Rabbit at the Barn Door- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Sun spilled across the yard while Lila carried fresh lettuce toward the weather-worn barn. Her morning goal was clear: keep the vegetables cool before the sun rose higher. However, two problems appeared almost together in front of her. A plump rabbit darted beside her boots and snatched a dangling leaf. The swollen door refused to slide after last night’s shower. Lila pushed with both shoulders against the rough boards. The panel shuddered once but stayed firm there. Behind her, the rabbit circled, ears twitching, then lunged for the basket again. A furious squeak burst from the animal as her boot blocked its path. Dust rose as she jerked the basket away, and her free hand throbbed against the stubborn wood.

Lila has wrestled with sticky doors before, yet the combination of impatient animal and stubborn timber felt new. She set the basket on a barrel, grabbed an empty bucket, and scraped it along the gravel. The metallic rasp startled the rabbit, which bolted toward a stack of straw beside the door. As the small body slipped behind the panel, its weight knocked a hidden latch upward. The door slid open by a moderate distance, then wider. Lila blinked at the unexpected helper, laughed, and guided the basket inside. The rabbit reappeared, jaws moving in a hardworking rhythm on the leaf, while sunlight stopped at the threshold.

陽光灑滿院子時，莉拉把新鮮萵苣搬向那座舊穀倉。她那天早晨的目標很明確：在太陽變得更熱之前，讓蔬菜保持涼爽。然而，兩個麻煩幾乎同時擋在她面前。一隻肥胖的兔子竄到她靴子旁，咬住一片垂下來的葉子。昨夜的雨水讓滑門脹大，不肯移動。莉拉雙肩抵著粗糙的木板猛推。門板顫動一下仍不為所動。她身後，兔子繞圈，耳朵抽動，接著又衝向籃子。當她的靴子擋住去路時，動物發出尖銳而急躁的叫聲。她猛地收回籃子，揚起的灰塵在空中漂浮，空出的手掌因撞擊而發麻。

莉拉以前也和卡住的門較量過，但急躁的動物和倔強的木門同時出現還是頭一次。她把籃子放在桶上，抓起一個空水桶，在碎石上拖出刺耳聲響。金屬摩擦嚇到兔子，它衝向門旁的稻草堆。小小的身體滑到門板後，重量碰上了隱藏的插銷，插銷跳起，門縫開出適中的距離，又漸漸更大。莉拉眨眼看著突如其來的幫手，笑著把籃子送進去。兔子再度現身，嘴巴以勤奮的節奏嚼著葉子，陽光止步於門檻之外。