The Robin’s Sudden Flight- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Briar slid the short ladder forward until its feet pressed into a firmer patch beside the pear trunk. Damp grass pressed against his shoes, and a slick ribbon of lichen on the bark made his first grip slide. He wanted the highest golden fruit that still swung just beyond fingertip reach, despite other children already gathering lower ones. Many pears had been picked earlier, and mottled stems now jutted like small pegs among the leaves. When he climbed the second rung, the branch bent away like an elastic bar, refusing to stay within his arm span. He pinched the stem, yet the limb recoiled and tossed him off balance, so he hopped down before the ladder wobbled further. The unwanted springiness kept delaying him, and the pause let a neighbouring picker pass by the row as though on a promenade.

Briar grasped the branch lower, drew it down, and noticed the tension humming through the wood like a loose stringed instrument. A useful idea surfaced; if the branch rebounded once, it could tug several pears free at ground level where baskets waited. He knelt, pinned the ladder’s side rail across the limb, and released his grip without rushing. The branch whipped upward; the sudden motion flushed a robin from the hedgerow nexus where tangled brambles met the last tree. The robin’s wings thrashed leaves above Briar’s head, and that commotion stirred three drifting wasps into a tight spiral. Their buzzing cloud rocked a thin twig, already loosened by wind, and two ripe pears dropped only half a meter. One rolled toward the shaded root, while the other plopped directly into the canvas-lined basket waiting under the branch’s shadow.

The pears nearby kept wobbling in place on the uneven turf after landing so lightly. Briar noticed wasps drifting toward the fallen fruit, so he slid the basket lid across the grass like a shield. The wooden cover blocked their path, turning the spiral aside, and the chain of small disturbances finally eased. He weighed the unbruised catch on the scale, the simple instrument confirming the load lay within easy carrying range. A distant bell signalled midday, and Briar hoisted the basket against his hip before pacing toward the tilted sorting table. Above the row, the robin swept on, wings drawing fast arcs through sunlit patches toward the gap beside the outer basket.

布萊爾把矮梯往前一推，梯腳卡在梨樹旁較硬的土面上。濕草貼在他的鞋面，而樹皮上一條滑溜的地衣讓他的第一把抓空了。最高那顆金黃果實還在指尖之外輕晃，其他孩子已在較低枝頭收果。較早被採下的梨留下斑駁的蒂，如小木釘般插在葉間。當他踩上第二階，枝條像彈力桿般向外彎，不肯停在他的臂展內。他夾住果梗，枝條卻回彈把他晃得失衡，他趕緊跳下，好在梯子沒有更晃。枝條這股多餘的彈力拖慢進度，讓另一個採果人如散步般從這排走過。

布萊爾將枝條往下拉，感到木質像鬆鼓弦般震動。忽然冒出一個念頭：若讓枝條反彈一次，說不定能在地面就放掉幾顆梨，籃子正等在那裡。他跪下，把梯側鐵條壓在枝條上，慢慢放手。枝條猛然上揚，驚起最後一株樹旁荊棘巢中的知更鳥。鳥翼掀動頭頂的葉群，騷動驅使三隻漂浮的黃蜂盤成緊圈。牠們的嗡鳴搖晃一根被風鬆動的細枝，兩顆成熟梨僅落半公尺。其一滾向陰根，另一顆正好撲通掉進枝影下的布籃。

掉在不平草地的梨還微晃。布萊爾見黃蜂靠近落果，便把籃蓋滑過草面擋在前方。木蓋封住牠們的路，螺旋般的飛舞被帶離，連鎖的小騷動終於減弱。他把無傷的收穫放上秤，簡易儀器顯示重量仍可輕鬆提走。遠處鐘聲報午，他把籃子扛在腰間，步向微斜的分類桌。樹列上方，那隻知更鳥仍疾飛，雙翼在日光斑塊間畫出快速弧線，掠向外側籃旁的缺口。