Mira on a Garden Detour- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Mira balanced a clay pot against her chest while crossing the herb yard. Her uncle had entrusted the last orange zinnia of the season to her care, and the greenhouse beyond the orchard waited for it. Dew still clung to every leaf, so her shoes printed dark ovals on the boards. At the side gate the latch refused to lift; it had been locked by earlier workers preparing for inspection. She eyed the long gravel road, measured its distance, then turned toward a narrow detour that curved between vegetable beds. The new route looked shorter, yet tall grass brushed her knees with every step.

The path thinned beside a shallow pond where frogs skitter across the surface whenever a shadow passes. Mira placed one foot on a plank spanning the water, but the far end dipped into the pond. She stepped back as muddy ripples lapped at the wood. A cluster of crowfoot ferns rooted near the bank offered steadier ground, so she slid a flat stone among their fronds and tested her weight again. It held. Halfway across, a twig snapped overhead, and a startled blackbird burst upward, sprinkling droplets onto the pot. If she had chosen the paved road, none of this splash would have reached her sleeves, yet the shortcut still lay ahead.

Beyond the pond, a toppled wheelbarrow blocked the final stretch. Mira tried lifting its iron frame; the axle groaned but refused to shift. She rolled the pot beneath a low fence, crawled after it, and rose. The sudden motion loosened her grip; the clay slipped from her fingers. Time paused for a breath, then the pot struck the same crowfoot she had trusted earlier. Soft fronds cushioned the impact; not a single petal bent. Her shoulders uncurled, and a short laugh escaped. Moments later, the greenhouse door clicked open, and the orange bloom rested inside the cool glass house.

米拉抱著一只陶盆穿過香草園。舅舅已經把季節最後一株橙色百日菊交給她照顧，果園另一端的溫室正等待它。露水仍附在每片葉子上，她的鞋底在木板上留下深色腳印。側門的門閂抬不起來；先前為了檢查而工作的員工把它鎖上了。她看了看長長的礫石路，估量距離後，轉向一條穿過菜畦的狹窄岔路。新路顯得更短，但高草每一步都刷過她的膝蓋。

小徑在一片淺池旁變窄，影子一掠過，青蛙就在水面上疾滑。米拉把腳踩在橫跨水面的木板上，可遠端卻沉進池裡。她退回岸邊，渾濁的漣漪拍打木板。池邊一簇烏腳蕨扎根處看來更穩，她便把一塊平石滑進蕨葉間，再次試探重量。石頭撐住了。走到一半時，頭頂樹枝啪地斷裂，一隻受驚的黑鳥撲翼而起，水珠灑在陶盆上。如果她當初選了鋪路的主道，袖子就不會被濺濕，但捷徑仍在前方。

穿過池塘後，一輛翻倒的手推車擋住最後一段路。米拉試著抬起鐵架，軸心嘎吱卻紋絲不動。她把陶盆推過低矮圍欄，自己也鑽了過去再站起來。忽然陶盆滑落，時間像止了一拍，接著落在先前信賴的那簇烏腳蕨上。柔軟的蕨葉緩衝了衝擊，花瓣沒有半點折損。她的肩膀放鬆，一聲短笑脫口而出。幾分鐘後，溫室的門閂嗒地合上，橙色花朵安靜地躺在涼爽的玻璃屋裡。