Gedda Foss's Arc

Chapter 4 of 6

The kiln sat silent in the corner, waiting. Gedda stood at the workbench with the vase between his hands. The repairs he'd made yesterday had dried overnight. The cracks in the glaze were smoothed over, ready for firing. The girl had said the firebox was ready. All he had to do was load the vase and light the fire. He opened the kiln door and placed the vase inside. His hands didn't shake this time. He arranged kindling in the firebox, struck the flint, and watched the first flames catch. The fire spread quickly, filling the chamber with heat. He fed it slowly, adjusting the airflow the way he'd watched his mother do a hundred times. The temperature climbed. The glaze began to shine. But halfway through the firing, he saw it—a hairline crack spreading across the base where the willow pattern curved. The repair hadn't held. The vase was breaking. Gedda reached for the damper to stop the fire, then stopped. His mother's work would stay broken if he pulled it out now. But if he kept firing, the crack might spread until the whole piece shattered. He stood there, hand hovering over the damper, watching the crack creep wider. Then he let go and stepped back. He fed more wood into the firebox and brought the temperature higher. The crack spread through the willow branches, but the glaze melted into the gap, sealing it with streaks of darker green. The pattern changed. It wasn't what his mother had planned, but it held together. When the firing finished, Gedda opened the kiln and lifted out the vase. The moss-green glaze had settled thick over the carved willow base, and the crack had become part of the pattern—a dark line running through the branches like a scar. It wasn't her work anymore. It was his. He set it on the shelf beside her other pieces and looked around the workshop. The girl's canvas tool bag still sat in the corner where she'd left it, wrenches and brushes spilling out across the floor. The kiln ticked as it cooled. The shed felt different now—not frozen, not waiting. Just working.