Woodman Casting Rebecca New -

Rebecca stepped into the room like someone who knew how to bend light—every motion measured, every breath an invitation. The air smelled faintly of citrus and old maple; sunlight filigreed the corners, turning dust motes into slow, jeweled planets. She wore a plain shirt that somehow refused to be plain: soft fabric that caught the light across collarbone and shoulder, sleeves rolled to reveal a wrist steady as a compass needle.

Woodman casting Rebecca New

Across from her sat the man everyone called Woodman—iron-gray hair cropped close, a face like weathered oak: grooves and ridges that suggested storms weathered and decisions made. He watched not with hunger but with the careful appraisal of someone who carved boats from raw timbers: searching for grain, for resilience, for the secret line that would make a shape hold water. His hands rested folded, large and sure, the hands of a maker. woodman casting rebecca new

Rebecca considered the question like one might study a plank for knots and sap: essential to know before beginning the cut. She answered not with biography but with the image that had stayed with her for years—a child on a summer porch watching a distant ship’s wake ripple the water. “Because it remembers,” she said simply. “Because something about her keeps asking me to look again.” Rebecca stepped into the room like someone who