Bucket After the Knot- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

A blue bucket, a small clay pot, and a coil of rope leaned against the trunk below the half-built platform. Across one plank near the edge, a slim scratch ran diagonal, its fresh wood brighter than the rest. Breeze nudged the rope ladder, so each rung wobbled under Glen’s boots while he climbed to the tool-hoisting point. The platform centre flexed under his weight, forcing his knees to bend for balance. A grey squirrel paused on the extended branch end, tail flicking as the tree swayed. Beyond the canopy, a brick garden promenade curved around flowerbeds, where a parent sorted seedlings for transplanting into deeper beds. Glen pressed both palms on the bark at the branch junction; sticky sap marked his skin, and morning wind cooled the residue.

Glen finally unhooked the bucket, intent on laying a support plank across the widening gap. Earlier, he had tried to tinker with the measurements, but the tape had been rolled back too fast. Now its curled edge bounced in every gust, folding upward and spoiling each reading. He pinned the metal strip under his elbow, toes gripping damp wood, but the wind rose again and the numbers blurred. During the next calm pause he marked the spot, hauled up the light plank, and slid it between branches. The tree leaned, branches opening a fraction, and the board fell short by two finger-widths. Glen crouched and glanced at the clay pot still dusted with potting soil from yesterday’s transplanting. He flipped it upside-down to fill the space between wood and bark. The once-mysterious scratch now aligned exactly with the squirrel’s track across the new support, showing its true source. He tightened the final knot around the plank, while a bead of sap slipped unseen into the empty bucket.

一只藍色水桶、一個小陶盆和一圈繩子倚在半成品平台下方的樹幹旁。靠近邊緣的一塊木板上有一道細長刮痕，剛露出的淺色木紋比周圍更亮。微風推動繩梯，每一級都在格倫的靴底下晃動，他小心走向吊運工具的位置。平台中央在他體重下微微下陷，逼得他屈膝保持平衡。一隻灰松鼠停在外側的主枝末端，樹搖它也跟著尾巴一甩一甩。樹冠之外，一條磚砌花園步道繞過花壇，樹下有位大人正在把苗木分門別類，準備移栽到更深的花床。格倫把雙掌貼在枝幹交會處粗糙的樹皮上；黏稠的樹脂沾了他一手，清晨的風很快帶走了那股黏感。

格倫終於解開吊桶，打算把支撐板放進日漸擴大的縫隙。先前他想動手微調尺寸，可捲尺收得太急，邊緣翹起。現在每陣風一來，那翹邊就彈動，讀數完全失準。他用手肘壓住金屬尺帶，腳趾緊扣濕木，但風又大起，數字跟著模糊。下一段短暫的平靜裡，他劃了記號，拉上輕板，嘗試把板滑進兩枝之間。樹身微傾，枝條打開些許，木板還是短了兩指寬。格倫蹲下，看見那個仍沾著盆栽土的小陶盆，昨天他在草地上倒盆換土留下的痕跡還在。他把盆倒扣，剛好填住木與樹皮之間的空隙。原先難以解釋的刮痕此刻與松鼠踩過的新支撐板完全對齊，真相一目了然。格倫把最後一個結拉緊時，一滴樹脂悄悄滑落進空桶裡，他並未察覺。