Ants in the Paint- 適合初級的英語短篇故事

Tara dipped a thin brush into bright green paint. Soft morning light filled the small yard. She wanted to draw an elephant for the garden event. Her buddy Rafe held the paper still on the low bench. A plastic cup of rinse water stood near his knee. Wind pushed the cup and a drop slid over the rim. The drop landed on an ant trail beside the bench. Ants scattered, crawled onto the paper, and left tiny wet dots. The dots spread into the green paint and turned it pale. Tara gasped and lifted her hand quickly. Paint flicked from the brush onto a stack of seeds. The seeds rolled off the bench and across short grass.

A small bird hurried over and pecked at the rolling seeds. Its wings brushed the cup again and more water splashed out. Water flowed downhill toward a shallow hole near young roots. Mud formed quickly and began to pull the paper edge. Rafe moved in a mindful way and slid a tray under. The tray blocked the mud and caught the moving paper. Paint, water, and mud stopped spreading beyond the metal rim. Tara laughed when the paper still showed a gentle elephant shape. The bird kept hopping around, now chasing a blue paint crumb. An older artist walked by and nodded at the lively scene. An ant carried a colored seed across the tray's shiny corner.

塔拉把一支細筆沾進亮綠色的顏料。清晨柔和的光線充滿了小院子。她想為園遊活動畫一隻大象。她的好友拉夫扶著紙，讓它平放在矮凳上。一杯用來洗筆的塑膠水杯靠在他膝邊。風推動水杯，一滴水滑過杯口。那滴水落在長凳旁的螞蟻小徑上。螞蟻四散，爬到紙上，留下許多小小水點。水點擴散進綠色顏料裡，顏色變淡。塔拉倒抽一口氣，迅速抬高手。筆上的顏料彈到一堆種子上。種子滾下凳子，穿過短短的草地。

一隻小鳥急忙跑來啄那些滾動的種子。牠的翅膀再度碰到水杯，更多水濺出。水沿坡流向年幼樹根旁的淺坑。泥土很快形成，開始拉動紙張邊緣。拉夫動作專注，小心把托盤塞到下面。托盤擋住泥漿，接住正在移動的紙張。顏料、水和泥停止越過金屬邊。紙上仍然留著柔和的大象形狀，塔拉大笑。小鳥繼續跳動，現在追逐一塊藍色顏料渣。路過的年長畫家看到熱鬧情景，點點頭。一隻螞蟻叼著有色種子，穿過托盤閃亮的角落。