When the Plate Jumped- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Warm steam dampened Cora's forearms as she lifted the steel pot from the stove. She placed it on a trivet, the metal rings ticking under the weight. Supper simmered inside, and a mild scent of carrot reached the open window. A soft hiss slipped from the burner while droplets traced slow paths down the pot. Beyond the glass, bare branches of the old trees stitched thin shadows across the tiled floor. Cora wiped her hands on a cotton towel that still carried faint green stains from last spring’s herbs. She reached toward the highest shelf, mindful of the slick tiles, and tried to take care while stretching for a stack of coffee filter papers kept in a small tin.

As her fingertips pinched the tin, its base twisted, brushing a leaning bag of rice beside it. The bag skidded forward, pressed the fruit tray, and the tray slid toward the edge of the counter. Three red apples toppled free; one rolled across a cutting board, gathered speed, and struck a column of porcelain plates. The top plate spun off, glided over the smooth counter, and teetered above the sink. Cora lunged; she pivoted a saucepan lid up like a shield. The spinning plate glanced off the lid, ricocheting toward the wall cabinet, where it nudged a hanging ladle. The ladle swung outward, grazing the glass jar of peppercorns. Cora braced one knee against the cupboard and angled the cutting board upright. The board caught the ladle’s arc and pinned the rolling apple under its edge, halting the chain before anything shattered. An apple kept revolving in a lazy circle near the sink. Steam from the pot drifted past the moving fruit.

溫熱的蒸氣在柯拉抬起鋼鍋時打溼了她的前臂。她把鍋子放在金屬墊上，墊圈在重量下發出細碎聲響。鍋裡的晚餐持續燉煮，淡淡的胡蘿蔔香飄向敞開的窗。爐火發出輕微的嘶嘶聲，水滴沿著鍋壁緩緩滑落。窗外，老樹光禿的枝幹把細影縫進磁磚地面。柯拉用帶著去年春天草藥淡青污漬的棉布擦手。地面濕滑，她保持警覺，小心伸手去拿放在最高處罐中的咖啡濾紙。

她的指尖剛捏住鐵罐，罐底一轉，碰到旁邊傾斜的米袋。米袋往前滑，推到水果盤，盤子沿檯面邊緣衝出去。三顆紅蘋果掉落，一顆沿砧板滾動加速，撞上成排的瓷盤。最上面的盤子旋出，掠過光滑檯面，在水槽上方搖晃。柯拉衝上前，把平底鍋蓋撐起當盾牌。旋轉的盤子擦過鍋蓋，彈向壁櫃，撞到懸掛的湯杓。湯杓向外擺動，掃過裝胡椒粒的玻璃罐。柯拉一膝抵著櫥櫃，把砧板斜立。砧板擋住湯杓的弧度，也壓住了滾動的蘋果，阻止了連鎖動作在破碎前持續。水槽邊仍有一顆蘋果緩緩畫圈。鍋裡的蒸氣繼續飄過這顆移動的水果。