But she failed on all counts.

“See anything?” asked Dave.

“No. Do it again.”

Dave brought the painting close to Rhonda again and offered a tip: “Try to make your eyes think that the painting is still right in front of your face, even as I move it away from you.”

“K.” Rhonda prepared to make her eyes do what doesn’t come naturally to them as Dave started slowly backing away from her again. “And I’ll give you a hint,” said Dave as he moved. “It’s a common thing. It’s somethin’ everybody knows.”

Rhonda thought Dave’s hint was a lousy one, and she tried not to focus on the painting so she would be able to see what Dave had painted for her. But all she could see were the blocks of colors Dave had painted. “Ugh,” she grunted, “I can’t not focus on it.”

“Okay, no problem. Try again.” Dave brought the painting close to Rhonda’s nose again.

“No.” Rhonda’s frustration was mounting.

“Just try.”

“No—Dave—I can’t see these things, I told ya!”

And then Rhonda pushed the painting away from her, accidentally knocking it out of Dave’s hands and onto the floor.

And they both froze. And hoped the painting was okay.

Fortunately it was.

And Dave quickly picked it up.

And Rhonda muttered, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” said Dave.

And it really was okay—enough so that Dave had already moved on and had come up with another plan to help Rhonda see what he had painted for her: “Here, how ’bout try this: Trick it!”

“What?!?”

“Trick it!” repeated Dave, smiling a silly smile.

“What’re you talking about?”

“You gotta trick it!” said Dave, all excited about his new tactic.

“How do you trick a painting?” asked Rhonda, looking at Dave like he was nuts.

“Well, you gotta not let it know that you’re lookin’ at it.”

“How do I not let it know that I’m lookin’ at it? It’s a painting, Dave! It’s not gonna know or not know if I’m lookin’ at it!” razzed Rhonda.

“No—I just mean you can’t look at it the way you usually look at things. You gotta change your perspective—’cause your brain’s gettin’ in the way—’cause it’s looking for a solution—but not in the way it’s used to gettin’ a solution, so you gotta get your brain to look at it in a new way.”

“Well, how do I do that?” asked Rhonda, irked.

“Well, you gotta teach your eyes to cross.”

“I don’t wanna teach my eyes to cross!” griped Rhonda.

“Well, then you’re never gonna see it, are ya?” teased Dave.

“Come on! Why don’t you just tell me what it is?”

“No! That’ll ruin the fun!”

“Well—I’m not havin’ fun, Dave, so there’s nothin’ to ruin.”

“Okay. Sorry. That’s no good. How ’bout let’s just forget about it for a while and take a break.” Dave set the painting on the wicker table, propping it up against the wall, and said, “And let’s just do somethin’ else. What do you usually do on Friday nights, after we hang out?”