Wind Across the Forms- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

The reception window stood ajar, yet the stack of numbered forms beside it stayed perfectly square. Ben stepped from the linoleum hallway into the waiting room, clutching a half-filled clipboard. A faded poster of a blue-grey meadow hung above a row of plastic chairs. Its colors had been dulled by many years of harsh fluorescent glare. Beside those chairs, a pot of fern had begun to wilt; pale fronds drooped over the rim, brushing dusty tiles. A plush lemur dangled from a child’s backpack near the form-filling counter, its tail swinging whenever footsteps passed. Ben found an empty seat, smoothed his pages, and leaned to sign the last box. He had just uncapped the pen when a gusty draft swept through the metal door behind him. The sudden current lifted loose leaflets from the reception desk, carrying them over the limp fern. They scattered across the pale floor in wide arcs like startled birds.

One leaflet slid beneath a fern frond and pulled it downward; beads of water shook free from yesterday’s watering. The droplets splashed onto the tail of the plush lemur, startling the backpack’s owner, a boy standing in line. The boy swung around, and the toy made a soft arc, enough to fling a paper cup of pencils from the counter. The pencils rolled toward the hallway, tapping the tiles in irregular lines. Ben rose quickly, scooping leaflets while stepping across the drifting pencils, his shoes squeaking once. A pharmacist pushed the glass partition halfway down, blocking the draft; the papers stopped skimming the tiles and lay flat again. Ben stacked them beside the clipboard, lines now slightly blurred by moisture. Overhead, the fluorescent tubes kept their steady buzz, coating the ceiling with cool light. At the same moment, beyond the clinic’s sliding door, parking lot grasses bent under the same restless air. A single leaflet that had escaped earlier rolled along the curb and kept tumbling toward the storm drain.

接待窗口半掩著，但旁邊那疊號碼表格依舊整齊。班握著填到一半的夾板，從鋪著油布的走廊走入等候區。牆上掛著一幅藍灰色草地的褪色海報，長年刺眼的日光燈把顏色沖淡。排椅旁的蕨類開始枯萎，蒼白葉片垂過盆緣，掃過積灰的瓷磚。一隻絨毛狐猴掛在小孩的背包邊，腳步經過時尾巴便搖擺。班找到空位，撫平頁面，俯身簽最後一格。剛打開筆蓋，後門吹進一陣強勁風流。瞬間氣流捲起接待桌上的傳單，越過無力的蕨葉，在灰白地面劃出大弧，如受驚鳥群。

一張傳單滑到蕨葉下，把葉片向下拉；昨日澆水留下的水珠抖落。水珠濺到絨毛狐猴的尾巴，排隊的男孩被嚇得猛然轉身。玩偶劃出柔和弧線，竟把裝鉛筆的紙杯甩下櫃檯。鉛筆滾向走廊，在瓷磚上不規則敲擊。班快步撿拾傳單，跨過散開的鉛筆，鞋底發出一聲尖響。藥劑師把玻璃隔板推到半下，風被擋住；紙張不再掠過地面，重新平躺。班把它們疊在夾板旁，墨線因水跡微微暈開。頭頂的日光燈持續嗡鳴，冷光覆在天花。就在同一刻，診所外停車場邊的草被同樣的亂風壓彎。先前逃出的那張傳單沿著路沿翻滾，朝雨水槽持續翻飛。