The Patio Party

A screened patio in Florida on a late afternoon, sunlight slanting through palm fronds and screen mesh, on a low rattan coffee table with a white crocheted doily a row of storage bowls of matt translucent plastic, in front a pale lemon-yellow half-round bowl eighteen centimetres across with a rolled rim, its flat lid almost colourless milky with a small tab at one side and a fine ring around a centre point, beside it upright bowls in pastel pink and mint green, two woman's hands with red lacquered nails pressing the yellow lid down, around the table only the knees and cotton skirts of seated women, every surface plain and unmarked.