从……好吧，自从周四下午以后，如果我足够诚实的话。