They were in the ruins of the gallery. Tina and Oya were writing poems in the dirt. Anna was showing Ethel and Daniel what used to hang on the walls. Claire was bored. She stared up at the one remaining sculpture that had survived the blaze. It looked very much like a very large coconut made of stone.
“What is it?” Claire said.
“It’s a coconut,” said Ethel.
“It’s not,” Claire said. “It’s made of stone. Coconuts are made of wood or something.”
“It’s a sculpture of a coconut,” Anna said. She held her phone up in front of it, and the app showed how it used to look. Which was exactly the same as it looked now, except slightly less soot stained. “See? It’s even called Little Coconut (III).”
“It’s not little,” said Claire. “It’s huge.”
“That’s the joke,” Anna explained.
“Claire doesn’t get jokes,” Ethel said.
“I do,” said Claire. “If they’re funny.”
“This is funny,” Ethel said.
“It’s not,” said Claire.
“I don’t get it either,” Daniel said.
“See!” Claire said.
“Well, I get it!” Ethel said. “And it is funny, isn’t it, Anna?”
“What? No, of course it isn’t funny,” Anna said. “It’s art.”
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Notes:
1. Written on July 13th, 2022
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