Green After the Cat’s Paw- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Sweet, chalky paint vapour drifted from the open bottle and tickled June’s nose as she leaned closer. Her aim was to copy the pale ivy outside by folding blue and yellow together inside one empty tray well. The white plastic grid rose like a tiny fortress, each square dividing colours as guarded rooms divide guests. Beside the grid, three wooden stirrers lay parallel, thicker than tavern spoons yet light enough for nimble mixing. A steel-grey cat, constant companion, crouched on the sill, pupils tracking the glossy puddles of midnight-blue paint. June dipped a fresh stick into lemon-yellow, yet a faint red smear on its edge nudged the liquid toward orange. She rinsed quickly; the wash cup clouded green, then she tried again, earning a leafy mix before the yellow dropped.

A sudden tremor shook the table as the basement dryer launched its spin cycle, jolting the cat into a silver blur. The startled animal sprang across the palette, and one hind paw tipped the rinse cup until water splashed over the newspaper. June lunged after the rolling jar, chased it into the hallway, and stayed away long enough to fetch a stack of towels. While she was gone, unused stirrers clustered near the puddle like a silent study group, their coloured tips soaking the spreading spill. The overhead bulb chose that moment to fizz out, leaving only blue-grey daylight sliding across the glossy wells. Paint on the freshly mixed green formed a thin skin, and the colour cooled toward teal under the new light.

June returned, pressed a stick flat against the skin, folding the tougher layer inward until it vanished among softer swirls. Only thin yellow clung inside its well, so she scraped the last drops and accepted the cooler green that followed. A careful dab on the test strip appeared mossy under daylight yet promised a true leaf shade once dry. She lined the used sticks on the cardboard rack; their stained tips pointed outward like small flags above a quiet fortress. Two floors up, Yves arranged notebooks for an evening study group as the same vibration rattled pencils across a steel-grey tin. Each pencil rolled a few centimetres, then stopped against the tin’s rim with a soft, hollow tap.

甜而帶粉筆味的顏料氣味從打開的瓶口飄出，當琼湊近時輕輕撲上她的鼻尖。她的目標很簡單：在冰格調色盤的一個空槽裡，把藍色和黃色混合，調出窗外常春藤般的淡綠。白色塑膠格子像迷你堡壘般立起，每個小室把顏色分隔得像守衛的房間。格子旁，三支木攪棒平行擺放，比酒館裡的湯匙粗卻輕，方便快速攪動。一隻鋼灰色的貓——她安靜的夥伴——蹲在窗台上，瞳孔追蹤午夜藍漆形成的亮閃水窪。琼把一支乾淨攪棒伸進檸檬黃，但邊緣微紅的印跡把液體推向橘色。她迅速清洗；洗筆杯轉為綠色渾濁後，她再試一次，在黃色降低前終於得到了葉綠。

突然一陣震動襲來——地下室的烘乾機開始高速旋轉，桌面隨之抖動，貓瞬間化為銀影跳起。受驚的貓越過調色盤，一隻後爪碰翻洗筆杯，水濺上報紙。琼衝去追逐滾動的杯子，一路到走廊，只好拿毛巾回來。她不在時，幾支未用攪棒像沉默的讀書小組般聚在水漬旁，帶色的尖端吸進擴散的水。就在此時，頭頂的燈泡嘶一聲熄滅，只剩藍灰日光滑過閃亮的漆槽。剛調好的綠漆表面結起薄膜，光線改變下，顏色冷成青藍。

琼回來後，用攪棒扁端壓平薄膜，把較硬那層摺進柔軟漩渦裡。黃色井裡僅剩一絲，她刮出最後幾滴，接受隨之而來偏冷的綠。她在測色紙上點了一小塊，日光下帶苔意，但乾後應該是正葉色。她把用過的攪棒排在紙板架上，染色尖端朝外，像靜堡上的小旗。樓上兩層，伊夫正為晚間讀書小組擺放筆記，同樣的震動把鉛筆在鋼灰色鐵盒上震得滾動。每支鉛筆滾出幾公分，最後在盒沿發出軟而空洞的叩聲。