Ribbon Near the Signal Tower- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Mira had planned a quiet sketching morning beside the old signal tower, whose walls carried a weather-softened bas-relief of sailing ships. She positioned her stool so the tower framed a broad meadow where a solitary peacock often wandered. Just as pastel colors touched her paper, a gust twisted the pages and a sharp cry sliced the air. A tern swooped, seized the red ribbon that kept her pencils bound, and beat its wings toward a wide-branched oak. Graphite sticks scattered; one rolled under grass. Mira knelt, fingers brushing soil while the bird vanished above green leaves. The staircase inside the tower had been sealed years earlier, so no raised view remained, but she still wanted the perfect angle.

If she had tied the ribbon more firmly, the tern would not have taken it; the thought passed while she gathered her tools again. She paced beneath the oak, tracing the tern’s path, and glimpsed the ribbon hanging from a limb like a tiny flag. A slow rustle followed: the peacock approached, neck stretched, eyes fixed on the bright scrap. Mira shifted sideways, sketchbook balanced against her knee. The peacock began a measured circle under the branch, tail shimmering each time sunlight slid between oak leaves. Wind rocked the ribbon; the bird fanned his feathers wider, turquoise eyespots flashing. Pencils moved in quick lines. The meadow’s hush deepened until only the tower’s metal vane clicked overhead. When the tern finally released its grip, the ribbon fluttered down and landed near Mira’s shoe, startling the peacock into a proud stillness that let her finish finer details. Graphite paused, and blue feathers rested on the sketchbook page.

Mira 原本計畫在老訊號塔旁度過一個安靜的素描早晨，塔牆上風化的淺浮雕刻著帆船。她把小椅子擺在塔身與草地交界的最佳位置，那裡常有一隻孔雀獨自漫步。正當粉彩顏色在紙上鋪開，一聲尖銳的鳴叫劃破空氣。一隻燕鷗俯衝，奪走綁住她彩色鉛筆的紅緞帶，振翅飛向一株枝葉寬展的橡樹。石墨筆散落，還有一支滾進草叢。Mira 俯身，指尖掠過泥土，燕鷗早已消失在濃綠樹冠之上。訊號塔內的樓梯多年前就被封住，她無法登高，但仍渴望完美的取景角度。

要是她當時把緞帶繫得更牢，燕鷗就搶不走它——這念頭在她重新收拾工具時一閃而過。她沿著橡樹下方踱步，尋找燕鷗的蹤影，目光捕捉到掛在枝頭、像小旗幟般的紅緞帶。隨即傳來輕微沙沙聲：孔雀走近了，長頸伸展，雙眼盯著那鮮豔的布片。Mira 側身，讓畫簿靠在膝頭。孔雀在樹下慢慢繞圈，尾羽隨陽光穿過橡葉閃耀著藍綠眼斑。微風晃動緞帶，孔雀的羽屏張得更開，色澤如電光流動。鉛筆在紙面飛快勾勒，草地漸漸靜寂，只剩塔頂的金屬風向箭咔嗒作響。燕鷗終於鬆開緞帶，布條飄落到 Mira 鞋邊，孔雀因此定住身形，她得以畫完最後細節。石墨停下，一片藍羽安穩地躺在畫簿上。