When Mud Blocked the Drain- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Elias pushed a small wooden cart into the school courtyard just after lunch. Warm sunlight touched the old bricks while a faint smell of damp earth hung close to the grass. He had brought a bag of flower seeds, a narrow trowel, and an ample watering can. An oak tree spread wide branches above, offering sufficient shade for his work. A shallow stone basin, which has been placed near the trunk, still held rainwater from yesterday. He planned to fill the can there, then follow the curved pathway to a new bed beside the wall. Elias has visited the courtyard many times, yet today he wanted the bed to look brighter before parents arrived for evening pick-up.

He dipped the can, but a sudden gust pressed against his arm. The can jerked, splashing water over the rim. The first wave rushed down the sloping pathway and struck a loose mound of dry soil that waited beside the bed. The soil broke apart, turned into mud, and slithered toward the drain that was hidden under leaves. Mud covered the grate, so the next burst of water spread sideways, heading straight for the packet of seeds on the grass. Elias lunged, grabbed a wide board that had been stacked behind a bench, and shoved one end across the flow. The board redirected the stream back toward the basin, slowing the cascade long enough for him to scrape the mud away with his trowel. Water found the open grate and slipped below the stones. Elias rinsed the board in the basin, then leaned it against the oak tree, away from the wet ground.

伊利亞斯在午餐後把一輛小木推車推進學校的庭院。溫暖的陽光照在老舊磚牆上，潮濕泥土的淡淡氣味貼近草地。他帶來一袋花種子、一把細長的小鏟，以及一個寬大的澆水桶。一棵橡樹展開寬闊枝條，為他的工作提供足夠的陰影。樹幹旁邊放著一口淺石盆，昨天的雨水仍儲存在裡面。他打算裝滿水桶，沿著彎曲的小徑走到靠牆的新花壇。伊利亞斯已經來過庭院許多次，但今天他想在家長下午來接孩子之前，讓花壇看起來更明亮。

他把水桶浸進石盆，突然一陣風推動他的手臂，桶子猛地一晃，水濺出桶口。第一股水順著傾斜的小徑衝下去，撞上花壇旁一堆乾土。乾土碎開，變成泥漿，蛇行滑向被落葉遮住的排水口。泥巴覆蓋格柵，下一波水便向旁邊漫開，直奔草地上的種子袋。伊利亞斯衝上前，抓起長椅後面疊放的一塊寬板，把一端壓到水流上。木板把水重新導回石盆，水勢減慢，他趁機用鏟子把泥巴鏟開。水流進打開的格柵，滑入石縫。伊利亞斯在石盆裡沖洗木板，然後把它靠在橡樹上，遠離濕漉漉的地面。