The Bag That Skidded- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Warm pine resin mixed with the faint odor of old leather inside the workshop. Thin shafts of light cut across benches covered in tool marks. Near the door, a striped kitten crouched by a low stool. It batted at curled shavings, then placed one paw on the stool rung. The small body wobbled, but the kitten kept trying to climb toward a windowsill above. Across the room, a row of narrow dowels lay stacked on a slanted length of plywood. A single dowel rolled first, nudged by its own weight, and gained slow momentum. The other rods stayed still for now. Nothing linked the two motions yet. The kitten focused on height, and the dowel followed the floor’s quiet slope.

More minutes passed, and the kitten finally reached the top rung. At the same moment, the moving dowel struck a wooden wheel that waited lower down. The wheel shot forward, bumped the stool’s leg, and stole its balance. The stool tipped; claws scratched air, and the kitten sprang sideways. Paws landed on a garbage bag stuffed with waste shavings from yesterday’s sanding. The thin plastic stretched, then slid across the dusty boards like a sled. Momentum carried the bag into the rolling dowel, which bounced back toward the kitten.

Startled again, the animal ducked under a shelf that held a carved wooden rose. The shelf shuddered but stayed upright; dust puffed out and turned the air pale. Cold afternoon air brushed across curling sawdust, and a distant chisel rang softly. Sawdust glittered in the light, yet nothing important broke or opened. The wheel now spun slower beside the stalled bag, while the kitten watched from the shadow. After a short pause, the kitten crept out and sniffed the scratched stool leg. It tried to climb again, but the stool leaned the same way as before. Fresh marks striped the wood, yet the window stayed just out of reach. The wheel drifted in a slow circle, and sawdust continued to fall from the torn seam.

木工坊裡瀰漫著松脂的溫暖氣味，夾雜些微舊皮革味道。細長的陽光束橫穿刻滿工具痕跡的工作台。大門旁，一隻帶條紋的小貓蹲在矮凳前。牠撥弄捲曲的木屑，然後把前爪搭上凳腳橫檔。小小身軀晃了晃，但小貓仍努力往上爬，想接近高處的窗臺。室內另一頭，幾支細長木桿斜放在合板上。第一支木桿因自身重量緩緩滾動，速度逐漸增加。其他木桿暫時仍靜止。此時兩股動作尚未相遇。小貓忙著往高處攀，木桿則沿著地面的微斜滑行。

過了幾分鐘，小貓終於踩上最高橫檔。就在同一刻，那根移動中的木桿撞到下方等待的木輪。木輪向前衝，撞到凳腳，把凳子平衡奪走。凳子傾斜，利爪劃破空氣，小貓向旁邊跳去。牠的腳落在一個裝滿昨日砂磨廢屑的垃圾袋上。薄薄的塑膠被拉長，然後像雪橇般在滿是鋸屑的地板上滑行。慣性把袋子推向滾動的木桿，木桿又彈回小貓那一側。

再次受驚的小貓鑽進擺著雕刻木玫瑰的層架下。層架顫抖但仍直立，粉塵四散，使空氣變得灰白。午後微涼的空氣掠過捲曲木屑，遠處鑿刀發出輕響。鋸屑在光中閃著細碎亮點，仍沒有重要物件破裂或打開。木輪在靜止的袋子旁愈轉愈慢，小貓則躲在陰影裡張望。稍作停頓後，牠探出身子嗅了嗅被刮傷的凳腳。牠再次嘗試往上攀，但凳子仍斜向原來的方向。木面多了新刮痕，而窗臺依舊遙不可及。木輪繞著小圈繼續移動，破袋的缺口裡不斷落下鋸屑。