Where the Rainbow Hid- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Three quiet minutes had passed since Eve had placed the water glass on the warm sill. She eased it a centimetre outward; the rainbow refused to sharpen, colours blurring instead. Sunlight travelled through the cylinder, struck the water, and painted a faint spectrum across the pine floorboards. Condensation, born from the cool water meeting the warm air, clouded the glass and scattered the beam. Tiny shards of kaleidoscopic lights skipped over the boards like meddlesome confetti. In the kitchen, Dean rattled pans, a gentle reminder that an adult stayed nearby.

A tape dispenser waited on the desk across the room, so Eve walked away from the window to fetch it. Paper lanterns, ribbon, and other vibrant decorations lay scattered there, ready for Blythe’s small birthday supper later. She threaded ribbon through a lantern’s wire frame, the strip sliding smoothly once her fingernails pressed the edge flat. From the stove drifted the thick aroma of hearty vegetable stew that Dean stirred in a cast-iron pot. Wind chimes beside the back door produced melodious sounds that mingled with spoon taps and the refrigerator’s quiet hum. While taping two lanterns together, Eve glimpsed a radiant smile in the dark screen of a dormant tablet beside her elbow. She boxed the finished lanterns, swept stray scraps into the bin, and strode back toward the window to trim the hanging ends.

While setting the ribbon box on the sill, her elbow brushed the water glass, rotating it a quarter turn. The rag in her hand grazed the cool surface, lifting most of the misted droplets without effort. Sun-warmed air met the clearer cylinder again, and the spectrum sprang into one crisp uninterrupted arc. Bands of red through violet glided across the floorboards, tracking the afternoon like a silent clock. To keep the beam clear, she pinned the restless curtain with a wooden clothes-pin taken from the ribbon box. Inside the glass wall, tiny bubbles acted as lenses, launching minute rainbows that danced beside the larger band. At that same moment in the kitchen, Dean ladled stew, and carrot slices rolled lazily within the shimmering broth. Steam from the pot curled upward in loose loops above Dean’s steady ladle.

自伊芙把那杯水放到溫暖的窗台，寧靜的三分鐘已經過去。她又將杯子往外挪動一公分，彩虹卻依舊模糊。陽光穿過圓柱形的玻璃，打在水面，再投射到松木地板上，只留下淡淡一道光帶。冷水遇上暖空氣產生的水珠覆上杯壁，把光散得四處都是。細碎的萬花筒般光點在地板上亂竄，像頑皮的五彩紙屑。廚房裡傳來丁恩碰鍋的聲音，提醒著屋裡有大人在。

桌上有個膠帶台等著她，伊芙離開窗邊去拿。紙燈籠、緞帶和其他鮮豔裝飾散落其間，準備晚點慶祝布萊思的小型生日餐會。她把緞帶穿過燈籠鐵架，指甲壓平邊緣後，緞帶順利滑入。爐子上，丁恩攪動鑄鐵鍋裡濃厚的蔬菜燉湯，香氣濃郁而飽滿。後門旁的風鈴發出悅耳聲響，與湯匙敲擊聲及冰箱低鳴交織。她在關兩個燈籠時，從關閉的平板黑屏上瞥見自己燦亮的笑容。收好完成的燈籠、清理散屑後，她帶著剪刀和額外的繩子回到窗邊，要修整垂掛的末端。

她把裝飾盒放到窗台時，手肘碰到水杯，使杯身輕輕轉了四分之一圈。手中的布擦過冰涼杯壁，帶走大部分霧珠。暖空氣再度接觸更為清澈的玻璃，連續而清晰的彩虹瞬間躍現。紅到紫的色帶沿著地板滑動，像靜默時鐘標記午後。她用木製衣夾夾住愛搖晃的窗簾，保持光束暢通。杯壁內的小氣泡成了透鏡，發射出與主彩虹並行的小彩虹，輕快舞動。在同一時間的廚房，丁恩舀著燉湯，胡蘿蔔片在閃亮湯面裡慢慢翻滾。蒸氣從鍋裡向上繚繞，在丁恩穩定的勺子上方劃出鬆散的環。