Before the Rainbow Faded- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

The wall beside the window was pale, but the sill beneath it rippled with silver threads of light. Lark pressed a broad sheet of drawing paper against the plaster and nudged a cylindrical glass three-quarters full of water until a rainbow unfurled across the page. The band ran from crimson to violet, sharp enough to outline, and the shifting colours captivate Lark’s gaze more than any paint box. Tiny bubbles clung to the inner surface; each bubble bent sunlight into pinpoints that crawled over the floorboards. Three pencils had been lined up in order of shade, ready for a full rendering, while the refrigerator’s low hum mixed with an occasional rustle from the curtain.

Lark traced the red and orange curves; then a passing cloud made the colours flicker and vanish for a breath. When the beam returned, the sun’s angle had slipped, forcing the spectrum lower. By sliding the glass a centimetre, most hues returned, yet the blue edge already looked faint. Each minute, Lark could observe the crimson tip drifting toward the floor like water from a slow spill. Warm light heated one side of the glass, and a silent whirl inside kept shifting the band even when the base stayed still; several careful strokes had been wasted before the hidden motion was noticed. Time—the room’s scarcest element—thinned as shadows lengthened across the wooden boards.

With the clock hands edging toward four, the plan shrank. Instead of mapping the entire arc, only the indigo and violet lanes would fit. The paper slid closer, two pencils went back into the tin, and one dark stub marked the final colours while they remained. The moment the line reached the corner of the page, sunlight slipped behind the frame and every bright stripe vanished from the wall. A thin violet stroke lay across the nearly blank sheet while the last glimmer of light faded to grey.

窗邊牆面是淺色的，但窗台上卻閃著銀色光絲。拉克把一張大紙貼在牆上，輕輕推動裝了四分之三杯水的圓柱形玻璃杯，直到一道彩虹展開在紙面上。色帶從紅到紫分明而清晰，變動的顏色比任何畫具都更吸引拉克的目光。細小氣泡附在杯內壁；每一顆都折射出光點，在地板上緩緩爬行。三枝鉛筆依色階排列好，冰箱低沉的嗡嗡聲與窗簾偶爾的輕響交織成靜寂背景。

拉克先描下紅與橙的弧線；一片飄過的雲讓色帶閃動後短暫消失。雲散後，陽光角度已下移，光譜被迫降低。玻璃杯往前推一公分，大部分色彩回到紙面，然而藍端已顯得微弱。拉克可以觀察到紅端像緩流的水般逐漸滑向地板。陽面升溫造成杯中水流無聲旋轉，即使杯底未動，彩帶仍不停漂移；幾筆工夫因此白費。在木地板上伸長的影子提醒人們：房間裡最稀缺的正是時間。

時針逼近四點，計畫被迫縮小。整條彩虹畫不完，拉克決定只留下靛與紫。紙張拉近，兩枝鉛筆收回盒中，只剩一枝深色鉛筆在色彩尚存時迅速落筆。線條剛抵達紙角，陽光就滑過窗框，牆上的光帶全部消失。幾乎空白的紙上留著一道細細的紫線，而最後的光芒也逐漸暗成灰色。