Circles Beside the Drain- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

"Lift that plank," Paul called.

Flora bent her knees and steered the timber against her boot. A low groan rolled along the rafters as Paul urged the grey board up the ladder rungs, each rung giving a dull boom under the new weight. Two iron brackets had been hammered into the wall years ago; their flaking edges barely seemed to justify another heavy shelf. A gentle nudge from Flora tried to align the far end, yet the board caught on a warped peg and stalled. Paul’s breath fluttered in the dusty light, mixing with tiny rattles from loose nails quivering inside nearby jars.

He raised a wooden mallet and tapped the stubborn peg. The first strike thudded; the second sent a brisk tremor through the workbench. That shake toppled a row of slim dowels, which clattered down the slope of an old plane and drummed across a tin scoop. Repeated taps still failed to persuade the peg to drop, but the unintended percussion kept racing outward. The tin scoop skidded, slapped a pile of chisels, and the gathered metal rang like off-key bells. One chisel jumped, landed on a coil of wire, and the stretched loops twanged against the floorboards.

With the cascade spreading, Flora slammed her boot heel beside the rolling tools. The sudden impact cushioned the movement, and most of the scattered metal stopped in an untidy crescent. Paul wedged the mallet handle across the peg for leverage; the peg twitched, sank halfway, and at last the plank slid onto its tired brackets. A single dowel, untouched by the boot’s block, spun in slow circles beside the drain grate.

「把那塊木板抬起來。」保羅喊道。

芙蘿拉彎曲雙膝，讓木板抵住靴子。當保羅把灰色木板往梯級上推時，閣樑發出低沉的呻吟，每一步都在梯級裡留下一聲悶響。多年前釘在牆上的兩個鐵支架邊緣剝落，看起來根本不值得再撐一層重板。芙蘿拉輕輕一頂，想把遠端對準，卻卡在變形的木釘上。塵光中，保羅的喘息顫動，附近幾只裝釘子的瓶子也跟著微微叮噹。

他抬起木槌敲那根頑固釘子。第一擊沉重，第二擊把震動傳到工作桌。這股震動撞倒一排細木棍，木棍順著舊鉋刀的斜面滾下，撞上錫勺，打出一串鼓點。連續敲擊依舊無法說服釘子完全落下，但那意外的節奏向外擴散。錫勺滑動，拍到一堆鑿子，金屬便像走音的鈴噹亂響。有把鑿子跳起，落在卷線上，拉長的線圈在地板上發出鏗鏘。

隨著連鎖反應蔓延，芙蘿拉的靴跟重踩在滾動工具旁，突然的衝擊減緩了它們，多數金屬停在半月形雜亂裡。保羅把木槌柄卡在釘子下作槓桿，釘子抖動，陷下一半，木板終於滑上疲憊的支架。一根未被靴子擋住的細木棍，仍在排水溝旁緩緩打著圈。