The Cat, the Mirror, and the Wandering Light- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

The carpet’s rough weave pressed patterned dimples against Orion’s palms and tingled where fibers rubbed his skin. He knelt beside the table where warm books supported a cool plastic mirror just then. Iris, reading silently by the window, had earlier taped a white card to the far wall for the final beam. Following his usual convention, he slipped a pink eraser as a wedge under the mirror’s edge for stability. Bright sunlight hit the mirror and flicked across the room, yet it missed the white card. Orion steadied his measured breath, nudged the mirror one degree, and the spot crawled slowly but surely halfway up the target. Warm air lifting from the curtain slit kept shifting the angle, so he pressed the eraser harder against the book. If the angle slipped again, the spot would miss the card completely and waste his careful effort.

A tabby on the windowsill noticed the wandering light and tried to jump in after it. The landing rocked the table, the warmed book tilted, and the mirror slid a finger’s width. The stray beam flashed across Orion’s face; his head jerked back, elbow bumping a chair with the relay mirror. The chair leg slid across boards, and the second mirror tipped until tape beneath it halted the fall. During that interim, the beam splashed over the ceiling and dust motes spiralled like slow sparks. Orion wedged a heavier dictionary against the book then pressed fresh tape along the mirror’s base. “Looks bright enough,” Iris murmured from her chair, the paperback still open across her knees. His fingertips met faint warming on the sticky plastic back, a discovery that explained the earlier slide. Fingerprints smeared the rim, and new carpet dimples marked the spot while the light patch inched upward.

地毯粗糙的織紋在奧利恩手心壓出一排排小凹痕，纖維摩擦皮膚時還帶點刺癢。他跪在桌旁，溫熱書本此刻正支撐著一面冰涼的小鏡子。正在窗邊看書的艾莉絲先前已把一張白紙板貼在遠處牆上，等待最後一道光點。奧利恩依照他一向的做法，把一塊粉紅橡皮當作楔子塞在鏡子下緣以固定角度。耀眼日光打在鏡面後彈過房間，卻沒有對準紙板。奧利恩調整呼吸，將鏡子再推動一度，光點緩慢卻穩定地爬到目標一半的位置。窗簾縫隙升起的暖氣流不斷改變角度，他只好再把橡皮更用力頂住書本。若角度再偏，光點就會整個飛開，先前的工夫全白費。

窗台上的虎斑貓注意到那飄移的光斑，決定躍身加入追逐。牠落地時震動桌面，被陽光烘熱的書本歪斜，鏡子滑開一指寬。反射光掃過奧利恩的臉，他猛地後仰，手肘撞上放著第二面鏡子的椅子。椅腳在木地板上滑動，第二面鏡子傾倒，但被底下的膠帶及時止住。就在這段短暫空檔，光束打到天花板，塵埃像緩慢的火花旋轉。奧利恩又塞進更厚的字典固定書本，並沿著鏡底貼上新膠帶。「亮度夠了，」艾莉絲一邊讀書一邊輕聲說。奧利恩指尖摸到鏡背微微發熱，這小小發現解釋了之前楔子為何鬆動。鏡框留下指紋，地毯多了壓痕，而那枚光斑仍在紙板上緩緩上移。