Echo Between the Ferns- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Theo pushed open the glass door of the city greenhouse, carrying a slim speaker and a tablet sized like a small digital book. The young musician hoped to catch a bright echo under the curved roof. Inside, plenty of light streamed through high panels, and an abundant crowd of afternoon readers rested on beanbags between tall ferns. One corner was already taken, so he crossed wet tiles toward a wooden stool near the central pool. Water splashed each step, and loose pages from someone’s magazine slid across the floor, brushing his ankles.

He set the speaker down, but a sharp glare bounced from the pool and covered the screen. The lines of music became hard to see. He has trained for distractions, yet the light still blocked his eyes. Theo tilted the display, then rotated the stool behind a broad fern whose leaves offered patchy shade. At that moment a weak sprinkler switched on above, sending fine mist toward the speaker. He lifted both devices onto a dry stone ledge; his thumb struck an icon he had not planned to open. A hidden demo track burst from the speaker, and the roof answered with a clear, ringing echo. Theo froze, then raised a recorder and captured the sound before the mist faded. The final tone hovered over the pool while water droplets settled on calm green leaves.

西奧推開城市溫室的玻璃門，手裡拿著小巧喇叭和像口袋書般的平板。他想在弧形屋頂下找出明亮的回聲。裡面透進大量光線，午後看書的人坐在高大的蕨葉間的懶人沙發上。某個角落已被占據，他便踩過濕滑的地磚走向中央水池旁的木凳。水花濺在每一步，別人的雜誌散頁滑過地面，輕輕掃過他腳踝。

他放下喇叭，水面反射的耀眼光線卻遮住了螢幕，譜面難以辨認。他早已習慣干擾，但這道光仍擋住他的視線。西奧調整顯示角度，再把凳子轉到寬葉蕨後，得到了斑駁的陰影。就在這時，上方細小灑水器忽然啟動，薄霧飄向喇叭。他趕緊把裝置搬到乾燥的石台上；手指不經意碰到一個圖示。隱藏的示範曲突兀播放，屋頂回了清脆的回聲。西奧僵了半秒，隨即舉起錄音器捕捉那聲音；霧氣逐漸散去，最後一個音符懸在水面上，而水滴靜靜落在翠綠葉片。