The Falling Cloth- 適合初級的英語短篇故事

Milo placed a small wooden ball on a metal ramp. Cool air came through the open garage door. Near him, an old mechanic adjusted tiny domino blocks. They planned a neat sequence that rolled, tapped, and flipped. A white dove watched from a beam above the workbench. Tools lay in careful rows beside the ramp and tracks.

Milo paused to breathe, then let the wooden ball begin. Outside, pale dawn light touched the garage window. The ball struck a spoon; the spoon hit a marble. The marble rolled fast and pushed the first domino tile. Tiles fell in steady rhythm, tapping toward a tall cup. The cup tipped and poured sand onto a hanging cloth. Sand pulled the cloth down, but a clamp slowed everything. The cloth shifted and blocked the last row of tiles. Behind the cloth, one free tile kept wobbling against cardboard. That loose tile rocked back and forth along the narrow gap.

米洛把一顆小木球放到金屬斜坡上。涼爽的空氣穿過開著的車庫門。老修理工在他旁邊調整一排細小的骨牌。他們設計了一個整齊的連鎖動作，會翻滾、敲擊又翻轉。一隻白鴿從工作檯上方的橫梁上觀察。工具整齊排在斜坡與軌道旁。

米洛停一下深呼吸，然後放開那顆木球。外面微弱的黎明光打在車庫窗戶上。木球撞到一支湯匙；湯匙又頂到一顆彈珠。彈珠快快地滾動，推倒第一塊骨牌。骨牌有節奏地倒下，連擊到一只高杯子。杯子傾斜，把沙子倒向一塊懸掛的布。沙子拉下布，卻被一個夾具減速。布移動後，最後一列骨牌被擋住。布後一塊鬆動的骨牌仍然不停在紙板上搖晃。那塊骨牌在窄縫中來回晃動。