【小故事】快乐的课间小故事：课间十分钟的接力棒

第三棒掉棒之后

接力棒掉在地上的那一声，比上课铃还响。

那天的课间十分钟，体育委员阿哲在黑板上写下四个名字：小杰、周远、我、陈默。我们班临时凑出一支接力队，去跟隔壁班比一场。周远把书包带往肩上提了提，说自己不跑，最后一棒交给别人。阿哲一把把他拽回来：接力本来就是四个人的事，谁跑都一样。周远嘟囔了一句，还是站到了跑道上。

等待的时候，我的心跳得厉害。阿哲把一根塑料接力棒塞进我手里，说第三棒最要紧，前面乱了后面还能追。我攥着那根棒，手心全是汗。陈默站在最后面压腿，一句话没说，他只是把鞋带重新系了一遍。

哨声一响，第一棒小杰冲了出去。第二棒交接的时候出事了——小杰递得太早，周远伸手太晚，两个人都扑了个空。周远回头捡起棒再跑，我们已经落到第三。轮到我了。周远冲过来，喊了一声接，我伸手去抓，棒头擦着指尖滑过去，当啷一声掉在地上。我愣了半秒，弯腰捡起来再往前冲，前面两个人已经快跑完直道。

耳边全是喊声，有的喊加油，有的喊我们班的名字，还有别的班同学笑了一声。我不敢回头，只盯着前面周远弯着喘气的背。前面的人一个接一个把棒递出去，我们一班一班被落下。我把棒递向陈默的时候，手抖得厉害。陈默没喊，只把手往后一伸，掌心朝下，稳稳把棒抓走了。

陈默跑起来像换了个人。他超过了一个，又超过一个，最后五米，全班都从栏杆上站起来喊他的名字。他冲过终点的时候，我们班爆出一声最大的喊。我们只拿了第三。可周远拍着我的肩膀说没事，阿哲说掉棒也不算输，陈默把接力棒在手里转了一圈，说问题不在掉棒，在递棒的手——下次用不惯的手接，用跑顺的手递。

下课铃响了，谁都没走。接力棒被放在讲台上，四个人约好，明天课间还练交接。那根塑料棒上留下了四个人的手印，我觉得，那比奖状还好看。

After the Baton Fell on the Third Leg

The sound of the baton hitting the ground was louder than the class bell.

That day during the ten-minute break, PE monitor A-Zhe wrote four names on the blackboard: Xiao Jie, Zhou Yuan, me, and Chen Mo. Our class threw together a relay team to race the class next door. Zhou Yuan hitched up his schoolbag strap and said he would not run, that someone else should take the last leg. A-Zhe pulled him back: a relay belongs to four people, and it makes no difference who runs. Zhou Yuan grumbled something but still walked onto the track.

My heart pounded while we waited. A-Zhe pressed a plastic baton into my hand and said the third leg matters most, because if the front goes wrong the back can still catch up. I gripped the baton, my palm wet with sweat. Chen Mo stood at the far end stretching his legs, saying nothing. He only retied his shoelaces once.

At the whistle, Xiao Jie shot out on the first leg. The handoff to the second leg went wrong. Xiao Jie reached out too early, Zhou Yuan too late, and both of them grabbed at empty air. Zhou Yuan turned back, picked up the baton, and ran again, and by then we had fallen to third. It was my turn. Zhou Yuan came charging at me, shouting catch, and I reached out, but the baton slid past my fingertips and clattered to the ground. I froze for half a second, bent down, picked it up, and took off again. The two runners ahead were nearly done with the straight.

The air was full of shouting. Some cheered, some called out our class name, and a few students from another class laughed. I did not dare look back. I only stared at the bent, gasping back of Zhou Yuan ahead. One team after one team passed the baton, and one class after one class fell behind. When I reached out to hand the baton to Chen Mo, my hand shook badly. Chen Mo did not shout. He simply put his hand back, palm down, and took the baton firmly.

Chen Mo ran like a different person. He passed one runner, then another. In the last five meters, our whole class jumped up from the railing and shouted his name. When he crossed the line, our class let out the loudest cheer. We only came third. But Zhou Yuan patted my shoulder and said it was fine, and A-Zhe said dropping the baton does not count as losing. Chen Mo spun the baton in his hand and said the problem was not the drop but the handing hand. Next time, catch with the hand you are less used to and pass with the hand you run smooth with.

The class bell rang, and nobody left. The baton was placed on the teacher desk, and the four of us agreed to practice the handoffs again at tomorrow break. Four handprints stayed on that plastic baton, and to me they looked better than a certificate.

