REPRODUCTIONS 

Mary loves the work of Giacometti. She’s seen his Walking Man at a museum in Pittsburgh. She noticed it was securely fastened to the floor with big screws.

One day she finds a ten-inch tall reproduction at a store and buys it. Eighty-five bucks. Quite expensive for her, but it’s made of high quality resin and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity for Fine Art Reproductions. To release the piece from its display, the store owner, a grey-haired Asian woman, has to fumble with a key for a while.

Mary gets home and tries to find the perfect place for her little sculpture. She tries the bookstand, the coffee table, the mantelpiece, and finally settles for a window ledge.

But whenever Mary is sleeping or out working, the Walking Man… walks. So she finds it in unexpected places, like on top of the fridge, lying on the sofa, inside a vase. Sometimes it hides so well, it takes Mary a day or two to find it.

She takes it back to the store.

“The Walking Man doesn’t seem to be happy anywhere in my house,” Mary says to the store owner.

“Maybe you’d like to exchange it for a seating man?” the owner says, and shows her a miniature of Rodin’s The Thinker.

Mary’s not sure, so the owner also shows her also a small version of the famous seated figure of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel French.

“These are nice,” Mary says, “but they seem like rock mountains unwilling to move even an inch from where they stand. The Walking Man was, at least, curious.”

“Sorry,” the store owner said, “but these are the only two kinds of men you will find here. Or anywhere else, for that matter.”