Heat on the Plank, Rush in the Channel- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

"This board is stuck," Zara said.

She set both rubber-boot soles against the wet stone and pushed with her shoulders low, yet the swollen wood refused to move. The upstream pool kept building; only a thin ribbon of water slipped past the board, and the wheel farther downstream turned lazily. Its paddles slapped the surface without force, and the speed stick beside the axle barely wobbled. A frustrated expression pinched Zara’s eyebrows. She had already pried open the stiff grease tin; now she rubbed a smear of grey grease along each groove and tried again, arms trembling from the steady strain. The board shifted a finger-width, then halted. Warm sunlight pressed on her back, and the plank felt almost hot against her palms, coloured here and there by jealousy-green streaks of algae that clung like thin paint.

Zara fetched the nearby bucket, dipped it into the cold stream, and splashed the plank. A brief sizzle rose where the water met the sun-heated wood. She waited a breath, then leaned in once more and pushed; this time the board slid lower with a low groan. The sudden flow rushed toward the wheel, and the paddles spun faster, flicking spray that cooled her forearms. Extra force tossed a mat of leaves against the irrigation side, slowing that trickle almost to a drip. Zara gripped the long rake, reached across the channel, and tweaked the soggy pile until the leaves drifted clear. To keep the surge from emptying the garden line, she lifted a spare plank and wedged it partway into the second groove, the timber vibrating under the split flow but holding firm.

At the overflow drain, a small frog bobbed on a loosened leaf fragment and paddled downstream, tracing gentle circles through the glossy water that continued to spiral toward the garden stones.

「這塊木板卡住了。」扎拉說。

她穿著橡膠靴，把鞋底抵在溼石上，低著肩膀用力推，但因泡脹的木板仍不動。上游小池的水位持續上升，只有細細一道水流從板邊溜過，下游的水輪轉得有氣無力。槳葉拍打水面卻帶不起勁，軸旁的速度指示棒幾乎不晃。扎拉的眉頭緊鎖，表情帶著受挫。她先前已撬開僵硬的潤滑油罐，現在把灰色油脂抹在兩條槽內，再次用雙臂酸麻的力量推，木板移開一指寬後又停下。暖陽燒灼她的背，木板摸起來幾近溫熱，板面上布滿像忌妒色般的綠藻。

扎拉提起水桶舀起冰涼溪水潑向木板，冷熱相逢發出細小的「嘶」聲。她稍等片刻，再度發力，木板伴隨低沉的摩擦聲滑了下去。突如其來的水流沖向水輪，槳葉轉速加快，濺出的水花冰涼地沾在她前臂。額外的衝力把一團落葉推向灌溉渠，水量幾乎被堵住。扎拉握起長柄耙，伸過渠道，微調那堆濕葉，讓它們隨流散開。為了避免園地缺水，她抬起備用木板，半插進第二條槽，木板在分流的震動中穩穩撐住。

在溢水口，一隻小青蛙伏在漂流的落葉碎片上，隨水面畫出緩慢圓弧，水紋持續向園石間旋去。