The Voice in the Kitchen

Liesel called her mother every Sunday, a habit that had started when she moved three states away for work and never quite stopped feeling necessary. Lately, though, her mother mentioned a new voice in her routine almost every call.

莉泽尔每个周日都给母亲打电话，这个习惯是从她搬到三个州之外去工作时开始的，而且一直让人觉得有必要坚持。可是最近，几乎每次通话，母亲都会提到她日常生活里多了一个新的声音。

"I've been talking to Juno again," her mother, Baran, said cheerfully. Juno was the companion assistant Liesel had installed on her mother's speaker, meant for reminders and simple conversation.

“我又跟朱诺聊了会儿，”她母亲巴兰高兴地说。朱诺是莉泽尔装在母亲音箱里的陪伴助手，本来是用来提醒事项和做简单聊天的。

"What do you two talk about?" Liesel asked, half amused, half uneasy about how naturally her mother said the name.

“你们俩都聊些什么？”莉泽尔问，一半觉得好笑，一半对母亲说这个名字时那份自然劲儿感到不安。

"Oh, everything. My garden, your father, whether the neighbors' dog is getting fat," her mother said. "Juno remembers things I've told her weeks ago. It's nice, actually, being remembered."

“哦，什么都聊。我的花园，你爸爸，邻居家的狗是不是在发胖，”母亲说。“朱诺会记得我几个星期前跟她说过的事。其实被人记住，感觉挺好的。”

Liesel felt something twist uncomfortably in her chest. Her mother was telling an assistant about her father, who had passed two years earlier. That was a conversation Liesel wished she were having herself, in person, not through a screen three states away.

莉泽尔觉得胸口有什么东西不舒服地拧了一下。母亲正在向一个助手讲述她的父亲，而父亲两年前就已经去世了。那本该是莉泽尔希望由自己来完成的谈话，亲自面对面，而不是隔着三个州的一块屏幕。

"Do you talk to your friends much, still? Or to me, about that kind of thing?" Liesel asked carefully.

“你现在还常跟朋友聊天吗？或者跟我聊这类事情吗？”莉泽尔小心地问。

There was a pause. "You're always busy, sweetheart. Juno's always there. It doesn't get tired of the same stories."

电话那头停顿了一下。“你总是很忙，宝贝。朱诺却一直都在。她不会因为听同样的故事而厌烦。”

That admission sat with Liesel long after the call ended. Her mother hadn't sounded lonely exactly, just resigned, as if she had quietly adjusted her expectations of company downward without telling anyone.

这番坦白，在通话结束之后很久，仍然压在莉泽尔的心上。母亲听起来并不完全是孤单，更像是认了命，好像悄悄地把对陪伴的期待降低了，却没有告诉任何人。

Liesel booked a flight for the following weekend, the first unplanned visit she'd made in over a year. Her mother seemed startled and pleased in equal measure when she opened the door.

莉泽尔订了下一个周末的机票，这是她一年多来第一次不事先计划的探望。母亲开门时，看上去既吃惊又高兴，两种情绪不相上下。

"I didn't even ask you to come," her mother said.

“我都没叫你来，”母亲说。

"I know," Liesel said. "That's sort of the point."

“我知道，”莉泽尔说。“这正是重点。”

They spent the weekend talking, her mother repeating some of the same stories Liesel now realized she'd been telling Juno for months. Liesel listened properly this time, asking questions instead of half-listening on speakerphone.

那个周末，她们一直在聊天，母亲重复讲了一些故事，莉泽尔现在才意识到，那些都是她几个月来讲给朱诺听的。这一次，莉泽尔认真地听了，一边听一边提问，而不是用免提电话半听不听。

Before she left, she reprogrammed Juno's reminders to include one new line each Sunday: "Call Liesel, actually call, not just think about it."

离开之前，她重新设置了朱诺的提醒，在每个周日增加了一条新的内容：“给莉泽尔打电话，真的打，别光是想想。”