Cedar Line Under the Dust- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

A tight rasp ran along the worktable. Glen leaned over and found a fresh scratch that zig-zagged across the green cutting mat like a tiny riverbed.

He rolled his shoulders to loosen the morning stiffness, then slid the mat aside. A carved meerkat from yesterday’s practice sat close to the groove, its paws balanced on the edge as if studying the damage. Glen brushed sawdust away with a household broom, but the groove still gaped. He gathered four thin oak slats from the supply corner, each no longer than his forearm; glued together they covered only two-thirds of the cut. The glue began its silent countdown. He hurried to the drying shelf, prised free two shorter walnut offcuts, and pressed them in. The combined length still fell short by a finger-width, so he paused, wrist aching, debating whether to tear everything out or search again.

Phone reception vanished behind the brick wall as he stepped into the yard area. Rain from last month’s monsoon had left the offcut bin warped, yet a single cedar strip inside remained straight. He carried it back, trimmed the extra length, and eased the final piece into place. Under steady hand pressure, the patch reached end to end; a faint shiver of released tension travelled through his forearms. While wiping excess glue, he noticed shallow pencil marks beneath the dust—the scratch aligned perfectly with those ticks. The flaw revealed itself as a guide line left by the previous class, a plan for an esplanade model rather than an accident. Glen chuckled, deepened the channel with a file, and inlaid a darker strand so the line would stay visible.

At the doorway, Greta lifted the little meerkat, tapped its wooden nose against the newly inlaid cedar, and wandered off toward the drying shelf.

尖銳的摩擦聲沿著工作桌響起。格倫俯身一看，發現綠色裁切墊上出現一道像迷你河床般蜿蜒的新刮痕。

他聳動肩膀舒緩早晨的僵硬，接著把墊子推到一旁。昨晚練習時雕的小狐獴就靠在溝槽旁，好像正研究這道損傷。格倫用家用掃帚把鋸屑掃開，溝槽依舊張著口。他從材料角落拿來四條細橡木板條，每條不過前臂長；黏在一起僅能覆蓋溝槽三分之二。膠水開始無聲倒數，他趕到晾乾架，撬下一對更短的胡桃木邊料並壓上去，總長仍差一指寬。他的手腕發酸，猶豫要不要全部拆掉還是再找材料。

走到院區時，磚牆擋住了手機訊號。上個月季風留下的雨水讓邊料桶變形，但裡頭仍有一條筆直的雪松條。他帶回室內，裁掉多餘長度後把最後一段塞進溝槽。當雙手穩穩壓住時，補丁剛好首尾相接；一股釋放的微震沿著前臂滑過。擦去多餘膠水時，他注意到塵埃下有淡淡鉛筆記號——刮痕完全對齊那些刻度。原來這並非瑕疵，而是上一堂課留下的濱海步道模型導線。格倫笑了，用銼刀把通道加深，再嵌入一條較深色的細條，讓線條永遠可見。

門口處，葛麗塔拿起那隻小狐獴，用木鼻輕敲新鑲的雪松條，然後晃到晾乾架那頭。