The Sparrow's Sudden Drop- 適合初級的英語短篇故事

Evening light spread across the quiet beach. Mia carried a small sketch pad and a short pencil. She wanted to draw a newborn turtle reaching the ocean tonight. She sat near a smooth rock and waited. Mia wondered if the turtle could see the open sky. Soon a dark shell moved under the fine sand. The tiny turtle crawled forward, leaving dotted tracks. Mia opened her pad, but a sudden gust flipped every page. The white sheets flew like flat birds. One sheet landed on the sand just before the turtle.

The turtle touched the sheet and turned away from the water. Mia reached for the paper, but her metal bucket tipped. Cool water poured out and cut a thin stream across the sand. The stream blocked the turtle like a shiny fence. Mia scooped sand quickly, building a small dry bridge. The turtle climbed the bridge and moved toward the rolling waves. At that moment, a sparrow dropped from the dark sky. Its wing brushed the lost sheet, sending it high again. The fluttering sheet startled the turtle into a sudden dash. Splashing water met its shell, and the turtle vanished under foam. White foam soon covered the tiny bridge.

傍晚的光線鋪在安靜的海灘上。米亞拿著一本小素描本和一枝短鉛筆。她想在今晚畫下一隻剛出生、正前往海洋的小海龜。她坐在一塊光滑的岩石旁等候。米亞好奇這隻海龜是否也能看見寬闊的天空。沒多久，一個深色的殼在細沙下移動。這隻小海龜向前爬，留下點點足跡。米亞打開素描本，但突然的陣風翻起所有頁面。白色紙張像扁平的鳥一樣飛起。一張紙落在海龜前方的沙地上。

海龜碰到紙張，轉離海水。米亞伸手抓紙，但她的金屬水桶傾倒。涼水流出，在沙上切出一道細細的水流。水流像亮閃閃的柵欄擋住海龜。米亞迅速鏟沙，築起一座小小乾沙橋。海龜爬過橋，朝翻滾的浪花前進。就在這時，一隻麻雀從暗色天空俯衝而下。牠的翅膀擦過那張失落的紙，又把紙拋向空中。翻飛的紙驚動海龜，牠突然加速。濺起的水花包住牠的殼，海龜消失在白色泡沫下。白色泡沫很快覆蓋那座小橋。