Words and expressions
1.
Their father looked suddenly at the ceiling, as if Nath had pointed out a bug and he wanted to find it before it ran away.? Lydia's eyes went hot, as if she were staring into the oven. Nath, remorseful, prodded his sandwich with his knuckle, squeezing peanut butter onto the tablecloth, but their father didn't notice.
Nath問到爸爸，媽媽回來的日期indefinitely是什么意思，爸爸眼睛一下子看向了天花板，好像Nath指了一個蟲子，他想在它逃走之前找到它一樣。Lydia的眼睛則變得滾燙，像盯著一個通紅的爐子一樣。
我們都知道，眼睛使勁向上看是為了不讓眼淚掉下來。而眼淚噴涌而出的一瞬間，眼眶發熱。看到爸爸和妹妹的反應，Nath意識到自己這個問題多不恰當，他自責地（remorseful）將悔恨轉移到三明治身上去，用手指關節去戳三明治。（prod his sandwich）
仿句：On seeing the photo slouched against the wall, her eyes went hot. Before her child, she needed to pretend being strong so she looked hard at the ceiling to prevent tears from dribbling down.
2.
Their mother's absence gnawed at them quietly, a dull and spreading hurt.
gnaw: to keep biting something hard
gnaw at somebody: to make someone feel worried or frightened, over a period of time
母親的離去慢慢地折磨著他們，沉緩又不斷持續的傷痛。gnaw在這里表達出了持續，不斷的意味，讓他們的痛苦變得更加漫長。還有要注意的是單詞的發音，g不發音，音標是/n?? /
仿句：Guilt gnawing his conscience, he can't even look into hers eyes.
3.
Nath stayed put.
stay put在這里是個口語化的表達：to remain in one place and not move
Thoughts
Marilyn的離去對Nath和Lydia帶來了什么影響呢？
Mothers who disappeared, fathers who didn't love you, kids who mocked you--everything would shrink to pinpoints and vanish. Up there: nothing but stars.
Nath對宇航員對太空開始了瘋狂的癡迷，火箭發射，太空艙，重力，這些需要眼神投向外太空，心思不再困于地球上的事物給了他極度的安慰，填補了他心里母親的空缺。
他似乎過早就明白，母親的離去，父親的消沉，他無能為力，他需要將心思放到其他事情上去，他需要在自己日日安靜的家里創造一個自己的世界。
而Lydia呢？五歲的時候正是最需要父母陪伴的時候。
What mother doesn't love to cook with her little girl?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
And what little girl doesn't love learning with Mom?
她將母親的離去歸咎于自己，是自己表現不好媽媽才會離開。她暗暗下了決心要想盡辦法讓媽媽開心，媽媽叫她做什么她就做什么，她再也承受不起媽媽的再一次離去了。
而Marilyn回來原因的謎題也解開了。很簡單，她懷孕了。她不能再繼續讀書了，未來讀完醫學院穿上白大褂的那個女醫生不會再是她了。回到家，看到丟掉cookbook誤以為有和她一樣抱負的Lydia，Marilyn也同樣暗下了一個決心，她要想盡辦法培養Lydia，發展她一切才能，像培養一朵冠軍玫瑰。看到這里，更能理解前文中Marilyn在慢慢揭開女兒真實模樣的巨大落差和知道真相的震驚了。
