A Year Later

A year ago Alice broke the workshop display case on a dare, and it was Toshka who was pulled from the city show — he was simply nearest. The glass was replaced long ago, Toshka has grown up and never mentions it, and there is nobody left to remind. That is exactly what makes saying it now so hard.

A year ago Alice threw a key at the school workshop display case on a dare. The glass cracked, Toshka answered for it — he was nearest — and he was pulled from the city model show he had waited for all term. In a year everything has closed over: the case was reglazed, the workshop repainted, the key lost in June, and Toshka has grown a head taller and moved from models to technical drawings. He never once mentions the show, and that is worse than if he did. When a list for a new exhibition goes up and Toshka is not on it again, Alice understands the reputation has stuck to him for good. Saying it now means taking back the price dodged a year ago. Alice finds Toshka in the drawing room, says it out loud, and then repeats the same words to the workshop leader with Toshka standing there. Toshka goes back on the list, but nobody gets the year back.