阅读理解

　　Grandpa and me sat side by side, watching the sun go down behind the old Texaco service station across the busy street．A street that I had never been allowed to cross unless accompanied by an adult(除非有大人的陪同), or at the very least, an older brother or sister．On that day everything changed．

　　“Thirsty?” Grandpa asked, never removing the pipe(烟斗)from his mouth．

　　“Yes,” was my reply．

　　“How would you like to run over to the gas station there and get me a bottle of coke?”

　　I couldn’t believe my ears．Had I heard it right? Was he talking to me? Still, Grandpa was thirsty…

　　“OK,” I replied shyly, already wondering how I would get across the street．Surely Grandpa was going to come with me．He said I was to go alone．I’d never done that before and it scared me a little．But I was a brave little girl．

　　He gave me a dime(一角硬币), stood up and looked both ways along the street．When he was sure the road was clear he told me to cross．I thought I’d never make it, but I did．Now I was on the other side, but next came the garage．I went inside and looked around me．Hmm, not so strange．I’d been in a garage before, with my father．I located the coke machine and put in my dime．Clunk(当的一声)! Out the bottle came．Coke in hand, I proudly marched back out into the early evening dusk(黄昏)．Grandpa was waiting patiently．He smiled．

　　I made it back to the other side and Grandpa shared the coke with me．It was the coldest, most refreshing(使人精神振奋的)drink I ever tasted．I was very happy．But I was happy about more than the delicious coke．I had begun to grow up a little－thanks to Grandpa, and a little to myself．