Every afternoon at four, the shadows in Mira’s courtyard disappeared. The oak tree cast none, the bicycle cast none, and even Mira’s own feet looked strangely bright. At first she thought she was blinking too much. Then her cat, Pepper, walked through the yard and left no dark shape behind. The disappearance lasted exactly one hour.
每天下午四点，米拉家院子里的影子都会消失。橡树没有影子，自行车没有影子，连米拉自己的双脚也亮得不寻常。起初她以为自己眨眼睛太频繁了。后来，她的猫佩珀穿过院子，身后却没有留下一点暗影。影子消失的时间正好持续一个小时。
Mira told her friend Ben. He shrugged and said shadows probably needed a rest. But when four o’clock came, Ben’s shadow vanished too. The two children stared at the empty ground. “Where do they go?” Mira whispered. Ben pointed toward the hill beyond the courtyard, where the old theater stood. For a moment, they saw a thin dark line slip through its door.
米拉把这件事告诉了朋友本。他耸耸肩，说影子大概也需要休息。可四点一到，本的影子也消失了。两个孩子盯着空荡荡的地面。“它们去哪儿了？”米拉小声问。本指向院子外的小山，那里有一座旧剧院。有那么一瞬间，他们看见一条细细的黑影从剧院门缝里溜了进去。
The next afternoon, Mira and Ben waited beside the theater. At four, their shadows stretched away from their heels and slid under the locked door. Ben found a gap in the boards, and they squeezed inside. The theater was dusty and silent, but the stage glowed with a soft gray light. Dozens of shadows danced there, moving without any people to make them.
第二天下午，米拉和本在剧院旁等候。四点一到，他们的影子便从脚跟下伸展开来，滑进紧锁的门底。本在木板上找到一道缝隙，两人挤了进去。剧院里满是灰尘，静悄悄的，舞台却泛着柔和的灰光。几十个影子在那里跳舞，没有主人牵引，却自己动着。
Onstage, an old projector clicked. A shadow shaped like Mira’s grandmother bowed to an empty audience. Another shadow, small and round, chased a paper boat. Mira recognized her own shadow among them, practicing a dance she had never learned. Then a voice whispered from the booth: “They come here to remember the movements the daylight forgets.” The children turned, but the booth was empty.
舞台上，一台旧放映机咔嗒作响。一个像米拉奶奶的影子朝空座位鞠躬。另一个圆滚滚的小影子追着一只纸船。米拉在影子中间认出了自己的影子，它正在练习一支她从未学过的舞。这时，放映室里传来低语：“它们来这里，是为了记住日光遗忘的动作。”孩子们转过身，放映室里却空无一人。
At five o’clock, the shadows flowed back through the door and returned to their owners. Mira’s shadow lay at her feet again, a little dusty but familiar. She did not tell anyone outside the courtyard. Instead, she began visiting the theater each week to watch the hidden performances. Ben brought chalk, and they drew a sign on the door: “Quiet please. Shadows rehearsing.”
五点整，影子们从门里流出来，回到各自的主人身边。米拉的影子又躺在她脚边，有点灰尘，却十分熟悉。她没有把这件事告诉院子以外的人。相反，她开始每周去剧院，观看那些隐秘的演出。本带来粉笔，他们在门上写了一块牌子：“请安静，影子正在排练。”
One rainy afternoon, Mira noticed that her shadow was missing even before four. She found it in the theater, standing beside her grandmother’s shadow. They were holding hands. Mira understood that some shadows needed extra time together. She sat in the front row until the clock struck five, then walked home under her umbrella. Her shadow followed, humming a tune Mira had never heard.
一个下雨的午后，米拉发现自己的影子还没到四点就不见了。她在剧院里找到了它，它正站在奶奶的影子旁边。两个影子牵着手。米拉明白了，有些影子需要多一点时间相聚。她坐在前排，一直到钟敲五点，才打着伞走回家。她的影子跟在后面，哼着一支米拉从未听过的曲子。