Coda

The two women sat on mismatched stools, looking at the plaster sculpture illuminated by the late afternoon light.

"You know that's kind of strange that it looks so much like Fallen Angel," Daria said quietly, perched on her stool.

"I think it's kind of strange that you look so much like Elena's mother. You know I didn't sculpt the head, and the body shape was largely there."

Daria said nothing for a long moment. So little of this makes sense, looking back at it now. Still, it's as if it was all supposed to be this way.

"What do you suppose Elena's father was thinking when he started this? Why hide things inside a representation of his wife? He could have put them anywhere, if what he wanted was to hide them for awhile. The jewelry is easily carried, and who would begrudge a man the cremated remains of a loved one? How could he have been certain that he would be able to retrieve them?"

"Well, he had become unhinged by the death of his wife and the loss of their business. He was in no condition to care for Elena. Perhaps he felt that her mother's form and ashes would protect the assets that could be hidden from the creditors. He probably didn't have any money to even give her a decent burial, so he might have been planning to do it later. Maybe he believed that he could retrieve them after the appraisers declared them as worthless junk. Perhaps he purposely left it unassembled, just pass it off as broken parts. We'll never really know."

"I don't understand why this stuff wasn't just hauled off when the factory was closed down."

"Another thing we'll never know. Maybe things do happen for a reason."

"What are you going to do with it? It's not in your usual style."

"It's not my work. It came together the way it had to, based on what was there. Besides, it's too representational. Fallen Angel was intended to be that, but it was simply to make a point. I'll be using this as a reference to create a bas relief in bronze for Elena's marker."

"Appropriate, since Elena wanted her mother's ashes to be buried with hers," Daria said quietly. "It's too bad that she never got to see it in person. It really is quite beautiful, as the style goes."

"Accessible."

"I think it belongs here," Daria said after awhile.

"So do you get a good vibe about this place?" Jane said softly, looking around the open space, back against the wall that was the border of the flat. "It feels like we kind of belong here."

"Well, I agree," Daria smiled. "And it seems that Elena thought so too. Mom seems to think that if we invest the proceeds from Elena's gifts carefully, we'll have enough to make a good offer to Seymour in a few years. At least a down payment; we could make a commercial mortgage based on the income from the rentals."

"It was kind of a shock to be mentioned in her will, when all we did was try to deliver what was hers to begin with. She never even referenced the jewelry."

"What do you want to do with those pieces? It seems wrong just to sell all of it off. At the very least, I'd like to keep something to remember her by."

"We could each choose one, and then sell the rest. The designs are very old fashioned, but some are just timeless. The emerald studs would be beautiful on you, and I'd like the ruby ones. And I'll vote for my brother getting a diamond. He might be needing one in a few years."

Daria just smiled.

The fading light had gone golden, the warm color brilliant on the pale plaster.

"I'd like to take a wax off this, and then cast it in bronze. It would look good at the entry to the Lane Gallery."

"I've got a feeling that one day, it'll happen."

the end

(Thanks for sticking this out- I realize that it's probably too long for the ideas I was playing around with. Probably could use some serious editing. If anyone wants to play with this, feel free; after all this is for fun.

-M1