Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
We make our way over rocks and tide pools, stopping here and there to examine the sea life on the rocks.
“I’ve never seen a purple starfish.” I point to the little guy clinging to a boulder. “Not that purple. Wow.”
“And look at this crab,” Tanner says. “His shell is insane.”
We keep moving. I just know that I’m going to find something amazing down here.
And then I spot it.
“Right here,” I say in excitement as I pick my way over slick rocks to the oddly shaped one, right in the middle. “This is a crystal geode.”
“How can you tell?”
“The shape. It’s heavy, too. Oh, and listen.”
I shake it next to his ear and watch as he blinks in confusion.
“There’s water in this one. Water that’s probably been trapped in there for thousands of years.”
“And you’re going to set it free?”
“Hell yes, I am. I can’t wait to see what’s inside.”
I stash it in my bag.
“You should have been a geologist,” Tanner says as we pick our way over the rocks, careful not to slip and fall.
It’s slick down here.
“This is a big agate,” I announce as I lift the gorgeous orange rock in my hand. “So pretty.”
“I think this could be something.” He holds a rock out to me, and I squeal with excitement.
“Another geode! This one is smaller, but that’s what it is. Good job, babe.”
“I’m a quick study.”
We discover a couple of small things here and there, and then I stretch my back, a little sore from bending over for so long.
“I think this is plenty. I don’t want to take too much.”
“I can’t wait for you to crack those open,” he says as he takes my hand to make sure I make it back to the sand safely. “How do you do it?”
“With a chisel and hammer.”
“We don’t have those things here.” He purses his lips in thought. “Looks like we’re making a trip into town.”
March 6, 2005
* * *
Dear Diary,
Luna’s mom got me a whole set of paints with canvases and an easel for my birthday! I couldn’t believe it! I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. I painted two pictures and took one to Luna and one to June as a thank you for everything that they do for me. They immediately hung them in their rooms and were so excited to get them.
It made me really happy.
I can’t wait to paint more.
TTYL,
Sarah
Chapter Fourteen
Tanner
“These will do,” she says, pointing to the cheapest chisel and hammer the hardware store has.
“You’ll break them on those rocks.” I shake my head and grab the more expensive ones, then smile when Sarah’s brows bunch together in a scowl. “This way, you’ll have these for all the geodes you find in the future.”
“Well, that’s true. I’ll make a little toolbox for our glamping trips.”
We add a small, red toolbox to our pile of purchases that also includes a towel to throw away and a bucket, then make our way to the checkout counter.
“I’m starving,” Sarah says when we leave the store.
“It’s been a little while since the sandwiches,” I agree. “Should we take a pizza back with us?”
“You get me,” she decides as she fastens her seatbelt. “I like that about you.”
I put our order in at a local pizza spot online, and while we wait for it to be ready, Sarah grabs her phone to take some photos of the cute little town but frowns when she looks down at the screen.
“It says I don’t have any service.”
I check my own phone and shake my head. “I have one bar. Maybe power off and back on again.”
“It sucks when we move in and out of coverage so much. Confuses the phone.”
She powers off the phone, then waits a couple of minutes and turns it back on. “Nope. No service.”
“That’s odd.”
My own phone pings with a message that our order is ready, so I walk inside to collect the food, and when I come back out, Sarah’s taking some photos.
“The camera still works,” she says with a shrug. “I’ll figure the rest out when we get home in a couple of days. I don’t really need it, and we have yours for emergencies.”
“Good idea.” With Petunia sunning herself on the dash, I start the van, and we head back to our home away from home.
“Was it this bumpy going in?” Sarah wants to know as we bump along the road that leads into the campground.
“Yes. You were just asleep.”
“That’s right.”
I check in with the kiosk, and before long, we’re back at our spot. And, with the pizza temporarily forgotten, Sarah gets to work setting up a little geode-cracking station.
“Okay, I want to catch the water and examine it,” she says as she places a rock to crack the geode on in the bucket. “I’m so curious. Does it smell bad? What does it taste like?”