每天读一篇英语小故事：Get out of "Jail" (1)

英语自学网

　　Oh, the joy! The absolute joy! Archie couldn’t remember a recent moment
when he had felt so happy. If he could sing, he would have sung. If he could
dance, he would have danced. If he could have shouted to the world, he would
have shouted to the world, “I’m free, I’m free!”
        　　He had been in “jail” for the last week. A mental jail, to be sure, but it
still felt like jail. About six weeks ago, he had received his almost annual
jury summons. Printed on the outside of the white envelope, in bright red
letters, was: OFFICIAL JURY SUMMONS ENCLOSED—Registration Required within 5
days. A friend of his had been throwing away such summonses for at least 20
years. Archie couldn’t do that—he felt that his luck was so bad that if he tried
it, his summons would be the one with the concealed microchip that recorded him
throwing the envelope in the trash. Then he really would be in jail. So, he
dutifully filled out the form and waited until his starting date—November 5, a
Monday. For that week, he would be “on call” for “no more than five days.”
        　　As instructed, he dialed the 800-SRV-JURY number on the Saturday preceding
November 5. He tapped in his PIN and jury group number. He listened, and sighed
with relief; the recording had told him to call again Monday after 5 p.m. So,
one day out of five was gone!