Okay, so the assignment this week is to take the week’s vocab words, and write a story using them.
I thought this was going to be a task that plays directly into my strengths, then I saw the list of words. Its… not great. There are a hand full of useful words, but really, enough are super specific to Geology, that there’s no way I can casually drop them into a story. Like “Speleothem.” Really? How can I use that in a story?
Well, this is my specialist subject, and as I was considering the list of words, I had a gem of an idea. So we’re going to do this as two separate parts. The first, well, I think it’s what they actually want for the assignment, using the words as nouns in the story. We need to hit 10 of them. They’ll be in bold, so easy to notice.
Part 1: Timmy down the well
Timmy looked down into the well, flummoxed. There should be water down there, but when the bucket had last been dropped down, there had been nothing. The water table had been receding over the last few years, but there had always been some down there. Cold and clear was the water on the Thompson farm, and even in the driest year, there had always been something. This year, however, there was nothing. The aquifer was dry.
Or at least, it appeared that way. There was little that could be seen up here. Down below, however, there could very well be answers. With a lantern in one hand, Timmy descended down the rope.
The bottom of the well opened up into a large cavern, one that Timmy had never seen before. Stalactite and stalagmites stretched out before him, fading into the darkness as the light of his small lantern failed to illuminate the depths around him. Sounds of dripping echoed around him as he stood, the cloudy water rising up above the toes of his boots. It was we down here, that was for sure. Maybe…
Raising his lantern up, Timmy peered into the darkness and stumbled across the uneven floor toward where the loudest dripping was coming from. There, in a wall behind a column of limestone, a spring sprayed water down the wall. In the mouth of the spring, a rocky shape, about the size of a melon, was lodged. The lantern flickered as he brought it close. He could see the bulky stone quivering, as if barely containing immense pressure.
Not pausing nearly long enough to think, Timmy smacked the round stone. It shot into his arms and he bounced the slimy stone from hand to hand for a second as the water burst out at him like a geyser. The lantern was extinguished and the cave was plunged into darkness, with only the feint light from the shaft of the well.
The water began to rise, quickly. The water was at his ankles as he headed in. Headed back,the water was above his boots and rising. He discarded the lantern and rushed forward. Well, tried to rush forward. It’s hard to move quickly in deepening water.
He climbed up the shaft, cradling the troublesome concretion in the crook of his arm. Below him, the water began to fill the well.
At the surface again, Timmy dropped the bucket, and was rewarded with a splash. Hauling the water up, he ladled a scoop of the clear liquid and sipped it. As tasty as it ever was.
With a hammer, he cracked the stone. I bet you expected a geode, but no, the blobby stone was nothing more than a compact mass of mineral cement, wrapped around a chunk of petrified wood.
Intermission
So that was the assignment, as I think it was supposed to be told. A story using the vocab words. But anything that is worth doing is worth overdoing. I had another thought when I saw this assignment, one that I had to do but I don’t think it’s what was intended.
But it is the chaos I live for.
Part 2:
Moraine was a girl, And Fiord was a guy,
both attending Alpine Glacier High,
they’d eyed each other, till Fiord had enough,
he’d esker out, as a sign of his love.
He tried a few times, but lost every chance,
As he’d become petrified would he ask her to dance.
A joke round Glacier, the two became,
Love unspoken, and Fiord was to blame.
In the End Moraine ended the laughter
by inviting poor Fiord to ice cream right after.
Well, by Spring, the two were still gaining stream,
and were inseparable, and unbeatable team
It just goes to show, when geyser not actin’
It’s up to the ladies to make good things happen.
Final words
Okay, that was rough, but I hoped you liked it.