Radiant Read Free Page A

engine, the creak in the door hinges, and the various beeps and clicks seemed sharper. When the bus came to Fair Avenue, Mary got off and hiked the few blocks toward Anna's Art Supply, which was actually run by a guy named Ben. Anna's wasn't in a great part of town, but since it was still pretty early in the day, Mary felt safer about going there by herself. The store was squished between a crappy pizza joint and a fortune teller/psychic whose windows were covered with purple curtains.
    Inside, Mary saw a man at the counter cutting open a cardboard box. He looked up and smiled. "Hey there, Mary."
    "Hey Ben," she greeted.
    Ben was, for lack of a better description, a beautiful man. He was in his mid-thirties and a bit on the short side. But he had toned arms and great hair. For a while, Mary hadn't understood why his shop wasn't called "Ben's," since he was the only one there. Then once, he told her about his wife, Anna. She used to run the store with him. Their friends jokingly called them "Banana," since that's what their names sounded like when you said them together fast. Ben said that's what he wanted to name the store, but Anna said it was cheesy. So, they stuck with naming it after her.
    About seven years ago , Anna went to the bank to make a routine deposit. A guy with a gun came in and tried robbing it. He didn't get out before the cops got there, and he took everyone inside as hostages. Mary remembered watching the standoff on the news with Ba. The police brought in a negotiator and everything. Then Mom got home from work, and she turned off the TV and said no one could turn it back on until the next day. Mom had just started working in the ER at the time, so she must've wanted it quiet so that she could rest. But Mary heard at school what happened the next day. The stand off lasted for hours, but eventually the bank robber shot two people before trying to shoot himself. The police got to him first, though, and he lived. One of the people he shot survived, but the other didn't. The one who died was Anna.
    Ben , still wearing his wedding band after seven years, opened the cardboard box and pulled out little tin boxes of mints. He put them on a wire display rack that was sitting on the counter next to the register. "Help you find anything?"
    "Ju st getting a sketchbook and a tube of primary red," Mary said as she made her way through the narrow aisles to get what she needed. "What's new with you?"
    " Not much," he said. "Same old, same old. Got some cool projects going on in the back."
    "Really? Can I see?" she asked. Ben rented out studio space in the back of his shop to other local artists, and Mary always liked to see the works-in-progress of professionals.
    "Sure," Ben said. "Come on."
    She followed him through a back door to the studio. It was a little messy, but the hand tools were properly stowed in the tool cage and the table saw was clear and unplugged. A sign that read, "The most dangerous tool in this shop is the one you're using," hung over the large shipping door in the back.
    At the center of the room stood a magnificent sculpture made of metal and colored glass. It looked like a cluster of flames with a stunning bird rising from the center.
    " Wow ," she said breathlessly.
    "Like it?" he asked.
    "Yeah," she said. "Whose is it?"
    Ben smiled.
    Mary looked at him. "This is yours ? You're making art again!" After Anna died, Ben hadn't made anything new. Until now, at least.
    Ben chuckled. "I figured it was time. Try walking around it."
    Mary did so and saw he had arranged the flames to make them look like they were moving. The bird also looked like it was flapping its wings.
    "This is awesome," she said.
    " Glad you like it," he said. "It's in an art show coming soon."
    "When is it?" Mary asked. Then she added, "Do you have to pay to get in?"
    "If you want to come, I'll get you tickets," he said. "You can bring your grandmother and maybe your mom, too."
    " That would be awesome." She looked at the sculpture