Reach for the Stars! ~ Lesson 7

Before: It rained all week during our camping trip.

After: On the last day of our camping trip, I peeked out of our cramped pop-up tent to see if the relentless rain had ceased, hoping we could get at least one day of fishing fun before we had to go home. No. The torrents of rain made it of difficult to see anything, but I discerned the gloomy sight of our dripping lawn chairs, water making pools in the seats. The logs in the fire pit were soaked, and all I could hear was the splattering of cold drops hitting the canvas of our tent.

Before: Katie saw a scary sea creature at the aquarium.

After: Katie tapped the glass separating her from the brilliant yellow fish swimming carelessly by. The Tulsa Aquarium was full of these finned creatures that she thought were so lovley. Smiling at the yellow fish again, she turned to look at another tank. This one was darker, and lacked the bright colors. Katie pressed her face to the glass, confused. All of a sudden, a shadow passed over the sand on the tank floor. Lookin up, she shrieked and jumped back when she saw a shark larger than her father swim smoothly by, as if looking for something to chew on with its razor sharp rows of teeth.

Before: As I entered the cave, I found the object of my search- the lost treasure chest of the Ancients.

After: I was feeling less like Indiana Jones with every move. And less like a girl who had studied for years about this long-lost chest I was after. I army-crawled into the low, pitch-black, cleft in the rock. "A cave" my informer had called it. I scoffed yet again at those words as the space got even narrower. I held my flashlight between my neck and shoulder as I squeezed between the rocks that seemed about to make me the ham of a sandwich. My elbows were scraped raw and my pants were ripped. Sweat dripped on the dirt and gravel I crawled across. Slow going. The space was now too narrow for me to wrestle through. I shook my backpack off and tossed it in front of me, pushing it ahead whenever I caught up with it. I was now flat on my gut, shimmying into what was probably a dead end like all my other expeditions. My fedora scraped off and there was no turning around to get it. Great. There went the last of my Indiana Jones spirit. After an hour of crawling, I pushed myself out of the tunnel and into a vast opening as large and empty as a warehouse that had been cleared out. I whooshed out a sigh of relief to have my feet under me and unconsciously said aloud, "now THIS is a cave!" My voice echoed many times off the walls until the sound finally dissolved into air. I ran my flashlight across the walls where many hieroglyphic figures were painted in colorful detail. I could read some of it, but wasn't interested in trying to sort it all out right then. I had a treasure to find. Pulling the compass out of my bulky pack, I found the north side of the cave, and ran my fingers over the paintings on the rock wall. I couldn't bear to smash them with a chisel. I knew they were important pieces of history that would be demolished. Despite my hurry, I took out my camera and snapped several pictures and drew the signs myself on a notebook in case the pictures were no good. Closing my eyes, I brought my chisel down and connected with rock, sending shards flying. Whew, this was going to take awhile....
A long time later - I still don't know how long, I had laid aside my chisel and brought out the more detailed archeology tools. My heart raced excitedly as I forced my hands not to shake. Finally, it was out of the mountain. The chest I had searched for for ten years was in my hands.

Now, to open it.