Dust Rising From the History Book- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

The coarse linen cover of a thick history volume rasped against Paul's palm as he slid it across the side table. He had balanced the first mirror against the spine, and a bright rectangle sprang toward a second mirror perched on a chair back. Faye, the historian, sat nearby turning pages; each page released a papery sigh that blended with the hum of afternoon traffic beyond the window. A tabby cat ambled along the sill, tail swishing with a soft whoosh that rocked the curtain gap and shifted the entry beam by a finger-width. The mirror quivered, the book thudded, and the light spot skated high above the target card. Paul pressed two fingertips against the mirror’s edge, heard a muted scrape, and eased it back, trying to make peace with the cat’s drifting shadow while the card waited blank and silent on the far wall.

A minute later the chair creaked; the wobbling mirror nudged a small fossil that served as a paperweight. The fossil rolled off the seat, tapped a cardboard box, and the box slid just enough to clip the third mirror resting on its lid. A rapid chain of knocks rippled through the improvised maze, and scattered flashes raced across ceiling, floor, and finally the cat, which leapt down with an indignant chirrup. If the mirror wobbled again, the beam would sweep across the bookcase, so Paul slipped a plastic protractor beneath the history volume, lifting one corner until the rasping stopped. The cascade paused; only the fossil spun slowly against the floorboards, making a faint ring each time its edge kissed wood. Paul watched, then crouched and pinned the fossil with the flat side of a spare mirror, its plastic frame giving a quiet tap as it met the floor. The linen cover that had been flat now leaned on the protractor, and a thin ribbon of dust drifted upward beside the book’s shifted spine.

厚重史書的粗麻布封面在保羅掌心發出沙沙聲，他把書滑到窗邊的小桌上。第一面小鏡子已經靠在書脊上，他曾經用它把一道亮矩形反射到椅背上的第二面鏡子。歷史學家費伊坐在旁邊翻頁，紙張一次次發出乾脆的噝聲，與窗外午後車流的低鳴混在一起。一隻虎斑貓在窗台上慢慢踱步，尾巴輕輕掃過，帶起一聲呼嘯，拉動窗簾縫的陽光偏離了一指寬。鏡子微抖，書“砰”地一響，光點溜上了目標卡片上方的牆面。保羅用兩指按住鏡邊，聽見悶悶的摩擦聲，輕輕調回角度，試著與貓不斷游移的影子握手言和，而牆上的卡片依舊靜靜等待。

幾分鐘後，椅子吱呀一響；晃動的鏡子碰到當作鎮紙的小化石。化石滾下椅面，輕叩一只紙箱，紙箱隨即滑動，撞到放在箱蓋上的第三面鏡子。一連串敲擊沿著即興迷宮蔓延，零星亮斑在天花板、地板甚至貓身上疾馳，貓發出不悅的短叫跳下窗台。如果鏡子再晃，光束就會掃過書架，所以保羅把塑膠量角器塞到史書底下一角，抬起些微高度，沙沙聲立即停止。連鎖反應停住了；只有化石仍在地板上慢慢旋轉，每次邊緣輕觸木板都敲出清脆的金屬般環響。保羅看了看，彎身用備用鏡子的平面壓住化石，塑膠框與地面輕輕碰出一聲細響。那本原本平放的史書此刻靠在量角器上，而書脊旁一道細小的塵絲正向上飄動。