Fruit for the Snow Lantern Bird- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

A dented metal shovel, a lidded glass jar, and a stack of saucer-sized snowballs waited on the stone step. A plump chickadee fluttered down between the jar and the tallest ball, its landing shaking up a clean, mineral scent from the crusted surface. Briar knelt in the build zone beside the half-finished dome as cool air carrying faint iron drift from his damp gloves brushed his cheeks. Each squeeze made the snow squeal then crumble into a chalk-dust aroma, a note not far from frozen apricot purée. Over the fence, wood smoke cut through the sweetness with a bitter edge, while sun-warmed cedar leaked resin that hovered like syrup. The chickadee pecked at the dome; its tiny tread pressed steaming ovals that glazed over almost at once. Briar rolled a fresh ball, yet hidden icy granules turned it to loose shards and left a ragged gap on the curve.

一把凹痕斑斑的金屬鏟子、一個蓋緊的玻璃罐和一疊碟子大的雪球擱在石階上。豐滿的山雀在罐子與最高的雪球之間降落，振起冰殼裡乾淨礦石般的味道。布里亞跪在建造區的半成形雪屋旁，濕手套隱約的鐵氣隨冷風掠過臉頰。每次擠壓，雪都會尖叫一聲後碎成粉末般的氣味，類似凍杏果泥的甜味。籬笆那頭的木煙帶著苦香切入，被太陽烘暖的雪松則滲出糖漿似的樹脂香。山雀啄著圓頂，它細小的腳印冒出薄薄蒸氣又立刻結霜。布里亞再捏一顆雪球，但藏在裡頭的冰粒讓它碎成片，弧面留下一個參差不齊的缺口。