The Wheel That Wouldn't Stop- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Cora pushed a narrow tray along the top shelf, its metal edge scraping softly. She balanced on a short ladder stool while her free hand guided jars into neat lines. Near her boots, an empty cart waited, one loose wheel angled toward the slight slope. Warm air mixed with a faint rubber smell under the single bulb overhead. Gravity teased the wheel, and the cart inched forward without notice.

Cora lifted a beautiful glass jar painted with a dolphin. She slid it beside an old coral sample. The shelf pin sat loose because its small brass keeper bent outward over time. When the jar touched the new spot, the extra weight tipped the keeper free. The entire row lurched forward, clinking like tiny bells. Below, the creeping cart struck the ladder stool and jolted it against Cora’s knee. Her knee jerked; her elbow knocked a box filled with thin reef fragments. Shards inside gleamed with remarkable white and pink patterns. The box slid, bounced on the stool step, and crashed onto the moving cart. Momentum shot the cart toward the opposite wall, one reef fragment flipping into the air. It smacked the dangling roll of packing paper, which spun away and whipped the loose ladder.

Cora stepped down quickly, pressed both palms against the cart, and steered it sideways. Its wheel scraped, slowed, then locked against a bin full of labeled tape spools. Jars above stayed trembling but held their places after the brief quake. Paper still turned overhead until friction faded and the roll hung quiet again. A thin crack marked one jar; the wheel now wobbled harder than before. Cora exhaled and lifted the reef fragments back into the box. She nudged the cart toward a corner beside the broom and dustpan. She walked toward the doorway; cooler evening air drifted in and stirred dust above the shelf. Dust motes swirled past the hanging paper while the loose wheel turned in uneven circles.

柯拉把一個狹長托盤沿著最上層的架子推送，金屬邊緣輕輕磨擦。她踩在矮梯凳上，另一隻手把玻璃罐排成整齊直線。她的靴子旁，一輛空推車停著，鬆動的輪子朝向微微傾斜的地面。頭頂唯一的燈泡下，溫熱空氣混合淡淡橡膠味。重力拉扯那顆輪子，推車悄悄往前爬。

柯拉拿起一只畫有海豚的漂亮玻璃罐。她把它滑到一件舊珊瑚標本旁邊。架子的夾銷因為年久彎曲的黃銅固定片而變得鬆動。罐子一就定位，額外的重量便把固定片扳脫。整排罐子往前晃動，叮啷作響。下面，慢慢滑行的推車撞到梯凳，頂到柯拉的膝蓋。她的膝蓋反射一抖，手肘撞到裝著細小礁石碎片的盒子。盒內碎片閃著白粉紅相間的驚人紋路。盒子滑落，在梯凳踏板上彈一下，隨後砸向正在行進的推車。動能把推車射向對面牆，一片礁石碎片翻到空中，擊中垂掛的包裝紙捲，捲筒旋轉開來，又抽打到鬆散的梯凳。

柯拉連忙下梯，雙掌壓住推車，將它側推。輪子摩擦地面，減速後卡在放滿標籤膠帶卷的箱邊。上方的罐子雖仍微顫，但總算站穩。紙捲依舊在頭頂轉動，直到摩擦力消失才靜垂。玻璃罐上出現細裂痕；輪子晃得更厲害了。柯拉吐口氣，把礁石碎片重新倒回盒內。她把推車推到掃帚與畚斗旁的角落。她走向門口，較涼的傍晚空氣灌入，捲起架子上的灰塵。塵埃在懸吊的紙捲周圍打著旋，而那顆鬆動的輪子繼續不規則地轉圈。