No. 171: Floater. Perhaps emboldened by her ambitious neighbour's titanic wrestlings with impossible sculptural projects, Abigail, the landscape painter whose studio was right next door, decided to try her own hand at sculpture--and was mighty pleased with the result She was so pleased, in fact, that she called her friend, a potter named Docile Limoge, to come over for a look. Docile was predictably impressed. He's very big, isn't he!" she whispered to Abigail--as if the figure were somehow sentient enough to overhear her. "He is," said Abigail, "but he's also very light. He's carved from balsa wood. It's almost as if he 's not there." "He seems there enough to me," whispered Docile, trying not to stare at the impassive figure--who was wearing bathing trunks and appeared to be bobbing on water in a red floatation device--even though Abigail had merely suspended him from the studio ceiling with transparent fishing line. "I think he turned out pretty well," Abigail told her friend. "I think so too," agreed Docile. "Are you going to make another one?" Abigail told her she was. "Maybe you should make him nude next time," said Docile wistfully.