The Tap of Hidden Mushrooms- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

"Edge of the plank here."

Grant eased the branch toward damp soil, its rough tip scraping softly through gravel beside the fence. It had been trimmed by an uncle last spring, leaving a clean, straight shape ideal for leverage. Lever bark rasped across stones under the robin's call before the bird darted to its leafy domicile. Unity crouched opposite; the round stone replied with a grinding moan when her boot tested its buried edge. A hum from the creek threaded through flowers and mingled with twig creaks under Grant's palms. He had practised lever tricks since relatives balanced broom handles at a picnic, so his hands moved with rhythm. Yet the first fulcrum failed; the rock flipped free with a hollow clatter and the branch slapped back scattering mulch. Metal drizzles from Leander's watering can hissed while Unity brushed soil from her palms and waited until the tremor faded.

Grant fetched the same rock, angled it nearer the stone, and pressed while Unity gripped the branch farther from the fulcrum. Wood groaned, pebbles rattled, yet the stone lifted only a finger's width before rolling back with a deeper rumble. Unity shuffled closer to the branch's end, adding her weight, and their second push sounded like an old door sweeping open. The stone's curved silhouette rose higher, tilting toward the waiting hole, and unexpected mushrooms popped free, tapping the plank in rapid rhythm. Moist earth hissed as trapped air escaped, while silver moisture from dawn replaced the moonlight now hiding beneath fresh soil. With one last steady press, the heavier side of the stone rolled slowly over the rim. It landed in the hole with a muffled boom that sent the trowels clinking together along the fence.

A gentle hush followed, broken only by the robin's phrase and distant creek murmur circling through leaves above their heads. Grant tipped the branch back beside the fence, let the rough bark touch the ground, and released his grip.

「把木板邊緣放這裡。」

葛蘭特把長枝朝濕土推去，粗糙的枝端在柵欄旁的碎石上輕輕摩擦。那根枝條去年春天被叔叔削平，因此筆直而適合當槓桿。枝皮在石頭上發出沙沙聲，知更鳥鳴叫後飛回樹籬中的巢。尤妮蒂蹲在對面；她的靴子碰到半埋的石頭時，石頭低低地咯吱呻吟。遠處小溪的嗡嗡聲穿過花莖，與枝條的吱呀聲混在葛蘭特的掌下。他早在親戚野餐時看過掃帚平衡遊戲，所以動作流暢。第一次支點仍然失敗；石塊喀啦彈開，枝條啪地回擊，把覆土抖散。里安德在旁澆苗，噴頭澄澄作響；尤妮蒂抖掉手上泥土，等地面餘震消失。

葛蘭特把同一塊石頭移得更靠近圓石，尤妮蒂抓住槓桿更遠的端點一起下壓。木頭呻吟，碎石顫動，但圓石只抬起一指寬又更沉地滾回。尤妮蒂沿枝條再挪一步，加上體重，第二次用力像老門初啟的長嘯。石頭彎曲的輪廓升高，朝預挖洞口傾斜，一簇意外冒出的蘑菇連連敲打木板。潮土嘶嘶洩氣，黎明的水氣取代埋在新翻土下的月光。最後一次穩穩施力，石頭較重的一側慢慢翻過邊緣，咚地落入洞裡，鏟子沿柵欄叮噹共振。

空氣安靜下來，只剩知更鳥短句與遠溪的低迴穿梭葉間。葛蘭特把枝條靠回柵欄，讓粗皮觸地，然後放開了手。