Harper Before the Clock Struck- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Harper pushed through the glass door of the engineering laboratory, jacket damp from evening drizzle. The room smelled of solder and cardboard, and an unwavering strip of ceiling light spread blank rectangles across the floor. He had set a tiny drone on the bench earlier; now only the frame waited, missing its wide-angle lens. The lens belonged on the rooftop before fireworks began, or the recording would capture nothing but blur. He hoped to find it quickly because the distant clock tower already showed twenty-three thirty. A metal plaque beside the door, honoring last year’s robotics champion, reflected bluish light as he crossed the tiles.

Harper tried the storage cabinet handle, yet the tenacious latch refused to rise. He jiggled it twice, then noticed a keypad beside the main cupboard. The code he remembered no longer responded; it appeared the access settings had been changed by maintenance staff during the afternoon. If he had locked his toolbox earlier, the lens would still be inside the drone, and this scramble would not exist. He slipped a thin screwdriver behind the latch; metal clicked, but the door stayed firm. Seconds passed; a growl of voices drifted through an open window as rehearsal crowds practiced a midnight-countdown cheer in the square outside. The sound echoed through vents, mixing with humming fans and rattling shelves.

Dust floated when Harper finally removed the back panel with gentle leverage; the missing lens glimmered between spools of wire. He stretched a gloved hand toward the lens, yet another surprise waited beneath it. A folded note lay below, stating that a spare unit was on the rooftop workshop. The discovery unexpectedly saved him another trip downstairs, but time had thinned. He wiped the glass, clipped it onto the drone, and hurried along the corridor. Rain eased; moonlight touched the quad, and students gathered near the gate. Their voices rose in uneven waves while the bells inside the tower prepared to mark the hour. High above them, the drone lifted, propellers whirring, while faint sparks bloomed across the skyline. For several long seconds, the quiet quad rested under drifting silver trails from the first fireworks.

哈珀推開工程實驗室的玻璃門，雨水把外套襯得微濕。室內飄著焊錫與紙板的味道，天花板那條穩定的白燈在地板上投下方形的光斑。他先前把一架小型無人機放在工作臺上，如今只剩骨架，廣角鏡頭不見蹤影。鏡頭得在煙火開始前裝上屋頂，否則錄影只會一片模糊。他希望快些找到它，因為遠處的鐘樓已經指向二十三點三十分。門邊掛著去年機器人大賽冠軍的金屬匾，映出淡淡藍光，伴著他穿過地磚。

哈珀抓住儲物櫃的把手，卻被那只頑強的卡榫攔住。搖了兩下，他注意到主櫥旁的數字鍵盤。原先記得的密碼毫無反應；下午維修人員似乎已經更改了設定。如果他早些鎖好工具箱，鏡頭此刻仍會安在機身裡，這番折騰便不會發生。他用細螺絲起子撬開卡榫，金屬咔噠一聲，門卻依舊紋絲不動。秒針滑過；窗外傳來吶喊，彩排人群在廣場練習午夜倒數的歡呼聲。回音穿過通風管，與風扇嗡鳴和架子震動交織。

當哈珀終於卸下背板，塵粒飄起，那顆遺失的鏡頭在一排線軸間閃著光。他伸出戴手套的手朝鏡頭探去，卻又看到另一個驚喜。折起的紙條靜躺下方，上頭說備用鏡頭已放在屋頂工作區。這發現無端替他省下一趟下樓的功夫，但時間已經更緊。他擦拭玻璃，將鏡頭扣回無人機，沿走廊快步離開。雨勢減弱；月光覆在廣場，學生聚在大門旁。鐘樓內的鐘即將敲響，他們的聲音一波波抬高。高空中，無人機升起，螺旋槳嗡嗡轉動，遠方的火花在天際綻放。數秒之間，寧靜的廣場在第一束銀色尾焰下安靜地躺著。