AAOOOSC! Wheatie Bits!

E. 6. "A Fanciful Day at the Beach" (3/10)

Meanwhile, back on the beach, Kale's and Reid's screams echo through the shore.

Nolan immediately perks up from his book with a wary expression. "Is that Kale and Reid screaming or me internally screaming from what I'm reading?"

The screams then fade away.

"Fascinating!" Kailer heard her proclaiming from the teenager's right.

Nolan peers to his right, spotting him lying on the towel with his book hovering above his face. "What is?"

Kailer holds his book away from his face and turns his head to Nolan. "Did you know that sodium sulfate is a great drying agent that is found near playas and salt lakes in northern Africa and the western United States?"

Nolan gives him a confused, disgusted expression. "Uhhh, okay." He turns back to his novel.

A few feet away, under the sun, Brett is patting a lump of sand with a few holes and smooth parts with the back of a small plastic shovel.

"Hah!" He drops the shovel, gazing at his masterpiece with awe. "I'm done! It's amazing."

He turns his head behind his shoulder to look at his partner. "Hey, Jake Dog, Look at my—!" The rest of his sentence is caught in his throat.

Standing in all its glory behind him is a large doghouse made out of sand. Its sides are smooth with crisp corners; there is even a bone-shaped sign carved out from the sand above the hole with the word JAKE.

Jake pops his head into view from the front hole. "What was that, Brett?"

Brett stares wide-eyed at the construct with his jaw dropped. "How-how—" He jabs his pointer finger at the construct. "YOU MADE THAT?!"

Jake cranes his head to get a glimpse of his masterpiece. "This?" He turns back to Brett. "Yeah."

Brett continues gawking at it. "How...did you make that?"

"With sand and water." He shrugs.

Brett blinks at him blankly, stupefied. "Can you...help me with this?" He slowly turns back to his pathetic pile of sand.

"Sure!" Jake crawls out from his sand-made doghouse and happily hops onto his feet. "Let's get building!"

"Yes!" Brett pumps his fist in the air.