Seed Spill and Shadow Timing at the Bird Feeder Bench - 適合中高級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

A bright rectangle of tray lay bare beneath the feeder’s small roof.

Ula leaned from the bench and checked where the roof shadow reached.

Dappled light slid across her knuckles, and the raised grain warmed her palm.

Orson, her brother, sat beside her, notebook bright on his knees as he sketched.

He lifted the paper bag, and dry seeds shifted with a quiet rasp.

She held the bag closed, saving a strip for a crested visitor that waited in shade.

Orson tapped his pencil and angled the page so light fell clean across it.

“More birds would mean more motion to draw,” he said, keeping his voice low.

A small burlap pouch of pencils lay between them, its weave catching a bright edge.

They both reached for the rolled collar and paused, hands near the same spot.

Sparrows lined the perch like a small blockade, their bodies dark against the open sky.

A breeze shifted the seed tray; loose seeds ticked toward the bright front lip.

The bag’s roll loosened in Ula’s grip, and a spill ran faster than expected.

Orson snagged a frayed scrap from the burlap pouch and pinched the mouth closed.

Ground birds hopped into the sunlit scatter while the tray’s bare rectangle stayed bright.

From the path, footsteps grew louder; a runner’s shadow crossed their shoes and then thinned.

The water dish held a dim oval, its shallow depth darker under the bench shade.

“After those steps, a pour fits,” Orson said, lifting the bag as the sound faded.

Ula set the burlap scrap as a small collar and traced a thin shaded line.

Orson shook two pinches to the grass and began sketching quick silhouettes.

The corner of tray that had stood empty now held a fine row that glinted.

餵食台的小屋頂下，托盤上有一塊明亮的長方形空白。

Ula 從長椅上探身，查看屋頂陰影延伸到哪裡。

斑駁的光掠過她的指節，年久的木紋在掌心裡帶著溫熱。

Orson——她的哥哥——坐在一旁，筆記本攤在膝上，在亮處描線。

他提起紙袋，乾燥的種子在裡面嘶嘶輕響。

她按住袋口，把一條細帶留給會在陰影裡觀望的冠羽訪客。

Orson 輕敲鉛筆，把頁面轉到剛好有光的位置。

「多一點鳥就多一點動感好畫。」他壓低聲音說。

他們之間放著一個小麻布筆袋，粗織在亮邊上顯得清楚。

兩人同時伸手去抓捲起的袋口像領圈的地方，手在同一處停住。

幾隻麻雀排成一條小小封鎖線，身影在開闊天空前顯得發暗。

一陣風推動托盤，鬆散的種子輕輕喀響，朝亮面的前緣滾去。

Ula 手上的袋口鬆了，灑落的速度比預期更快。

Orson 從麻布筆袋扯下一片磨損的布屑，捏住袋口。

地上的陽面散著種子，地面鳥連續跳入，托盤上的那塊亮空白還在。

小徑上的腳步聲變大；跑者的影子掠過他們的鞋，接著變細。

水碟裡是一個暗淡的橢圓，淺淺的水深在長椅陰影下更黑。

「等那幾步過去，倒一點就剛好。」Orson 說，同時提起紙袋，聲音漸遠。

Ula 把那片麻布布屑當成小領圈套在袋口，描出一條陰影細線。

Orson 抖了兩撮到草地上，開始飛快勾出剪影。

先前空著的托盤角落此刻排著一列細種子，微光一閃。