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The cemetery [1] in Santa Cecilia was covered in a sea of candles andf lowers. Families gathered at their loved ones’ graves to leave treats and decorate their tombs. No tomb was more decorated than the large mausoleum [2] in the center: it belonged to Ernesto de la Cruz.
Miguel arrived at Ernesto’s mausoleum and slunk [3] around the side. Dante started barking. “No, no, Dante, stop! Cállate! Shhh!”
Miguel looked around and saw baskets of food and treats left on several tombs for the dead to enjoy. He spotted a plate [4] of food on a nearby grave. He grabbed a chicken leg and chucked [5] it. Dante bounded after it.
Miguel peered through the window of Ernesto de la Cruz’s mausoleum. Inside, he saw what he had come for: Ernesto’s famous guitar, mounted [6] on the wall above the tomb.Fireworks continued to explode over the cemetery, and bursts of light glinted [7] off the instrument, as if beckoning [8] Miguel forward.His heart pounded. He knew what he had to do. Timing it with the booming f ireworks,Miguel slammed [9] his shoulder against a pane [10] of glass, and opened the window. He crept inside the mausoleum and stepped toward the famous skull guitar. Then he climbed onto the stone tomb to reach it. Now he was face to face with the very instrument that Ernesto de la Cruz had strummed.
“Señor De la Cruz? Please don’t be mad.I’m Miguel, your great-great-grandson,” Miguel said, glancing up at a painting of Ernesto that hung above the guitar. “I need to borrow this.”Miguel lifted the instrument from its mount.
Unbeknownst [11] to him, some marigold petals in the mausoleum began to sparkle. “Our family thinks music is a curse. They don’t understand, but I know you would’ve told me to follow my heart. To seize the moment!”
Miguel climbed back down with the guitar clutched protectively under his arm. “So if it’s all right with you, I’m gonna play in the plaza,just like you did.”
Holding Ernesto’s guitar f illed Miguel with confidence. He strummed it. With each strum,the air around him vibrated [12] . As he played,all the petals inside the crypt [13] began to glow.Miguel noticed the shimmering petals and froze. What was happening?
Suddenly, a f lashlight [14] appeared in the window of the mausoleum. Miguel heard voices outside raising an alarm.
“The guitar! It’s gone! Somebody stole Ernesto de la Cruz’s guitar!” said one man.
“Look! The window’s broken.”
Miguel froze as keys jingled [15] and the mausoleum door was opened. A groundskeeper [16] entered with a f lashlight.
Miguel dropped the guitar. “I’m—I’m sorry!” he stammered. “It’s not what it looks like! Ernesto is my—”
The groundskeeper ignored him. Miguel watched as the man approached—then walked straight through him as if he weren’t there!Miguel stood there, shocked. How was that man able to pass through him like he was a ghost?
The groundskeeper picked up Ernesto’s guitar. “There’s nobody here!” he yelled to the others.
Miguel was scared and confused. He examined his hands, touched his face. Everything was there. Why couldn’t the man see him?
[1] cemetery n. 墓地
[2] mausoleum n. 陵墓；巨大的墓穴
[3] slink v. 鬼鬼祟祟地走
[4] plate n. 盘，碟
[5] chuck v. （口语）抛出，扔出
[6] mount v. 安放
[7] glint v. 闪光
[8] beckon v. 召唤
[9] slam v. 猛烈撞击
[10] pane n. 窗玻璃
[11] unbeknownst adj. （方言用法）未知的，不得而知的
[12] vibrate v. 振动；颤动
[13] crypt n. （用作墓穴的）地下室
[14] flashlight n. 手电筒；闪光灯
[15] jingle v. 发出金属撞击的叮当声
[16] groundskeeper n. 公墓管理员
