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The vending machine continued to make noise – giving nothing in return. She sighed, took her coffee and walked out of the kitchen. As she did so, the vending machine stopped making noise. Kelly stopped. She suddenly felt cold, and somehow knew she was not alone.

As she walked, she thought she heard another set of footsteps near her – but every time she stopped, the sound went away.

When she finally made it to her office. She searched the internet to find out more about the building of her office. A cold feeling went through her body as she finally found an old news article about the building.

Lawyer Killed in Office Kitchen by Homeless Man while Working Late.

She sat still, unable to drink her coffee as the feeling that someone was watching her returned.
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wedge くさび;
trunk 樹幹;
grieve (…で)深く悲しむ;
spring 〈原因する〉・根差す、起こる;
bear 抱く、もつ；

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The Woodcutter cut down a Mountain Oak and split it in pieces, making wedges of its own branches for dividing the trunk. The Oak said with a sigh, “I do not care about the blows of the axe aimed at my roots, but I do grieve at being torn in pieces by these wedges made from my own branches.”
Misfortunes springing from ourselves are the hardest to bear. (From Aesop’s Fables)

日本語訳:
木こりは山のオークの木を切り倒し、その木を小さな塊に分割し、幹を分けるために自分自身の枝からくさびを作りました。オークはため息をつきながら言いました。「私は自分の根元に向けられた斧の一撃を気にしませんが、私の枝から作られたくさびによって自分自身が切り刻まれることには悲しみを感じます。」

自分自身から生じた不運は、最も耐え難いものです。
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