Tom and Lauren are sitting at an electric potter's wheel, getting ready to make a bowl--or at least attempt to. Tom placed a wedge of clay on the top of the wheel throwing machine. "Now, you have to get it centered because this is going to be the foundation of the bowl," he said. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Lauren asked staring at the wedge of clay as though it were a bomb she was instructed to diffuse. He turned on the machine and the clay began to swirl. "What am I doing?" she asked. "Here," Tom said grabbing her left hand. "Put your left hand in a comfortable position holding the clay and cutting it in half." He put her hand in the correct position. "Oh my gosh, it feels so weird," she said. Tom laughed, "Yeah. Your elbow rests wherever it feels right on your leg. If it doesn't feel right, it isn't right." "Okay," Lauren said adjusting where her elbow rested. "Feel right?" "I guess." "Put your right hand in the middle and push down," Tom instructed, grabbing her hand to make sure she applied the correct amount of pressure. "How is this centering the clay?" she asked. "Honestly, I'm not sure, but it works," he told her. "This isn't looking like a bowl at all," Lauren said glancing at the haphazardly rounded shape spinning around and around. "You have to open it. Take your middle finger and push it down at a 45 degree angle." "What's a 45 degree angle?" Lauren asked. Tom took her hand and moved it correctly, opening the clay. "Oh my gosh! It's opening!" she said shrieking. "That's the point of it." "What do I do?" she asked. "Keep opening it until you get it to a size you want," she said. "It's getting taller," she said. Tom made the wheel quit spinning. "Let me sit down," he said. He finished shaping it, making it more correctly fit the size and shape of a bowl instead of the tall squarish shape it had been with Lauren working on it. "Wow, that's like perfect." Lauren looked down at the huge white tee Tom had lended her to wear while working with the clay. It was covered with patches of dark clay. "Thank God I wasn't wearing my regular clothes when I did this," she said. "I know. It's quite messy," he said once again turning off the wheel. Tom grabbed a sponge from a wooden table in the room. "You use this to remove excess water from the pottery. It also smoothes the surface and it makes it strong." He patted along with the sponge, soaking up the excess water. "We have to let it dry a little and reach a state when it kind of feels like leather and then we're going to shave the bottom and create a foot," he told her. "You mean, you are?" she asked laughing. "Sure, I am." He picked up a wooden tool that was used for shaping the pottery and began to slice away just a few inches of clay from around the bottom of the bowl. He formed a nice round foot and then smiled, "Now it just needs to dry for a few days." Lauren's eyebrows shot up, "A few days? You mean that I have to wait a few days to be able to see my beautiful creation?" Tom laughed, "I think you mean our beautiful creation." She sat down on the bench beside the wheel and glanced at the vat of discolored water. The clay had turned it a dark brownish reddish color and she pushed her hand into it, then thrusting it Tom's way. It hit him in the center of his white tee which had been previously almost unaffected by the clay. "Shit! What'd you do that for?" he asked. "What else are you going to do with that stuff?" Tom shrugged but walked over to the bucket himself and splashed some of the discolored water onto Lauren. She shrieked and soon they were in an all out clay-water war.

About ten minutes later, they were both sufficiently brown all over. Their faces were discolored and the clay that was in the water was causing it to dry and form a hard mask. "Ew, this is so disgusting," Lauren wiping a glob of the now leathery clay from her face. "I do have a shower, you know," he said smiling. "I get it first," she proclaimed quickly. "Or we could just share," Tom said flirtatiously.

Soon they found themselves entangled under the hot water flowing down onto their bodies. Red-brown clay accumulated and crawled down the drain while their now clean bodies intermingled. Tom pushed Lauren against the wall and kissed her. She smiled at him, water dripping down into her eyes and thrust her tongue into his mouth. He pulled away from her and kept his arms wrapped around her waist, "Told you we wouldn't just make a bowl."