BBC專為青少年舉辦的500字故事大賽邀請抖森為獲獎的小朋友頒獎。頒獎典禮上，抖森現(xiàn)場朗讀了銀獎作品——一位十歲小女孩寫的《時光之沙》。這是一個溫情而戳心的小故事，講述了一個患老年癡呆癥的老人的記憶。

"Kathryn, Kathryn?" repeated the call, interrupting my thoughts.

I can feel the warm rays①ray 英 [re?] 美 [re] n. 射線；光線of searing sun beating down on me. There is not one single fluffy cloud in the tranquil②tranquil 英 ['tr??kw?l] 美 [?tr??kw?l]adj. 安靜的，平靜的；安寧的；穩(wěn)定的, cornfl ower sky. Below, the sea is a picture of perfect calm; little waves washing onto unspoiled, golden sands. The smell of sharp, salty sea stings my nostrils③nostril英 ['n?str(?)l] 美 ['nɑstr?l] n. 鼻孔and everything seems wonderful with my lovely family here.

A delightful picnic is packed carefully in the boot of our trusty, red car. All the same, I can't help feeling something's not quite right. Everything seems sort of hazy.

Never mind, I'm not going to dwell on it, especially now Dad's unpacking our glorious lunch. We're allowed to tuck in, so I sprint over and begin eating before my two greedy elder brothers devour it all!

Yet still there's that nagging feeling at the back of my mind, but I’m choosing to ignore it and go for a relaxing swim.

It's so peaceful out here. I close my eyes and lieback comfortably on my lilo listening to the screech of gulls overhead. I can see my family enjoying themselves on the beach. I don't know why I was so worried. Everything's fine,just fi ne. My eyes grow heavy as I'm overcome with tiredness.My eyelids start to droop...

After what seems only a few minutes, I awake and stare in horror at the blurred horizon④horizon 英 [h?'ra?z(?)n] 美 [h?'ra?zn]n. 地平線；視野；眼界；范圍. A mist seems to have descended,swiftly enveloping me. I peer frantically for my beloved family;waving, screaming at the top of my voice but it's futile⑤futile 英 ['fju?ta?l] 美 ['fj?ta?l] adj. 無用的；無效的.

They can't hear me. They can't see me. It's too late. The mist has now engulfed them. Salty tears begin streaming down my face. Uncontrollably.

...

"Kathryn, dear. It's your granddaughter!" announced the care worker cheerily, gently shaking granny's arm.

She just sits there. Indifferent. Her frail, wrinkled hands tremble, oblivious to the world around her. She looks at me blankly as though she doesn't know me. Maybe she doesn't anymore.

It's hard to remember my dear granny without dementia.It’s only been a few years since it all began; yet it seems like forever.

Sometimes I ask mum what she was like before but it's not the same as really knowing her. Despite this I love her just the same. She squeezes me tightly as though she'll never let go,perhaps an indication⑥indication 英 [?nd?'ke??(?)n] 美 [,?nd?'ke??n]n. 指示，指出；跡象；象征as to how loving she once was.

Experts say it's important to engage and stimulate⑦stimulate 英 ['st?mj?le?t] 美 ['st?mj?'let]vt. 刺激；鼓舞，激勵people with dementia, by looking through photos or even just having conversations. Suddenly I remember the cardboard box of old photos I used to enjoy looking at when I was little.

With renewed interest, I rush to get them from under her bed and blow off the thick covering of dust. That's when I see it – a picture of my granny in her youth, surrounded by her family, standing grinning happily up at the camera on a beautiful beach.

A flicker of recollection momentarily⑧momentarily 英 ['m??m(?)nt(?)r?l?; ,m??m(?)n'ter?l?] 美 [,mom?n't?r?li] adv. 隨時地；暫時地；立刻passes across her face...

“凱瑟琳，凱瑟琳？”一直呼喚著她的名字，打斷了我的思路。

烈日炎炎，我感受到灼熱的陽光灑在身上。如矢車菊一般湛藍、靜謐的天空中不見一朵輕柔松軟的云。往下看，海面平靜得像一幅完美的畫卷；細碎的海浪輕輕拍打天然的金色沙灘。海風帶著一絲咸咸的味道，在我的鼻翼回旋。我可愛的家人都在這里，一切似乎顯得那么美好。

紅色家庭車的后備廂里，是一頓精心烹制的美味野餐。即便如此，我卻感到一絲不安，似乎有點什么不妥。眼前的一切，依稀開始變得朦朧。

好啦，別總想著這事兒了，尤其是此刻，爸爸取出了我們豐盛的午餐，好讓我們大快朵頤。我立刻沖了過去，開始用餐，可別被我兩位饞嘴的哥哥，狼吞虎咽地吃完啦！

然而，在我內(nèi)心深處，依然有一絲隱隱不安的感覺。但我選擇了忽略它，讓自己游泳放松一下。

這里真的好安靜！我合上了雙眼，舒舒服服地躺在氣墊上，聽著海鷗在頭頂盤旋，發(fā)出嘹亮的鳴叫。我一抬眼就能看到，家人在海灘上玩得很開心?？晌覅s不知為何，心里始終憂慮重重，明明一切都很好啊。真的很好。困倦疲憊之時，我的雙眼發(fā)昏沉沉欲睡，眼皮也開始打架……

過了幾分鐘，我突然醒來，驚恐地望著眼前一片模糊的地平線，仿佛降下了一團濃霧，迅速包圍了我。我像發(fā)瘋似的，四處尋找我親愛的家人，不停揮舞手臂，扯著嗓子發(fā)出聲嘶力竭的喊叫，然而，全是徒勞。

他們聽不見我，也看不到我。一切都太遲了。大霧已經(jīng)吞沒了他們。咸咸的淚水從我的臉頰滾落，無法自控。

……

“凱瑟琳，親愛的。這位是你的孫女！”護工輕輕搖晃著奶奶的胳膊，高興地向她介紹著。

她只是坐在那里，沒有表情。雙手布滿皺紋，止不住地顫抖，仿佛對周圍的世界一無所知。她一臉茫然地望著我，好像完全不認識我似的。也許，她真的再也認不出我了吧。

奶奶以前沒有患上老年癡呆癥的狀態(tài)，我已經(jīng)記不大清了。這只不過才開始幾年而已啊?？晌覅s感覺，已是一輩子那么久了。

有時我也會問媽媽，奶奶以前是什么樣子的。但是，這種就不是真正地了解她啊。即便如此，我還是一樣那么愛她，她緊緊抓住我，仿佛一輩子都不會放手?；蛟S，這就是她曾經(jīng)愛過我們的表現(xiàn)吧。

專家說，可以回看一些舊照片，甚至只是進行日常對話都對老年癡呆患者很重要。這會讓他們參與過去，甚至喚起記憶。我突然想起來，家里有個裝滿了老照片的紙盒，我小時候可喜歡看了。

帶著重新燃起的興趣，我趕緊從奶奶床底下翻出了紙盒，吹走一層厚厚的灰塵。那一刻，我終于看到了它——一張奶奶年輕時的照片，她的家人陪伴在旁，站在一片美麗的海灘上，面朝著相機，開心地笑著。

就在那一瞬間，她的臉上閃過一絲關(guān)于往事的回憶……