Hao Shui

Sabiyya dialed Shui. The phone rang to voicemail and Sabiyya dialed again.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, it's Sabiyya. Are you free to hang out?"

"Uh, yeah. You want to meet me at my place while I clean up?"

Shui's place was just a short walk from where the bus dropped Sabiyya. It was a small house, but it was an independent building and Shui was one of the few friends she had that had a garage.

Shui answered the door still wearing her clay-splattered smock.

"Can I see it?" Sabiyya asked after pleasantries.

"Sure. Not that it's much to look at right now." Shui lead her fried to the garage and flicked on the lights. The garage was big enough to accommodate two cars, but only a single sedan was to be found. In the space for a second vehicle was Shui's workspace. She sculpted pottery and other clay forms. The majority of the floor was covered with a tarp to wrangle any messes. A pedestal and stool were stowed against the side wall, and a shelf held works in progress. Sabiyya knew from experience that a kiln could be found in the miniature grass plot that was Shui's backyard.

Sabiyya looked over the items on the shelf. Most of them were pots of some sort or another. Others were statues of things like flowers or fish. There was even a bust.

"Which one were you just working on?"

"That one has been returned to the great clay box in the sky - and by 'sky' I mean that corner. I didn't have time to finish it."

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting you," Sabiyya apologized sincerely.

"Don't worry about it," Shui assured her. "I didn't get very far and it's all part of the process. I was thinking about starting over anyway." Back in the house Shui checked the time on her phone. "We're in the dinner window now. Are you hungry? We could find a place if you were looking to go out."