The alternatives below are different readings, not consecutive events.
A pair of hands
You are Mara, at the table under the patched glass. Rain gathers along the edge of the roof, then falls beyond it. There is still half a heel of bread at the empty place.
Sella arrives with blue wool inside her coat. She opens it just far enough to lift out a loose hank.
“Only until I’ve wound it,” she says.
You hold out your hands. She settles the wool around them. The loops touch your cuffs; the strand leading to her fingers is already trying to tighten.
“Wider,” she says. You move your hands apart. “Less.” You bring them closer.
Next: Ask Sella to guide the distance → A little nearer · Watch the wool as you make a small adjustment → The loop that slackens
A little nearer
“Here?” you ask.
Sella keeps one hand on the beginning of the ball. With the other she shows a gap, smaller than the one you have made.
You bring your hands that much closer. A loop slips cleanly over your thumb.
“That’s it.”
You rest your elbows lightly against your sides. Sella winds. When the strand tightens again, you ask before moving. This time she loosens a crossed loop herself.
Next: Keep the hank steady → Everybody stop
The loop that slackens
You bring one hand a little nearer the other. The upper loop relaxes, but the lower loops stay where Sella put them.
She takes another turn around the ball. It draws the slack away without pulling your wrist.
“That’s it,” she says.
You keep that width. From here you can see each loop wait its turn. The distance is useful only while the wool agrees with it.
Next: Keep the hank steady → Everybody stop
Everybody stop
For a while there is rain, wool passing over a cuff, and Orren chewing bread.
Ilan shifts his stool to make room for the ball. Something catches. You raise your hands; Sella turns the ball; Ilan moves a foot. The strand grows taut between all three of you.
“Everybody stop,” Sella says.
You stop. Orren keeps chewing.
A length of wool has gone around the stool leg. Sella puts the ball down and bends to see beneath the table.
Next: Hold the hank still while Ilan steadies the stool → Keep this part quiet · Lift the loose length so Sella can see the catch → A little light underneath
Keep this part quiet
You leave your hands exactly where they are. Ilan puts a palm on the stool and draws his feet together.
“Is that enough room?” he asks.
Sella reaches below the tabletop. Her shoulder brushes the underside; a small grey line appears on her coat.
The pull eases. You wait until she is standing again before letting the next loop slip.
“Now,” she says, and takes up the ball.
Next: Let the winding continue → The last loop
A little light underneath
You lift only the loose length, keeping the rest of the hank at the same width. Below the table, a narrow triangle opens between strand and stool.
“There,” Sella says.
She goes under the table and draws the wool back around the leg. You lower your hand when she asks. A dust mark comes back up with her shoulder.
Ilan brings both feet together. The freed strand falls between them without touching either shoe.
Next: Let the winding continue → The last loop
The last loop
“What’s it going to be?” you ask.
“A sleeve. The other one’s finished.”
“Then you’re halfway.”
“There’ll be the rest of the cardigan.”
The ball turns in her hands. Your arms begin to notice how long they have been holding the same shape. Then the last loop slips free, and you lower them slowly.
Sella tucks the ball away. The blue strand has disappeared into her coat.
Next: Ask about the part that comes after the sleeves → The rest of it · Move your cup to give her room to sit → Room beside the bread
The rest of it
“Do you know what comes next?” you ask.
“Yes,” Sella says. “I just haven’t done it.”
You rub one wrist with the other hand. She watches the movement.
“Thank you for the hands.”
“They were here.”
She reaches for the bread at the empty place. There is enough room beside it to set down a cup.
Next: Stay at the table → Before she came
Room beside the bread
You move your cup nearer your elbow. Ilan keeps his feet together a moment longer, then looks under the table before moving the stool.
Sella sees the clear place and sits. She takes the bread, leaving a few crumbs where it had been.
You can still feel the loops across your palms. Your hands are empty now. They do not have to find another job immediately.
Next: Stay at the table → Before she came
Before she came
“Now,” Sella says, “what were you doing before I came?”
You look at Ilan. He looks at Orren, who has reached the last of his bread.
Rain keeps finding the same edge of glass. At the table, the conversation has room for another voice.
The wool is wound. The cardigan is unfinished. Sella stays.
The visit ends here.