Swirling Glass – Seattle Art Museum – by Tommia Wright

Forgot I used to write this thing called ‘fiction.’ This is a snippet from “Escorting in Twilight.” One of these years I just might finish this one.

Alle Yomin stirred the dried herbs into the transparent mix now centered between the young group seated by the fireplace. The red seedlings and black stems swirled from the top to the bottom of the clear vessel, pulling the steam back down.

The elder saw his son’s eyes widen, the fighter’s eyes narrowed, and a coy smile cross the healer’s face. Alle chucked to himself, surprised, yet not surprised that this lesson wasn’t covered at the Learning Hall.

“Why the confusion,” he asked as he ladled a cupful for each of them. “You’re in your tenth terms, are you not?”

Desmon Nobel shook his head, the crease in his forehead deepening. “The properties of the seedlings should have turned it all red.”

Alle’s son disagreed. “The capsicum’s cancelled out by the regolizia.”

“Fascinating,” Alle said. “What else, Allen?” He knew his son knew more than what he was saying. What amused the elder, however, was that the young woman between them knew it, too.

Jalem Vitalma’s smile grew after she sipped the beverage. “Professor Kjenson would be so disappointed with you two right now. Mr Yomin, I can understand how the herbs changed the miel juice. I don’t understand where the steam emerged from let alone vanished into. Miel, regolizia and capsicum don’t…” She stopped, eyes fixed on the vessel.

Alle leaned back and drew a scroll from the air, using it like a wand to make a point. “Seemingly harmless items brought together and affected by the surrounding elements, heated to boil, not reduce into a crucible. It all depends on the turns taken, on the bonds made. Nothing more and nothing less.” With that, he unrolled the parchment and proceeded to continue the mystery.