Ticking Under the Cabinet- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

A rectangle of brighter paint glared from the meeting-room wall, an empty space where the conference clock once hung. Glen raised one elbow, fingers spread, and brushed the patch; a soft line of dust had started to gather around its outline. The swivel chair beneath his feet wobbled, forcing him to hop down and steady his stance with the table edge. Noel squeezed past stacked folders near the door and nudged a sturdier stool across the carpet. The ceiling vent sighed; cooler air pressed against their sleeves and drifted loose papers toward the floor. Glen stepped onto the stool and probed the vacant hook. The metal had been bent outward, as though the weight had pulled free during the night. He had already spotted an elaborate brass rim gleaming behind the filing cabinet in the corner, but the gap allowed only two fingers. His shoulders tightened when the rim shifted yet refused to slide forward.

Noel crouched beside the perennial fern blocking the cabinet wheels and leaned his weight into the heavy steel frame. Their first shove skidded only a few centimetres. They repositioned, knees braced, backs straight, and tried again; the cabinet inched aside, revealing more of the fallen clock. Glen’s next reach failed—the rim spun away from his grasp and clinked against the skirting board. Acting on quick intuition rather than plan, Noel slipped a plastic ruler under the edge and levered the disk upward until Glen could clamp both palms around it. The mechanism looked intact except for a strip of paper wedged between the hands. Once the paper was teased free, the second hand twitched. By the time the cabinet rolled back, the clock face ticked evenly, its elaborate markings now level with their eyes. Glen hooked it on the wall, stepping away to check symmetry, then strode into the corridor as voices gathered for the meeting. Behind him, the minute hand crept forward across the fresh patch of paint.

會議室牆上留下一塊較亮的矩形漆面，顯示掛鐘不見了。格倫抬肘碰觸那塊漆面，灰塵沿著輪廓聚成細線。腳下旋轉椅搖晃，他只好跳下，用桌緣穩住身體。諾爾擠過門邊堆起的資料夾，把較穩固的凳子推過地毯。冷氣口發出嘶聲，冷風吹過袖子，把散紙吹向地面。格倫站上凳子，探摸空鉤。彎曲的金屬顯示重量曾把掛鐘拉落。他早已瞄到檔案櫃後一道發亮的黃銅圓緣，但縫隙只容兩指。當圓緣微動卻又卡住，他肩膀繃緊。

諾爾蹲在擋住櫃輪的多年生蕨旁，把重量壓向笨重的鋼櫃。他們第一次用力僅讓櫃子移動幾公分。兩人調整姿勢，膝蓋頂住，背打直，再推一次，櫃子慢慢滑開，露出墜落的掛鐘更多部分。格倫伸手落空，圓緣轉開，碰到踢腳板叮噹作響。諾爾憑直覺將塑膠尺插入邊緣，撬起鐘面，格倫才得以雙掌夾住它。機芯完好，只是指針間夾了一條紙帶。紙帶被輕輕抽出後，秒針抖動起跑。等櫃子推回原位，掛鐘已經重新滴答，複雜的刻度與他們視線齊平。格倫把鐘掛回牆上，退後對準位置，然後朝走廊邁步，外面人聲逐漸湧來。身後，那根分鐘針在新漆的方框上持續向前。