Salt Across the Aisle- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

The storeroom smelled of cocoa powder mixed with old cardboard. Dusty air curled between narrow shelves while a small grey mouse nosed a hazelnut along the concrete. Comfort hung in the warm patch of air beneath the lone ceiling bulb. Grainy sand from a torn sack brushed the mouse’s whiskers. The animal hoped to push the nut toward a darker place behind a stack of tins. On a higher shelf, a thin stream of flour escaped a split paper bag. The powder began to build a pale cone on the floor. At the same time, sawdust drifted from a cracked crate and scattered across a row of glass jars.

One jar was extra fragile and leaned near the edge of its wooden rack. A rolling nut nudged the broom handle that leaned against that rack. The handle tipped, struck the fragile jar, and sent it wobbling toward the growing flour cone. Glass met powder with a muffled thump, tilting the cone’s peak. Spilled flour slid outward, lifting rice grains from a paper sack below. The loose grains rattled downhill and tapped the hazelnut. The nut shot forward, bumped a second mouse that crouched under a canvas bag. Startled, both mice darted in opposite circles, shaking more rice from the torn sack. A strangely balanced tower of salt stood in fragile suspense beside them. The vibration broke its base, and salt poured like dry water over their paths. They paused only when the flow thinned. Two lines of tiny prints crossed the white flour, one above the other. Fresh salt continued trickling from the broken mound, burying the twin tracks grain by grain.

貯藏室裡瀰漫著可可粉混著舊紙箱的味道。塵灰在狹窄的層架間盤旋，一隻灰色的小老鼠沿著水泥地推動一顆榛果。單獨的燈泡下，溫暖的空氣帶來些微舒適。破袋掉出的細沙擦過老鼠的鬚鬚。牠想把堅果推到罐頭後方較暗的地方。較高的層板上，一條麵粉細流從裂開的紙袋漏下，在地面築起淡白小錐。此刻裂木箱裡的鋸屑也飄落，散在一排玻璃罐上。

其中一只特別易碎的玻璃罐斜靠在木架邊緣。滾動的堅果頂到靠在架上的掃把柄。柄倒下，撞到脆弱的玻璃罐，使它搖晃著衝向逐漸增高的麵粉錐。玻璃碰上粉末，沉悶一響，粉錐頂端被推歪。滑出的麵粉推起紙袋中的米粒，鬆散的米粒沿坡滾動並輕敲榛果。堅果向前射出，撞到蹲在帆布袋下的另一隻老鼠。兩隻老鼠受驚，沿相反方向繞圈，晃掉更多米粒。旁邊一柱怪異平衡的鹽塔處於脆弱的懸置，震動使塔基崩裂，鹽粒像乾水般傾瀉在牠們的路徑上。流速變緩時牠們才停下。兩條細小足跡交叉在白色麵粉上，一條在另一條之上。破碎鹽堆仍持續滴落鹽粒，一粒又一粒埋沒那雙重足跡。