Page 7 of Ravenous

Especially not when she was a human, and I was a single parent and a wolf.

4

JOY

I saton my low stool, knees spread wide around my potter’s wheel. My right foot was on the pedal, which adjusted how fast it circled. My hands were covered in wet clay up past my wrists. My old apron covered my tank top and shorts from the splatter, but my knees and a few spots on my thighs weren’t so lucky.

Being messy was part of the job as a potter. I took a cube of wet clay and turned it into functional objects, like plates and mugs and vases. A vase was what I was making now.

I dipped the wet sponge in the water bucket, squeezed it out, then set it right where the wheel and clay met. It looked like a vase, about a foot tall, but I needed to taper in the bottom. I pressed in as the vase spun round and round. Slowly, with consistent pressure, it narrowed.

I dunked the sponge and did it again and again until I was satisfied. Then I grabbed a small wooden tool to remove the excess.

A spiral ribbon of clay came free. I tossed it into the little pile of excess clay that was slowly growing.

The music was on low. The garage door was raised. It was a gorgeous Montana day.

But it was still hot. Sweat dotted my brow, and I couldn’t touch it to wipe it away. I’d learned that the hard way long ago when I used to get covered head to toe in clay.

Taking my foot off the pedal, the vase slowed, then stopped.

I eyed it critically. This was a new direction I was going. The first two I’d delivered to the craft shop in town had sold the first week. I’d sent a few to shops around the country that sold my work. This one was headed to Texas when it was complete.

Grabbing the wire with the little wood dowel pieces on either end, I slid it under the bottom of the wet vase to separate it from the wheel.

Checking to make sure I had a place to set it on the shelf to dry, I glanced over my shoulder. It was then my cell rang.

“Shit.”

Carefully, I picked up the vase and went across the garage and set it down.

Pushing out my bottom lip, I blew air up and over my face, blowing my wayward strands of hair out of my eyes.

I couldn’t grab my cell–which was still ringing–but I used my pinky to swipe up, leaving only a small smear on the glass. With the speaker button on, I could talk hands free.

“It’s a joyful day!”

“Hi Joy, this is Joann at Segal Crafts.”

Her store in Oregon had sold a few pieces of mine. I even sent her one last week.

“Oh, hi! I was just working on the next vase.”

“That’s great. I’m calling with bad news, though.”

That didn’t sound good.

“The box you sent. Everything in it was broken.”

“What?” Everything? There were… fourteen mugs, three serving dishes and one vase. I was an expert at packing breakables, but things did happen. Still. Everything?

“You should definitely take it up with the delivery service and claim the insurance on it. I have photos I can email you to add to the claim.”

It was five hundred dollars worth of goods.

I could probably get an insurance check as she mentioned, but it took time. I’d done it before. This was a lot! I needed that money. I’d hoped Joann was calling to tell me she’d paid me electronically, and I’d have what I needed to pay the mortgage.

Now?

---