Paper Freed by the Jammed Door- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

A rectangle of brighter paint shone on the closet wall where a column of clipboards had once hung. Beneath that pale outline, six metal hooks lined the wooden strip in a tidy, evenly spaced row. The last hook gripped only empty air, echoing the same gap Faye saw on the paper shelf beside it. She reached through the half-open sliding door, yet its rough edge halted after twenty centimetres and formed a rigid barrier. Faye had tried to force it before and had badly bruised her knuckles in the effort. She had promised herself not to repeat that plight, yet the class poster still required sandy paper hidden somewhere inside. She pressed both steady palms against the cold metal frame and shoved. The panel stayed firm, and the tremor rattled loose rulers waiting in jeopardy on the top rail.

Inside the dim cupboard she spotted a wrapped ream, its plastic skin shiny yet coated with thin dust. A long wooden pointer had been left leaning under a mop head and offered the reach her arm lacked. She wedged its blunt tip under the parcel and dragged until the pack bumped against the narrow opening. If the pointer had been even a little shorter, it would have slipped free and dropped the package back into darkness. The door still allowed barely two finger widths, far too slim for the whole bundle. She considered retreating, then kept going, noticing how the frozen panel’s stiff lip felt almost like a blade. With a slow pull she drew the wrap across that lip, and the taut plastic tore with a dry hiss. The very gap that had blocked her seconds earlier now sliced the wrapping wide open. She pinched twelve sheets of sandy paper, folded them once, and slipped them through easily.

Faye hugged the smooth sheets and walked toward the corridor, leaving the panel almost but not fully closed. Faye turned the corner, paper tucked under her arm, while a thin ribbon of plastic slid from the door track unseen.

置物櫃牆面上一塊較亮的漆痕顯示，原本掛著一整列寫字板的位置如今空空如也。痕跡下方，六個金屬掛鉤整齊排在木條上，最後一個鉤子卻只掛著空氣，和旁邊紙張層板上的空缺遙相呼應。費伊把手伸進半開的滑門，但粗糙的門沿滑到二十公分處就停住，形成一道堅硬的阻隔。她以前曾用力推門，結果把指節撞得發青。她原本發誓不再重蹈那段窘境，可是班上的海報仍需要躲在裡頭的沙色紙張。她雙掌貼在冰冷的金屬框上猛推，門板卻紋風不動，震動還把上方鬆動的尺子搖得嘎嘎作響，隨時可能掉落。

在昏暗的櫥內，她瞥見一包包裝完好的影印紙，塑膠外膜閃亮卻佈滿薄灰。一支長木指示棒被遺留在拖把下方，正好補足她手臂不足的長度。她把鈍頭塞到紙包下方，用力槓起並拖拉，直到紙磚撞到窄窄的門縫。要是這指示棒再短一點，肯定早已脫手，讓紙磚重新跌回黑暗裡。門縫只剩兩指寬，整包紙根本拿不出來。她想過放棄，但還是繼續，注意到僵硬門沿像刀口般銳利。她慢慢把塑膠膜拉過門沿，緊繃的膜發出乾裂聲，一口被割開。剛才擋路的那道縫隙，此刻俐落地切開包裝。她夾出十二張沙色紙，對折一次，輕鬆抽了出來。

費伊把光滑的紙張抱在胸前，走向走廊，門板只差一點就合上。她轉過轉角，紙夾在手臂下，那條被割斷的塑膠細帶悄悄從門軌滑落在拋光地面，無人察覺。