The Letter I Never Sent

Last spring, I was packing up my old bedroom at my parents' house.

去年春天，我在爸妈家收拾我以前的卧室。

At the bottom of a box, I found an envelope in my handwriting.

在一个箱子底下，我发现了一个写着我字迹的信封。

Wait... it was addressed to Hannah, my best friend from school!

等等……收信人竟然是Hannah，我上学时最好的朋友！

And it was never sent... not even stamped.

而且它从来没寄出去……连邮票都没贴。

When we were nineteen, Hannah and I had a huge fight.

我们十九岁那年，我和Hannah大吵了一架。

She moved to Scotland for university, and I felt left behind.

她去苏格兰上大学了，我觉得自己被抛下了。

Honestly, I said some really horrible things to her.

说实话，我对她说了很多很过分的话。

She called me again and again, but I never picked up.

她一次又一次给我打电话，可我从来没接。

So, I wrote this letter to say sorry,

所以，我写了这封信想道歉，

but I was too proud to post it.

但我太要面子，一直没寄出去。

I sat on the floor and read it for the first time in eleven years.

我坐在地板上，十一年来第一次读了它。

Oh, it was so silly, so dramatic, so nineteen!

哎呀，写得好幼稚、好夸张，完全是十九岁的样子！

But at the end, I'd written... you're the sister I never had.

可是在信的最后，我写着……你就是我从没有过的姐妹。

And I started crying, right there between the boxes.

然后我就在那堆箱子中间哭了起来。

Well... I didn't even know if she still lived in Edinburgh.

不过……我连她是不是还住在Edinburgh都不知道。

So, I asked her mum, who still lives on our street.

于是我去问了她妈妈，她还住在我们那条街上。

I bought a stamp, wrote a short note, and posted the old letter.

我买了邮票，写了张小字条，把那封旧信寄了出去。

Then I waited. One week... two weeks... nothing.

然后我等啊等。一个星期……两个星期……什么都没有。

What if she was still angry? What if she'd forgotten me?

万一她还在生气呢？万一她已经把我忘了呢？

Then one morning, guess what was on my doormat?

然后有一天早上，你猜我家门口的地垫上有什么？

A letter from Hannah! I opened it with shaking hands.

是Hannah寄来的信！我双手发抖地拆开了它。

Inside was a photo of us at sixteen, laughing on a beach.

里面是我们十六岁时在海滩上大笑的照片。

And she'd written, I kept this. I knew you'd write one day.

她写道：这张我一直留着。我就知道你总有一天会写信来。

Wow, I laughed and cried at the same time!

哇，我又哭又笑！

We talked on the phone for three hours that night.

那天晚上，我们打了三个小时的电话。

And next month, I'm flying to Scotland to see her!

下个月，我就要飞去苏格兰见她了！

So, if there's a letter you never sent... maybe it's not too late.

所以，如果你也有一封从未寄出的信……也许还不算太晚。

Write it, post it, and see what happens.

写下来，寄出去，看看会发生什么。