Accidental Artistic Expression

Toby meets Al and learns three new things. 300 words

Accidental Artistic Expression

Toby Volt was racing his bike around, pretending he was doing motocross. All at once, his chain flew off and hit the glass of a window in a house he was passing. Amazingly, it cut a perfect square out of the window right in the center. Toby was just picking up his chain, when a voice came from the opening in the window.

“Young man, did you break my window?”

Turning toward the voice, Toby said: “I’m sorry, my chain flew off and hit it.”

“Well, I know the idiosyncrasies of bicycle chains firsthand,” the voice said with sympathy. A hand came out of the hole.

“My name is Althea Dare; you can call me Al.”

Toby introduced himself and shook the hand.

“Want to see how I’m gonna fix it?” the woman asked.

Toby nodded eagerly and followed her instructions to get to the side door. Once inside, he stood in awe of the sparkle, color and beauty in Al’s house. She poked her head around a corner and beckoned.

“This is my studio. I work in glass. What would look good to fill this hole?”

“How about a bicycle with flowers and trees?” Toby suggested.

“Sound perfect!” Al shuffled glass pieces and fitted them together.

“What do you think?” she asked Toby.

“Wow, cool!” he said.

“High praise indeed!”

“Will you teach me how to do that?”

“How about right now. Then, I’ll help you with that glass killing bike chain.”

Toby laughed and so did Al.

The stain glass assembly was fascinating, and Toby enjoyed every minute. Even more interesting was the lesson on adding and tightening on a bike chain. With a fistful of cookies and a cold root beer in hand, Toby shouted goodbye to his new friend and pedaled slowly home.