Parade After the Rain- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Sam has walked along Maple Avenue many times. The small neighborhood always greets him with flower boxes and music. A stone figure, which stands like a silent guardian, usually guards the corner bakery. This morning the familiar figure at the corner is gone. Only damp footprints circle the empty square base. Sam tilts his head and follows the prints toward the community center entrance. Doors hang half open, and bright paint streaks dot the hallway. Drums echo from the gym, mixing with sudden giggles. He steps inside and stops beside a row of cardboard boxes. Behind them a tall cardboard giraffe gleefully swings its spotted neck. An even larger elephant shape waits under a blue cloth.

A group of children kneel around the elephant, tape stuck to their sleeves. They glance up, paintbrushes frozen, when Sam raises an eyebrow. "Surprise parade," whispers a girl whose cheeks show green dots. "The guardian statue needed company, so we borrowed him for the float." Sam has never imagined that quiet rock sharing wheels with cardboard animals. Speakers are being lifted, and colored lights have been hung above the stage. He steadies a wheel, and drums begin to rumble from the gym. Rain eases outside, allowing sunlight to flash across the giraffe’s painted spots. Wheels bump over puddles as the float turns onto Maple Avenue. At the bakery corner, the parade stops and the statue slides onto its base. Sam wipes fresh bubbles from the stone nose while children cheer around him.

山姆早已走過百慕大道無數次。這條小街區總用花盒與音樂迎接他。一尊宛如沉默守護者的石像平常守在轉角麵包店前。今天早上，那熟悉的身影卻消失了。只有濕漉漉的腳印繞著空空的方形基座。山姆歪著頭，沿著腳印走向社區中心入口。門半開著，走廊上閃著鮮亮的油漆痕。體育館裡傳來鼓聲，忽然的笑聲摻雜其中。他走進去，在一排紙箱旁停下。紙箱後，一隻高大的紙板長頸鹿歡快地甩動斑點脖子。一隻更大的大象形狀躲在藍布底下。

一群孩子跪在大象周圍，袖子上黏著膠帶。他們抬頭，畫筆停在半空，因山姆挑眉而愣住。「驚喜遊行，」臉上點著綠點的女孩輕聲說。「守護者石像需要夥伴，所以我們把他借來放上花車。」山姆從沒想過沉默的石像能與紙板動物一起坐在輪子上。喇叭被抬起，彩燈已經掛在舞台上方。他扶住一個輪子，體育館裡的鼓聲開始隆隆作響。外頭的雨停了些，陽光在長頸鹿彩色的斑點上閃耀。車輪滾過水窪，花車駛上百慕大道。麵包店轉角處，遊行停下，石像滑回基座。山姆擦去石鼻上的新鮮泡沫，孩子們在他身旁歡呼。