Footsteps on the Wet Pier- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Marin has promised to cook a picnic lunch, so he walks early toward the coastal market. The wooden pier, which stretches between painted boats, looks darker after night rain. Fish have been landed since dawn, and baskets already sit in plentiful rows. He treads carefully because the boards still shine with water. Each step sends tiny drops against his trouser cuffs. Crowds gather near the largest stall, and elbows narrow the passage. The air grows pungent as salted mackerel slide into crates. Marin keeps watching the smaller table at the end. He hopes to buy a single red snapper for the grill.

When Marin finally reaches the table, a taller boy pays for the last snapper. His shoulders drop, and the narrow space offers no quick path back. Just then, a shallow wave slaps the pier, and a crate of mussels slides toward his boots. Water splashes; people step aside, so the moving crate stops against Marin’s leg. He kneels, lifts the lid, and dark shells glisten like wet coins. Market chatter behind him repeats ordinary wisdom about changing menus when stalls empty. Accepting the moment, Marin chooses the mussels and places them into his cloth bag. The pungent smell drifts upward, stronger than before, yet his steps grow quicker across the boards. Spray hangs behind him while sunshine breaks through cloud, and the basket rests calmly at his side. He walks toward the sandy path, the cloth bag swinging in steady rhythm.

Marin 答應要準備野餐午餐，所以他一早就走向海邊市集。夜雨過後，伸向彩色船隻的木棧道顯得更暗。漁夫自黎明就已卸魚，滿滿的竹籃排成一列。他小心翼翼地踏在仍然發亮的木板上，每一步都濺起細小水珠打在褲管。最大攤位前人聲擁擠，彎曲手肘讓通道更窄。鹹鯖魚滑進木箱時，空氣變得更刺鼻。Marin 目光停在盡頭較小的桌子上，他想買一尾紅魽放到烤架上。

當他終於靠近時，一個更高的男孩正付錢買走最後一尾紅魽。他的肩膀垂了下來，狹窄空間也沒有讓他迅速返回的縫隙。就在此刻，一道浪花拍向棧道，一箱淡菜滑到他的靴子旁。水花四濺，人群閃開，滑動的木箱撞在 Marin 小腿上停住。他蹲下掀蓋，濕亮的貝殼像硬幣般閃著光。後方的市場交談重複著「攤位空了就換菜色」的老道理。Marin 順勢把淡菜裝進布袋。刺鼻氣味再次竄起，他在木板上步伐加快。身後水霧懸浮，雲隙透光，籃子安穩靠在他身旁。他走向沙灘小徑，布袋隨身晃出規律節奏。