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.
有一个笃信真爱的年轻人，决定耐心地等待，直到自己心爱的姑娘出现。他相信，一定有一个特殊的人也在人海中寻找他。但是，那个姑娘却没有出现。
每年圣诞节，他的前任女友都会从温哥华回来看他。他知道，她还怀有一些希望，希望他们的恋情能重来。但他不想让她误会，所以，每当她回来时，他总会找一些女性的朋友来冒充他的女朋友。
就这样过了几年，冒充年轻人新欢的女孩子每年都不同，所以，他的前任女友误以为他们之间，真的一切都结束了。
女孩平静地面对这一切，偶尔还会取笑他那些不同的女朋友。当然，这只是表面上的！实际上，女孩经常因为看到他与其他的女孩子在一起而暗自垂泪，但她的自尊让她不想承认这一切。于是，每年的圣诞节，她还是会带着重归于好的希望，回来看他，却总失望而归。
最终，她决定不再玩这种游戏了，所以，她当面向他坦白，这么多年过去了，她唯一爱过的男人始终是他。年轻人大为震惊，尽管他明白她对自己的感情，但从未想到过她会有这样的举动。他一直以为，随着时间的消逝，她会慢慢地忘记他，接受他们之间分手的事实。尽管她坚贞不渝的爱让他深深地感动，他也很想再一次接受她。但是，他记起自己以前拒绝她的原因——她不是他的真爱。所以，他狠下心残忍地拒绝了她。从那以后，三年过去了，女孩没有再回来过，他们甚至不曾通过信，年轻人的生活仍在继续……他仍在寻找真爱，可不知为什么，内心深处，他很想念那个女孩。
1995年的圣诞节，他独自一人去参加朋友的聚会。“嘿，今年怎么一个人来了？你那些女朋友上哪儿去了？那个每年和你一起过圣诞节的温哥华小姐怎么样啦？”一个朋友问道。问起她来，他感到了些许温暖和慰藉，不过也只是略起波澜而已。
后来，他偶然碰到了一个曾冒充过他女朋友的女孩。他实在不想理睬她……不是他没有礼貌，只是在这个时候，跟这些女孩子在一起让他很不舒服，就好像他要任由她们评判似的。在房间的另一边，女孩看见了他，并大声喊他。他没办法躲避了，只好向她走过去。
“嘿……你还好吗？玩得开心吗？”女孩问道。
“当然开心！”他答道。
她有些喝醉了——一定是手里的威士忌喝多了。她继续说：“为什么……今年你不需要人来冒充女朋友了吗？”然后，他答道：“不，不再需要了……”
还没说完，他就被打断了，“噢，是的！你一定是找到女朋友了！过去，你一直没有找，对吧？”年轻人抬起头来，好像发现了金子一样，他面露喜色，直直地盯着喝醉了的女孩，答道：“是的……你说得对！过去我一直没有找过。”
就这样，他穿过房间，冲出房门，留下那个女孩迷惑地呆在那里。他终于意识到，他已经找到了梦想中的女孩，就是她——一直都是那个温哥华女孩！喝醉的女孩说的话让他如梦初醒。
一直以来，他早就找到了自己心仪的女孩。正因为这样，所以，当他知道她不会再回来，也就不想再费心去找其他女孩子了。他寻找的不是哪一个特殊的女孩，而是完美，是的……完美的女孩！
想到自己曾让生命中最重要的人离去，他决定立刻打电话给她。担心充斥着他的整个思绪，他担心她有了新的朋友，或者，对他没有感觉了——第一次，他尝到了害怕失去一个人的滋味。
因为是平安夜，电话很难接通，特别是国际长途。他试了一次又一次，没有放弃。终于，电话打通了——刚好是在午夜十二点。他向她表白对她的爱，女孩感动得哭了。她好像从未忘记过他！过了这么多年，她还在等她，从来没有放弃。
想到要见到她，开始他们的新生活，他激动不已，决定飞往温哥华和她在一起。这是他们生命中最幸福的时光！但是，幸福时光是短暂的。就在他准备飞往温哥华的前两天，他接到了一个电话，是她父亲打来的。一个醉酒司机驾车迎面撞向了她，昏迷六个小时后，她离开了人世。
年轻人仿佛失去了一切，他崩溃了。命运为什么跟他开了一个这么残忍的玩笑？他诅咒老天把她从自己身边带走，甚至不让他见她最后一面！他恶毒地诅咒！他痛恨自己——这么久才意识到自己的错误！那是1996年。
心灵小语
都说：“世界上最遥远的距离不是生与死，而是我站在你面前，你却不知道我爱你。”这样的结局是悲惨的，而最悲惨的却是当两个人终于明白彼此的爱意，决定在一起的时候，却到了生与死的国界。
词汇笔记
vancouver[v?nku:v?]n.温哥华市（温哥华）
When do we arrive in Vancouver?
我们什么时候到达温哥华？
Christmas[krism?s]n.圣诞节
Do you still remember our first Christmas since our
acquaintance?
还记不记得我们相识后的第一个圣诞节？
tipsy[tipsi]adj.微醉的
I am feeling a little tipsy.
我感觉有点醉了。
perfection[p?fek??n]n.完美；完善
“Pursuing brilliance and creating perfection”is our aim.
“追求卓越，创造完美”是我们的追求目标。
小试身手
每年的圣诞节，她还是会带着重归于好的希望，回来看他，却总是失望而归。
她当面向他坦白，这么多年过去了，她唯一爱过的男人始终是他。
第一次，他尝到了害怕失去一个人的滋味。
短语家族
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：遇见（突然产生；向……要求；成为……的负担）