"I have to be home earlier than all my friends," my teenage son, Jordan, said. "I' m seventeen years old, and I still have a curfew(宵禁). Legally, I'm practically an adult."
"You're not an adult," I said. "You're still in high school." "None of my friends had a curfew. You don't trust me." "It's not about trust," I said. "It's about wanting what's best for you. I want to protect you." "Protect me from what? Having fun?"
I sighed. How could I make Jordan see that I only wanted the best for him? I decided to go for a walk. I opened the front door and nearly stepped on him: a small black cat with a white-tipped tail. "Hi, Meatball," I said, scooping him into my arms. "Are you ready to come back inside?"
Meatball usually seemed happy enough to come in the house, but after an hour or two, he sat by the door, meowing to go back outside. "Why won't he just stay in with us all the time?" Nathan asked. "Because he's used to living outside," I said.
Jordan's curfew had become an ongoing discussion that rarely ended well for either of us. I decided to ignore his comment. Thankfully, he didn't say anything else.
One night in January, temperatures were usually low. Meatball stood at the door, meowing to go outside. "It' s too cold out there, Bud," I said. "You'll freeze." He stared at me and meowed again. "Mom's not being mean to you," Nathan told the cat. "She's just trying to keep you from turning into a frozen Meatball." We both laughed at his joke.
The next morning, I couldn't find Meatball. Jordan said, "I let him out last night." It took me several minutes to find him curled in a tiny ball beneath my husband's car. I picked him up, unsure if he was alive or dead. While I called the vet, Jordan warmed towels in the dryer and wrapped them around Meatball.
"I'm sorry, Buddy," I heard him say over and over again. "Mom was right. Even though you didn't want to, I should have made you stay inside where it was safe."
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As I drove to the vet's office, Jordan sat in the back, holding Meatball inside his coat for warmth.
On the drive home, Jordan surprisingly apologized to me.
