Lina woke to a gray sky and bare trees. She missed summer, when the park was full of bright flowers. At school, her teacher gave each child a blank postcard. "We will send winter greetings to the care home," she said.
莉娜醒来时，天空灰蒙蒙的，树木光秃秃的。她想念夏天，那时公园里开满了鲜艳的花。在学校，老师发给每个孩子一张空白明信片。“我们要给养老院送去冬天的问候，”她说。
Lina looked at her empty card. What could she say about winter? She did not want to write that she hated the cold. Then she remembered the white frost on her window, shaped like tiny ferns.
莉娜看着空白的卡片。关于冬天，她能写些什么呢？她不想写自己讨厌寒冷。后来，她想起窗上的白霜，形状像一片片小小的蕨叶。
Lina chose a card with a blue border. She wrote about frost that looked like ferns and about the warm soup her father made on Sunday. At the bottom, she added, "I hope this card finds you well."
莉娜选了一张蓝色边框的卡片。她写了像蕨叶一样的霜，还写了星期天爸爸做的热汤。在最后，她加了一句：“希望您收到这张卡片时一切都好。”
Her teacher read the address and smiled. "This one is for Mr. Chen," she said. "He used to teach music." Lina wondered if Mr. Chen liked winter. She drew a small bird beside her name and hoped the card would not seem silly.
老师看了看地址，笑了。“这张是给陈先生的，”她说，“他以前教音乐。”莉娜想知道陈先生喜不喜欢冬天。她在自己的名字旁边画了一只小鸟，希望这张卡片不会显得傻气。
Two weeks later, Lina found a blue envelope in her desk. Mr. Chen wrote that her card had made him remember a frozen pond where he once skated. He said the little bird made him smile.
两周后，莉娜在书桌里发现了一个蓝色信封。陈先生写道，她的卡片让他想起一个结冰的池塘，他曾在上面滑冰。他说那只小鸟让他笑了。
Lina wrote back that night. She told him about the gray sky and the soup, and she asked about the pond. Before bed, she looked out of her window. Winter still felt cold, but now it also felt like the start of a friendship.
那天晚上，莉娜写了回信。她告诉他灰色的天空和热汤，还问起那个池塘。睡前，她望向窗外。冬天依然寒冷，但现在，它也像一段友谊的开始。