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I take my foot off the pedal slowly, letting it come to a full stop before I wipe my hands on my damp towel. “It’s not going. I’ve tried it all, Mom. None of it feels right. While I love flowers and know a ton about them, being a healer just doesn’t interest me. Sure, I love being outdoors but being a sentry or scout, yeah no thanks. I have zero desire to fight someone, let alonerun.”

She chuckles at that. Still nodding her head as her bowl becomes wider.

“I just don’t see where my place in the pack is. I’m afraid my birthday is going to come and Silas is going to ask me where I’m going within the pack. The horror of saying that I don’t know is really weighing on me.”

Mom’s wheel slows to a stop as she looks up at me. She reaches over and tucks a stray hair behind my ear. “Not everyone’s path is so obvious, sweetheart. Some are meant to heal, some to protect, while some…” she cups my cheek. “Some are meant to capture the beauty of the world, the moments in time that will soon be forgotten, topreserveour pack's history. Nowthatis a true gift.”

I look down at the mug forming beneath my fingers. “But is it enough?”

Her finger hooks under my chin, lifting my eyes to hers. Her gaze is steady as she says, “More than enough. Your perspective brings the light to others. Never doubt that.”

I nod, the weight of the anxiety lifting slightly. “Thanks, Mom.”

She smiles before leaning in to plant a kiss on my forehead. “Anytime, Moondrop.”

We work in companionable silence as I work more on my next mug and Mom works on her bowl. We chat a few times about school, boys, and what’s next for me. I can feel the tension leaving my body the longer we sit here working on our pieces. That’s why we love it. We both get lost in the craft and allow the stressors of life to fall from our bodies.

The mug begins to curve in a perfect pitch before I pinch it in the opposite direction creating the lip of the mug. After forming the lip, I dip my fingers in the water as I smooth out any imperfections before bringing the wheel to a stop. Using the flat spatula, I sweep it under the mug disconnecting it from the base.

With the modeling tool in hand, I start this tiling pattern that’s been nagging at me since this morning when Mom mentioned coming today. It uses two different size tiles offsetting each other with one large square and one very small square. Using the tool, I lightly carve out the larger square, leaving the smaller piece as slightly taller than the piece I’ve pulled.

It takes the better part of an hour to finish the tiling pattern but it turned out exactly how I hoped it would! Using the crescent moon stamp Mom had crafted for me as my signature on my pottery, I stamp the bottom of the mug before walking it over to the stove to do the first rounds of bakes. Next week we’ll have to come back for the glazing as the pottery needs several rounds of baking before it’s ready for color!

When I walk back into the room, Mom is just finishing her piece and getting it ready for transportation. I start cleaning up our space by discarding our leftover clay back into the clay bucket for someone to use for their own project.

Mom walks back in right as I finish. “Ready to pick up our last pieces?” She pulls her apron off and hangs it back on the hook. I follow suit.

“Yeah,” I say as I follow behind her.

The studio has a “Take One” spot by the front desk. It’s a place for us to set our projects that we don’t wish to take with us. The policy is you can take an item if you contribute an item to the pile. It’s so we don’t have someone claim all the pieces.

I always place my pieces in there without ever taking a piece. I don’t do pottery for my own collection, but as a way to unwind from life. So, I have no issue contributing each time.

We both walk into the kiln room where we left our last projects, finding them sitting on the shelf ready for us to claim them. My mug has a pretty purple hue covering the moon and stars I covered it in. I even added a glitter sheen as well to feel more like the night sky.

After collecting our pieces, we walk over to the “Take One” Spot to drop mine off. My mom gave up on trying to convince me to keep the projects, knowing it was a losing battle at this point.

After setting down my moon mug, I notice that last week’s piece is gone. Every time that I come over to place a new piece, my last one is never here.

“It’s gone again. Just like the last few times I’ve put mugs here.” I point to the shelf.

She only shrugs her shoulders. “Doesn’t surprise me, sweetheart. They are absolutely beautiful pieces. Anyone would be dumb not to snatch them up.”

Pfft. “You have to say that, you’re my mom.”

She walks up next to me, leaning in before saying, “I don’t have to lie to my child just because she’s my kid. I believe in being truthful and honest with you.”

With that she loops her arm through mine, as we nod to Granny Fern while heading back out the door. I look over my shoulder one more time, noting exactly where I left my mug this time, I set it in the back seeing if hiding it would change it.

We are walking arm in arm down the sidewalk towards home when Mom asks, “What else do you have on your agenda for today?”

Pulling my phone out, I check the time. We ended up being in The Muddy Paw for an hour and a half, now making it 5:30 P.M. “I need to run down to Flash Me Studio to talk with Lou about an idea I have for tomorrow as well as get her advice on how to place the photos. Outside of that, I’ve got to come home for some much needed rest.”

Mom leans her head toward mine in a loving way. “I’ll run by the Healing Den to grab you a different tincture. See if this one will help you more.”

“Thanks Mom.” She gives me a quick hug before we go separate directions. Me, heading down the main path to downtown and her, turning to the hospital.

After hustling down to Lou’s shop, the bell chimes as I swing open the door. Lou’s eyes snap up to me with a bewildered look on her face.