Where the Feather Landed- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

A shallow oval remained where a flat rock had once pressed the mud beside the trail. Vaughn bent, touching the smooth cavity, then looked toward his sibling Hope sifting damp earth at the root wall. With the stone gone, the crossing stretched farther, and rain glazed the moss into a slippery ribbon he would need to navigate. The trunk had been coated with frost-white lichen that now glimmered under the drizzle. He aimed to lay three firm objects side by side on the trunk, wide enough for one sure foot each. He found a branch half his arm’s length among the debris, dragged it over, and wedged its thick end against bark. The moss squelched, releasing miniature currents of brown water that hissed down the trunk and widened the puddle. One strip was in place, yet two gaps still yawned before the far side.

He returned to the branch debris zone, shoes sucking at each step, and selected a flatter piece the length of his shin. He laid it beside the first; the wood gave a resentful creak yet stayed level, adding another foot of walkway. Still, the final gap measured almost the span of his jeans pocket. Hope tossed him a stone that looked like a carved artifact, its edges straight, perhaps sliced long ago by an axe blade. He set it down; the three pieces touched, weight shifted, moss compressed, and the narrow bridge finally held firm. The jolt pushed a loose twig, the twig bumped the walking stick, and the stick toppled toward the resting backpack. A dangling buckle swung out, caught the stick’s handle, and pinned it against the pack, stopping the tumble with a dull thud. Vaughn tested the bridge, stepped twice, and reached the firmer far side while rain darkened his shoulders. A silver-blue feather slipped through the canopy gap and spun beside the log, twirling slowly in the light rain.

一塊扁石曾經壓過小徑旁的泥地，如今只留下淺淺的橢圓凹痕。沃恩彎下身，指尖輕觸那平滑的凹槽，接著望向正在根盤土牆旁翻找濕土的姊妹霍普。石頭不見後，橫跨倒木的距離變得更長，雨水把苔蘚釉成一條必須小心應付的滑帶。樹幹原本覆著霜白地衣，此刻在細雨中閃著微光。他打算在樹幹上並排放三件穩固物，每件足夠踩一隻腳。他從散落枝堆裡找到一截與手臂等長的枝條，拖過來，把粗端卡進樹皮。苔蘚發出濕軟聲，釋出細小棕水流，沿幹嘶嘶而下，擴大了水坑。第一條踏面就位，但前方還缺兩段。

他回到枝堆，鞋底每一步都被泥水拉住，挑出一塊與小腿同長的較平木片。木片貼到第一段旁時發出帶著不甘的嘎聲，但仍保持水平，又添了一英尺踏面。最後的缺口仍幾乎與牛仔褲口袋同寬。霍普丟來一塊看似古器的石頭，邊緣筆直，也許久前被斧頭砍平。他輕放石頭，三段材料相觸，重量轉移、苔蘚壓實，窄橋終於穩住。震動推動一截鬆枝，鬆枝碰倒行杖，行杖朝背包傾去。垂掛的扣環甩出，勾住杖柄，把它壓在包上，以沉悶聲阻止了倒落。沃恩試踩兩步，便在雨水染暗肩膀時抵達較乾的另一側。銀藍羽毛穿過林頂缺口，沿倒木旁旋轉，隨細雨緩緩打著圈。