A Piece Of The Puzzle

A couple of times a week I have 10 or 15 minutes to kill between my trip to the gym and the start of work. There's a public library right on the way, so I stop in there and use their computers to check my e-mail, then continue on with the rest of my day.

It took me several weeks to notice that there was always a partially-completed puzzle set out on a table in a prominent location by the door. Occasionally I'd see someone working on it; after a while I figured out that it was always a different person. There was no signs posted, so I wasn't sure who could sit there. Did you have to be invited? After observing the table when I walked into the library, and again when I walked out, I decided that anyone could jump in and do a bit.

Last week I walked up to the table and took a good look at the puzzle. It was in the beginning stages of completion, but according to the picture on the box, it was a collage of signs and things you'd find in Las Vegas. Today I decided to use my bit of time to actually work on the puzzle instead of logging on to the computer. I was amazed to see that last week's puzzle had already been completed; now the table held the beginning stages of a new puzzle!

All of the small puzzle pieces had been arranged face-up on the table. There wasn't a whole lot to see yet. According to the box, there were 750 pieces to this puzzle. The border was completely white, and the interior was cartoon drawings of dogs and cats. Someone had started separating out the edge pieces; I subdivided them into piles--the pieces either had two knobs or two holes. That would make it easier for someone to connect them.

Before I knew it ten minutes had passed and it was time to leave for work. When I check the puzzle tomorrow, I wonder how much will be done?