The Flag Box That Fell Short - 適合中高級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

Luis pushed the storage-shed door inward, and warm air drifted around his face. The room smelled of dry grass and engine oil. Afternoon light crossed a supportive beam overhead, revealing dust that spiraled in slow columns. A cardboard cutout of a famous quarterback leaned beside stacked helmets, its plastic foot wedged under a cracked skate. Near the back wall, a terrarium held a sleeping corn snake while a poster above it showed a painted viper with flared fangs. Luis had promised the art club a box of cotton flags for tonight’s booth; he spotted the box high on a metal shelf, partly hidden behind a rusty trombone case.

His first reach failed. An old wooden stool wobbled under his shoes, its legs bending outward. He stepped down quickly and searched for another plan. A broom handle lay across folded mats; he lifted it and tried to nudge the box forward. The handle slipped, striking the cutout quarterback and sending it face-first onto a pile of jerseys. The campus cat, curled on those jerseys, sprang away as though a pulse of electricity had flashed across the floor. The sudden jump toppled a stack of plastic cones, which clattered and rolled, blocking the narrow aisle. Luis bent, gathered the cones, and slid them aside. He then placed two solid paint buckets under the stool’s weakest corner. The platform now held steady, letting him stand high enough to grip the flag box.

Cardboard edges groaned while he dragged the box into daylight. Its lid sprang off, and only brittle streamer fragments drifted out; the real flags were gone long ago. Beneath the shreds lay a tarnished whistle, a bent key, and three unused glow sticks. The cat pawed at one glow stick, batting it across the floor until green light seeped through the plastic. Luis tucked the whistle into his pocket, swept the scraps into a bin, and turned toward the door. A single torn flag hung from the edge of the shelf.

路易斯推開儲物棚的門，溫暖的空氣撲向臉頰。室內瀰漫乾草與機油的味道。午後的光線越過頭頂那根支撐橫梁，照出成柱旋轉的灰塵。牆邊靠著一個著名四分衛的紙板立牌，塑膠底座卡在裂開的滑板下方。後牆的玻璃箱裡蜷著一條沉睡的玉米蛇，箱上方的海報則畫著張口的毒蛇。路易斯曾向美術社保證今晚攤位會用到一盒棉布旗，他看見盒子高掛在金屬層架上，部分被生鏽長號盒遮住。

他第一次試伸手便失敗。舊木凳在鞋底下搖晃，椅腳外張。他迅速跳下，尋找其他方法。橫放在折疊墊上的掃帚柄成了主意，他舉起柄想把盒子推向前，卻失手碰倒四分衛立牌，立牌臉朝下壓在一堆球衣上。原本蜷臥球衣的校園貓像地板瞬間閃過電波般彈起，跟著推倒一疊塑膠錐，那些錐子滾動並堵住狹長通道。路易斯蹲下收拾錐子，推到一旁，然後把兩桶顏料墊在凳子最弱的角落。平台變得穩固，他得以站高，抓住旗盒。

紙箱邊緣發出嘎吱聲，他把盒子拖到光線處，蓋子彈開，只有脆碎的彩帶飄落；真正的旗早已不見。碎片下躺著一只暗淡的口哨、一把彎曲的鑰匙與三支未用的發光棒。貓拍打一支發光棒，直到綠光滲透塑膠殼。路易斯把口哨塞進口袋，將碎片掃進桶裡，轉身走向門口。層架邊緣僅剩的一面破旗懸掛著。