Lily Pads and the Last Pellet After a Rolling Pencil - 適合中高級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

The paper cup’s rim yielded under Lyra’s thumb like soaked bread, wrong for something that looked crisp.

She stood by the lily pad cluster, palms on the rough, cool stone, while dry pellets rattled inside the cup. She flicked one pellet outward; it struck with a neat plip, pressed a tiny dimple, and rings spread under flashing mouths. A second toss died on a broad leaf; fish bumped its underside as orange scales made sharp contrast with the dark surface. She weighed two moves: shower several at once to scatter, or place single shots past the leaves with a low arc. She chose the low arc and shifted her wrist; the stone’s cooler temperature steadied her grip, and two landed in open water. A breeze lifted the felt flower on her cap, just an accessory, and tilted the cup; pellets skittered along the railing.

A drawing pencil slipped from her grandparent’s pad and rolled toward the path, tapping each ridge in the stone. Lyra stepped back, pinned it under her shoe, and passed it across the bench to her grandparent. “Caught it,” she said, keeping her voice low against the fountain’s hiss by the willow’s shade. She returned to the rail; water beads had darkened a thin crescent on the cup rim, and the fold had torn. Inside, a few pellets now stuck together; when she tipped, they moved as a single soft clump. A white duck paddled through the lily pads, nudging leaves; the school slid deeper, and bubble chains rose near the shaded edge. Cool spray dotted her forearm, and the sweet scent from the bushes hung just above the waterline.

She did not utter a word; she squared her shoulders to the rail and lowered her toss to a short, soft drop. Singles left her fingertip one by one, timed between the duck’s slow turns and the fountain’s pulse. Each pellet skimmed a gap beside a leaf, made one crisp ring, then floated while a wide mouth tested it again. She gave up on clumps and shook the cup only enough to loosen one, keeping the torn rim upright. Near the willow’s shade, a large shape slid closer; an amber back rose, then traced away like a slow drum. She weighed a final choice: fling the last clump to draw a rush, or place singles wider to reach the edges. She spread them wider, taking a slower rhythm so the new fish at the margins caught their turn near open patches. One last pellet clicked against her thumbnail and arced through a narrow space beside two leaves. The cup hung empty in her palm, and the bright koi lifted, closed on the pellet, and swallowed.

萊菈的拇指一壓，紙杯的杯緣竟然軟了下去，像泡過水的麵包，和它看起來的乾脆完全不同。

她站在那叢荷葉旁，手掌貼著粗糙又涼的石欄，乾燥的飼料顆粒在杯中喀喀作響。她輕彈一顆出去；它以清脆的「噗嗶」落水，壓出一個小小的水凹，圓圈向外擴散，魚嘴在下方一閃一閃。第二投落在一片寬葉上；魚撞著葉子的背面，橘色鱗片在深綠水面上形成鮮明對比。她衡量兩種做法：一次灑出幾顆讓它們分散，或是用低弧度單顆送過葉緣。她選了低弧度，手腕一轉；更低的石面溫度穩住了她的抓力，兩顆落在開闊水面。陣風掀起她帽上的毛氈小花，明明只是個裝飾，卻把杯子傾了一下；幾顆飼料在欄面上滑行。

外公的素描鉛筆從畫板邊緣滑落，沿著石地的每道紋理滾著、輕輕叩響。萊菈退一步，用鞋底壓住它，再把它遞回柳蔭下的長椅。她說：「接到了。」聲音被噴泉的嘶聲壓低。她回到欄邊；幾滴水在杯緣上染出一道深色弧痕，摺線處也裂了一小口。杯裡有幾顆黏在一起；她一傾，整團就像軟塊一起移動。一隻白鴨在荷葉間划過，頂著葉片；魚群往下沉去，陰影邊緣冒出一串串小氣泡。涼涼的水霧點在她前臂上，花叢的甜香停在水面上方。

她一句話也沒說；肩膀對正欄面，把拋擲變成短而柔的下墜。單顆一顆一顆離開指尖，卡在鴨子慢轉和噴泉節奏之間。每顆都從葉邊的空隙掠過，畫出清晰的圓紋，然後漂著，被寬寬的魚嘴反覆探咬。她放棄那團黏塊，只輕輕晃杯，鬆下一顆，同時讓裂口保持朝上。柳蔭旁一個大影子慢慢靠近；一抹琥珀色背脊浮起，又像慢鼓一樣滑走。她再衡量一次：把最後那團甩出去博得一陣擾動，或把單顆撒得更開，餵到邊緣的新魚。她把距離拉開，節奏放慢，讓邊上的新來者在空隙處接到。最後一顆在她指甲上輕輕一碰，拋過兩片葉子之間的窄縫。杯子在她掌心變得空空的，明亮的錦鯉上浮，咬住那顆粒，吞下。