A bowl for the smallest keepings — rings by the sink, keys by the door, the pocket's end-of-day inventory.
Turned from a single piece of walnut, four inches across, its dark grain circling the well in unbroken rounds. This is the first bowl from Laura's lathe, and she worked it until it satisfied her — shaped, refined, and burnished with wax paste and friction polish to a low, hand-warmed sheen. It is small, and it is sure of itself.
There will be other bowls. There will not be another first.
