The Floating Platform

by Theodore Sorkin

Not far from Fiji, out in the Pacific, a floating platform moves lazily with the tide. The platform - a twelve foot square - was built many years ago by a tribe of nomadic carpenters. The carpenters' intention was to create a place of safety and refuge for anyone lost at sea who happened to notice it. It's anchored nearly a mile offshore from Suva and has four contoured, comfortably-shaped chairs. Each chair is bolted to a corner, each faces out to view the ocean. The carpenters didn't like each other.

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Theodore Sorkin once ran a mile in five minutes flat. He lives in San Francisco.