Page 43 of Secrets (Lost and Found 2)

“Hello. I’m Tori.” She took a breath. “Wow. This is amazing.”

“Thank you. Are you familiar with origami?”

“Not really. I know it’s a paper-folding art, but I have never seen anything like this.” She scanned the room.

“Yes, most people know about the crane, but as you can see, there are an infinite number of possibilities. Would you like me to show you?” The woman gestured toward a long table with various colors and sizes of paper.

Tori had some time to kill. so she thought it would be fun. “Sure! But I have to warn you; I am all thumbs,” she said shyly.

“Not to worry. I can teach you to fold a crane in less than fifteen minutes.”

“Seriously?” Tori sounded doubtful. “If you say so.”

“Wonderful. Please take a seat.”

Tori placed her special magic shopping bag and her tote on the seat next to her right. The woman sat on her left.

“What color would you like?” Suki asked.

“Purple?” Tori asked, wondering if the color mattered.

“Purple is a powerful color.” Suki nodded and handed Tori a sheet and took one for herself.

The woman explained that most of the figures are from single sheets, but you can join them together. She motioned toward the small garden of paper flowers.

“That is incredible,” Tori said in awe.

Step by step, Suki instructed Tori to make the folds, turning the paper, and more folds. As promised, within fifteen minutes, Tori had a purple crane.

“You see? That wasn’t very difficult.” Suki smiled.

“Wow. I would never have guessed I could do this.” She kept turning the once flat sheet of paper that had turned into a three-dimensional bird.

“I teach workshops once a month. Usually two hours. It is very relaxing.”

Tori realized that she had been so focused on folding the paper correctly that she had forgotten about pretty much everything for ten minutes. “Amazing.” She looked at an origami mobile with baby animals. “How long would it take to make something like that?” She pointed.

“That would take many hours.” Suki smiled.

“Like how many?” Tori asked.

“It would depend on how many animals you want,” the woman said.

“What about a crane mobile?” Tori decided on something less challenging.

“You just made a crane in fifteen minutes, but I encourage people to take their time. Enjoy the process. That is part of the beauty of origami. It is not a race.”

“Duh. You’re right.” She kept eyeing the baby animal mobile. She thought she could make it for her baby. She had enough time. “Tell me more about your workshop.”

“The first Saturday of the month. We have a ‘work with an artist’ day for many of the shops. Of course, space is limited. Let me get you a brochure.” Suki walked over to the front counter and pulled out a glossy booklet.

“Here. This tells you about the center, the artists, shops, and activities for the month. I have a workshop in two weeks if you are interested.”

Tori hesitated. “How much is it?”

“We like to encourage people to get involved. You only pay for supplies. For here, it’s about eight dollars.”

“Really?” Tori thought for a quick minute. “Can I sign up?” She realized this was something she could pull off without a lot of pushback from her husband. She was going to be playing with paper. He could go play with his friends, which is what he usually did anyway.