The Orange Stain Below the Jets- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

The tiled walkway looped seven paces from the fountain’s circular rim. A low stone bench sat between them, streaked with pale lime lines. Warm sunlight slowly slid over the wet stone. A faint citrus smell rose where dropped peels dried on the pavement. Gwen leaned over the edge, eyeing a bright metal button that circled the drain in the cloudy pool. Two strong forces battered her at once today. High jets chopped the surface, their spray leaping sideways and peppering her hair. Meanwhile, fruit juice from a stall on the boulevard seeped over the bench and oozed toward her sandals. The juice met the warm water and spread like orange smoke, turning each ripple sluggish. Gwen lowered herself, but a patch of slick syrup slid under her heel. The skid froze her leg in mid-step; the movement looked like hesitation carved in stone. She breathed through the wet mist and searched the ground for anything flat and broad.

Near the bench, a discarded plastic serving tray, once used to chop melon, leaned against a planter. She folded its bent side outward, pressed it against the bench, and propped it with a loose jar. The tray formed a flimsy wall; juice hit the surface, pooled, and then overflowed in slow beads. Its edges warped quickly, turning milky and strangely soft. With the syrup held back for the moment, Gwen focused on the restless water. She knelt, stretched her arm through the spray, and hooked the button with two fingers. Pressure from jets pushed against her wrist, but she twisted, lifted, and slipped the prize into her pocket. Behind her, the tray sagged; a corner tore, and orange liquid slid around the jar. A thin stream reached the rim, dripped into the fountain, and curled outward in widening swirls. The stain now spreads under the churning water. The syrupy film grows across the pale basin tiles.

鋪滿瓷磚的步道距離噴泉圓形邊緣約七步。石椅低矮地橫在其中，表面留下淺淺石灰痕。溫暖日光緩慢滑過濕潤石面。淡淡的柑橘香在乾掉的果皮上方升起。葛溫探身到邊緣，盯著渾濁水面中繞著排水口轉動的亮銀扣。今天，兩股強勁力量同時衝擊她。高噴嘴拍碎水面，水霧側射，噴在她髮間。同時，大道上一攤水果攤流出的果汁越過石椅，往她涼鞋底下滲去。果汁遇上溫水，像橘煙一樣擴散，使每一道波紋都變得遲緩。葛溫下蹲時，黏滑糖漿突然滑到腳跟下。腳步打滑，使她停在半空；整個動作像石雕般的遲疑。她在濕霧中調整呼吸，搜尋任何平坦又寬闊的東西。

石椅旁，一只被丟棄的塑膠托盤斜靠花盆，那原本用來切瓜。她把彎折的邊掰直，貼在石椅側，再用一只空罐頂住。托盤成了臨時薄牆；果汁撞上表面，聚成淺灘，隨後一滴滴溢流。它的邊緣很快扭曲，變得乳白而柔軟。糖漿暫時被阻擋，葛溫把注意力放到躁動的水面。她跪下，伸臂穿過水霧，用兩指勾起那顆扣。噴水壓推著她的手腕，但她旋轉、提起，將戰利品滑進口袋。身後，托盤下沉，一角撕裂，橘色液體繞過罐子滑行。一股細流抵達邊緣，滴入噴泉，向外旋成越來越大的漩渦。染痕正在湍水下擴散。糖漿薄膜沿著蒼白的池底繼續蔓延。