Milo Before the Bell- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Milo balanced a cardboard volcano in his arms while shuffling toward the science room. He had spent a week shaping the cone from plaster, and the surface had been painted streaky red so the lava slime inside would shine through small cracks. A tiny plastic dragon peeked from the crater, its wings spread wide. The hallway clock showed five minutes before the bell, yet a line of students blocked the door at the far end. Milo paused to ponder a path between backpacks and swinging coats. The thrill of reaching the room on time buzzed in his legs, but the crowd hardly moved, and the seconds slipped away.

A sudden gap opened, caused by a turning trolley, but the floor beneath gleamed with fresh polish that had made several shoes slide earlier. Milo stepped forward; one boot skidded, the volcano tilted, and orange slime rolled toward the rim. The plastic dragon shifted dangerously. It did not make sense to keep pushing straight ahead, so he pivoted, pressing the volcano against a locker row. A small magnet he had hidden under the dragon clicked onto the metal wall and held the model upright. While the crowd streamed past, Milo knotted a spare ribbon from his pocket around the cone. The bell rang as he eased the project onto the classroom table, dragon steady, lava untouched, hallway noise fading behind him.

Milo 夾著用紙板做的火山，小心地向自然教室挪動。他花了一週塑形，外層石膏已被刷上條狀紅漆，讓裡面的橘紅黏液能透過細縫閃光。一隻小塑膠龍從火山口探出頭，雙翼張開。走廊時鐘顯示距離上課還有五分鐘，但盡頭一道學生長龍堵住了門口。Milo 停下來，思考要如何穿過背包與晃動的外套。及時抵達教室的興奮在他雙腿竄動，可人潮幾乎不動，秒針卻持續前進。

轉角手推車一轉，突然出現一道縫隙，但地板剛上蠟，先前已讓好幾雙鞋子打滑。Milo 踏出一步，一隻靴子打滑，火山傾斜，橘紅黏液向邊緣滾去，塑膠龍危險地晃動。繼續直衝已經說不通，他立刻轉身，把火山壓向置物櫃排。一枚他早先藏在龍底的小磁鐵吸在金屬壁上，穩穩托住模型。人流湧過時，Milo 把口袋裡的備用緞帶繫在火山周圍。鈴聲響起，他把作品輕輕放到教室桌面，龍仍端坐，黏液未灑，走廊聲音漸漸遠去。