A painting at the 14^th Street Gallery drew Emma’s attention, not because the painting was especially good, but because of the title: Boy in the Boat. Almost certainly the figure standing in the boat was not a boy. Definitely a girl, or a young woman, to be more precise, possibly in her early twenties, maybe in her late teens, but in any case clearly pregnant. Boys did not get pregnant.

Emma noticed the red dot that indicated the painting was sold. She wondered what sort of person would buy this painting, especially given the price tag, almost four thousand dollars. Emma was pretty sure she wouldn’t spend four hundred dollars for it. Maybe forty, for the frame.

Maybe it was the girl’s mother who bought the painting. Or maybe the girl herself. Could a real person have been the model? The more Emma thought about it, the more she thought she needed to investigate. She portaled into the picture.