Becca opened the
glassblower’s shop door and looked up at the merry tinkling of glass bells. The
rainbow display bounced on a ribbon over her head as the closing door swept
over them again. She looked around for the shopkeeper, but the room was empty.
Frowning, she
pulled her papers out of her well-worn travel bag. The glassblower would be
expecting her, wouldn’t he? She had paid a rough glass token for a message to
him when she was delayed in Brendlemere. She was so exhausted, all she wanted
to do was lie down, preferably on a bed, though she expected a floor pallet was
more likely. And alone. She had fended off more advances than she cared to
count in the five-day journey here. Not all of them had taken her word for it.
At the thought,
sparks flew from her fingertips, and Becca snapped her hands into fists. Stop it! She grimaced and clenched her
fingers tighter. She couldn’t afford any mistakes with the glassblower. Her da
had made it plenty plain she had no home to go back to.
She wandered
around the shop, looking at the glass displays. It was an intriguing mix of the
mundane and sublime. Simple glass plates and cups filled one curio, with small,
colorful animals and birds tucked around the edges. Everywhere there were
hanging birds, butterflies, suns and moons. Soon Becca forgot she was supposed
to be looking for the glassblower, lost in the glass itself.
In the back
corner, a hanging rod held colorful spirals that spun slowly on white ribbons.
Captivated, Becca reached up to touch them, one at a time, spinning them in the
light reaching in through the front window. As she traced the colored lines
turning around and around, her fingers glowed white hot, and the spirals
stretched down, lengthening in graceful curves as she fingered them.
“Nice touch you
have there,” an amused voice said behind her. Becca jumped and the glass spiral
she was holding dripped to the floor. She closed her eyes in despair.
Rough hands took
her own, fingers rubbing over her fingertips, not pulling away in horror.
Becca’s eyes opened to the curious gaze of a woman barely older than herself.
Still holding her hands, the glassblower said, “You’ll be my new apprentice,
then?”
Dumbstruck,
Becca could only nod.
The woman smiled
gently and dropped her hands. Turning away, she waved Becca toward her. “Good.
Come on, then. I’ll give you the two token tour.”
When she reached
the doorway, she turned to see Becca still standing, rooted next to the glass
bubble on the floor. “I’m Ayla. Pick that up before it hardens, will you? Glass
is such a fluid thing…”
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Dogs
in House
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Houdini
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Music
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Jesse Cook, Free Fall
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Time
writing
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~25 minutes
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April
word count
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4,130
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