What the Marble Started- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Luke slid a wide wooden panel across the studio floor. He has worked in this bright room for nearly a decade, and today he wanted to carry the finished piece to the small gallery next door. Sunlight warmed the varnish while the smell of fresh pine lingered around the benches. Along the back wall, several frames had been placed in a neat row. A tabby cat, which often slept between paint jars, stretched and followed his slow progress. Luke tilted the panel upright, but its top edge nudged a stack of foam cylinders that supported another frame. The cylinders tumbled like short dominoes and bumped a metal cart. The cart shifted; several glass marbles resting inside rattled free and scattered over the tiles.

One marble slipped into a cardboard tube lying on the floor; the tube rolled, tapped a half-full paint can, and the can edged toward an open doorway. Appreciation of balance turned into a quick dance as Luke hurried after the moving line. The cat’s ears flattened; it sprang sideways as the can grazed its whiskers and kept wobbling downhill. Luke thrust a broom handle forward; the handle braced against the tube, stopping the can before more trouble spread. Eventually the remaining marbles slowed against chair legs, though one kept circling. Behind Luke, the doorway stayed clear for the panel, and a single marble spun in a shallow circle near the cat’s paws.

路克把一大片木板在工作室地板上滑動。他已經在這間明亮的房間裡工作將近十年，今天他想把完成的作品搬到隔壁的小型畫廊。陽光溫暖了木板的清漆，清新的松木氣味在長凳間飄散。後牆邊，幾個畫框整齊地被擺成一排。平常睡在顏料罐間的虎斑貓伸了個懶腰，跟著他緩慢前進。路克把木板立起時，上緣碰到一疊泡棉筒，另一個畫框因此失去支撐。泡棉筒像小骨牌般傾倒，撞到一輛金屬小推車。推車晃動，車上幾顆玻璃彈珠滾落，在磁磚上四散。

其中一顆彈珠鑽進地上的硬紙筒，紙筒開始翻滾，撞到半滿的油漆罐，油漆罐又向敞開的門口移動。原本穩定的平衡瞬間變成路克的追趕舞步。貓的耳朵貼平，當油漆罐掠過牠的鬍鬚時迅速跳開，罐子仍朝下坡晃動。路克將掃把柄刺向前方，柄端頂住紙筒，終於遏止了晃動的罐子。剩下的彈珠最後在椅腳旁慢了下來，但仍有一顆持續轉圈。路克身後的門口保持暢通，而那顆彈珠在貓爪邊畫出淺淺的圓。