最后一棒的我，等了一整个课间

我不爱说话，所以没人记得我会跑步。体育委员阿哲在黑板上写接力名单的时候，只写了三个名字，第四个空着。他回头扫了一圈教室，目光落在我身上：你来跑最后一棒。我张了张嘴，没说出拒绝的话，全班已经替我答应了。

课间十分钟，跑道边挤满了人。我们四个站在起点，前面三个都在跳、在喊、在互相拍背，只有我站着不动。第一棒小杰低声念着别抢跑，第二棒周远把鞋带咬在嘴里重新系。阿哲把接力棒举起来给大家看，塑料棒身上还贴着上一届比赛留下的旧胶带。他说，棒在谁手里，谁就是全班。

哨响了。我站在终点线后十米的交接区，眼睛盯着跑道尽头。第一圈，小杰冲得很猛，喊得最响的那一波是我们班的。第二圈出事了——我看不见交接，只听见我们班那一片喊声突然矮下去，像一锅水开了又被掀了盖。后来我才知道，第二棒接空了，棒掉在地上，第三棒捡起来再跑，我们已经落到第四。

我等的那十米，从来没有那么长。周远的身影拐过弯，越来越清楚，他喘得厉害，胳膊几乎抬不起来，手里那根棒晃来晃去。他冲到我面前，用尽全身力气把棒往我手里一按，说了一句：去。那个字比喊加油还重。

我接住棒的时候，手心是别人掌心的温度。前面两个人背对着我，离得不远。我没想名次，只想着把前面三个人跑丢的时间，一段一段追回来。我超过第一个的时候，我们班的喊声重新炸开；超过第二个的时候，我听见阿哲的声音盖过所有人。最后五米，终点线像一条发光的线，我扑过去，胸口先撞断了它。

第二名。我们四个在终点挤成一团，谁都没说话，周远还在大口喘气。小杰跑过来，先跟周远碰了下拳头，又拍了拍我。阿哲举着接力棒宣布：明天课间，练交接。我点点头，还是没怎么说话。但回教室的路上，我走得很慢，想让这十分钟长一点，再长一点。

I Ran the Last Leg and Waited the Whole Break

I do not talk much, so nobody remembered that I can run. When PE monitor A-Zhe wrote the relay roster on the blackboard, he wrote only three names and left the fourth blank. He turned and swept his eyes across the classroom, and they landed on me: you take the last leg. I opened my mouth, no refusal came out, and the whole class had already answered for me.

During the ten-minute break, the track edge was packed with people. The four of us stood at the start. The first three were jumping, shouting, slapping each other on the back. Only I stood still. First-leg Xiao Jie kept muttering do not jump the start. Second-leg Zhou Yuan held his shoelace in his teeth and retied it. A-Zhe raised the baton for everyone to see. On the plastic baton there was still old tape left from last year meet. He said: whoever holds the baton holds the whole class.

The whistle blew. I stood in the exchange zone ten meters behind the finish line, eyes fixed on the far end of the track. On the first turn, Xiao Jie charged hard, and the loudest wave of shouting was ours. On the second turn, trouble came. I could not see the handoff. I only heard the shouting from our side suddenly sink, like a pot of water boiling and then having its lid knocked off. Later I learned the second handoff missed, the baton fell, the third runner picked it up and ran on, and we had dropped to fourth.

Those ten meters I waited in had never been so long. The figure of Zhou Yuan came around the bend, clearer and clearer. He was gasping badly, his arms barely able to rise, the baton in his hand wobbling. He charged up to me, pressed the baton into my palm with all his strength, and said one word: go. That word weighed more than any cheer.

When I caught the baton, my palm held the warmth of someone else palm. Two runners were ahead of me, not far. I did not think about placing. I only thought about winning back, stretch by stretch, the time the three before me had lost. When I passed the first one, the shouting of our class burst open again. When I passed the second, I heard the voice of A-Zhe rising above everyone. In the last five meters, the finish line looked like a glowing thread. I threw myself at it, and my chest broke it first.

Second place. The four of us huddled at the finish, nobody speaking, Zhou Yuan still breathing hard. Xiao Jie ran over, bumped fists with Zhou Yuan first, then patted me. A-Zhe raised the baton and announced: tomorrow at break, we practice handoffs. I nodded, still not saying much. But on the way back to the classroom, I walked very slowly, wanting those ten minutes to be longer, a little longer.