Evolution: Discovery

By Nancy Mitchell

EVOLUTION: DISCOVERY is the continuing story of the Martin family, who left the Bay Area and settled near Mt. Shasta, California. Sylvia's massage/healing practice at the local hospital has grown, while adopted daughter Anna is busy with her three-year-old son. Sean Martin has learned how to combine and separate matter, and his abilities grow from creating Christmas gifts to healing injured domestic and wild animals. It's the job of the whole family to keep Sean's ability secret from the world, yet allowing him to explore this new super-human trait.
Meanwhile, Maya, their 5th-dimensional mentor and friend, travels to the planets of the Pleiades star system with her friend Joel to further their own growth in consciousness. Through a difficult and emotional journey, Maya learns how to love and heal without judgement. Back on Earth, she enjoys recuperating with her 3rd-dimensional family in Mt. Shasta. She realizes the challenge that lies ahead keeping Sean happy yet secret, vowing to keep in constant touch with this family and its growing abilities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667866185

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EVOLUTION: DISCOVERY

Copyright © 2022 Nancy R. Mitchell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author through website: www.nrmmitchell.com.

Print ISBN: 978-1-66786-617-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66786-618-5

Contents

Acknowledgements

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

Don’t miss THE EVOLUTION SERIES: BOOK THREE

Acknowledgements

Telos Volumes 1, 2, and 3

Aurelia Louise Jones

Mt. Shasta Light Publishing

www.mslpublishing.com

The Pleiadian Agenda

Barbara Hand Clow

Bear & Company Publishing

Lee Carroll / Kryon

www.kryon.com

Monika Muranyi

www.monikamuranyi.com

Andrew Oser

Spiritual Retreats

www.mountshastaretreat.net

Awakening Your Light Body

Duane Packer and Sanaya Roman

Orin and DaBen

www.orindaben.com

Center for Creative Consciousness

Jonette Crowley / MARK

www.centerforcreativeconsciousness.com

Editing Assistance

Pauline Harris

Kathleen Meuter

Dedication

To John Mitchell,

the man who brought love to my life.

PROLOGUE

Mommy, Mommy, help! Help! Two-year-old Sean Martin awoke from a nightmare covered in sweat. As his shrieks reverberated throughout the house, the whole family rushed to his room to see what the problem was. His mother Anna sat on his toddler bed and hugged him closely until his screams had lessened to sobs that seemed to come from deep in his soul. The rest of the family sat quietly on the floor, waiting for Sean to calm down and tell them what was wrong.

Although Sean was the youngest member of the Martin family, he had advanced consciousness that surpassed that of his mother, her adoptive parents Lucas and Sylvia Martin, and their son Bobby. With the help of Bobby’s angel Maya, who lived in the fifth-dimensional city of Telos, the family members had made amazing strides in their development of higher consciousness. Living at the foot of Mt. Shasta, a dormant volcano in northern California, didn’t hurt either. Expanding their consciousness had brought earthly gifts to them also—a painting career to mildly autistic Bobby, a healing career to nurse Sylvia, and a managerial career to Lucas. Anna was just completing high school online, though she had also been taking computer classes through a Bay Area university.

Finally, Sean was able to speak. Mommy, the house burned up. Our house was lost!

Sean, Anna asked quietly, in your dream, were we in the house?

No, we were driving. Our street was burning.

Lucas looked at his family for a few moments. What do you all feel about this?

Sean’s dreams and visions have an uncanny way of coming true, Sylvia said. We should have a family plan for the next few years, or maybe the next year.

Of the family members, Bobby, was the most connected to Sean. Sean’s feelings are real, he said. He’s not making this up.

Okay, those of us who are still sleepy can go back to bed. Those who want to get an early start on the morning can do that. I won’t make you try to sleep, Sylvia said. The family dispersed—Bobby went back to his room, Anna took Sean into her bedroom to share her big bed, and Sylvia went to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.

Lucas took two coffee mugs from the cabinet and went to the refrigerator for the creamer. They sat at the table in silence.

Finally Lucas spoke. We need a checklist. A what-if checklist. What if a fire roared through here tomorrow? What would we want to save besides our own lives?

Let’s go at this differently. If we got a storage shed in town tomorrow, what would we want to put into it?

Sylvia got a paper tablet and a pen and they created a list. Mementoes like photo albums and home videos, copies of wills, heirlooms, valuable jewelry, camping equipment, flashlights and batteries, dried/canned food and bottled water, paper plates and cups, extra over-the-counter drugs, and copies of vehicle documentation, passports, and drivers licenses could be stored indefinitely. Also stored for a long period of time could be sleeping bags and pillows, first aid kit, batteries and radio, toilet paper and paper towels, personal hygiene items, and clothing that still fit but was only occasionally worn. Emergency cash should also be included.

Okay, that gives us a start, Sylvia said. What are we going to grab on the way out the door?

Wallets and purses, Lucas said. Prescription medications, cell phones and chargers, flashlights, laptops, checkbooks, and unpaid bills.

Bills—ha. I should pay them the day they arrive.

Good idea. We can always see them online anyway.

Back to the subject, Sylvia said. Let’s get a storage unit tomorrow and get started on our list. We’ll need some plastic bins for various categories of supplies.

I’ll call around tomorrow morning to see who has a vacancy. When I find one, I’ll go over on my lunch hour and sign us up. When you have time, you can go sign also so that we can both access the area.

They’ll give you a code that anyone can use. But it’ll be good for both of us to be on the paperwork.

I sure hope we don’t have a big fire, Lucas said.

I hope so too. But this family feels things that often come true, and it won’t hurt us to be prepared. Climate change is upon us.

Speaking of which, I want to run something by you, when there is a day less hectic.

A surprise?

More like planning ahead. You’ll see.

CHAPTER ONE

One Year Later

Maya, the last mermaid on Earth, was tired, both emotionally and physically. She was resting on her bed in her house in Telos, not really wanting to get up. Dragging her blond, blue-eyed, now-human body out of bed to fix a pot of tea, she wondered why she was so exhausted. Maybe the problems of the people of Earth were becoming overwhelming. She needed more Earth helpers. The original six Telosian helpers had been expanded to eight, but that wasn’t enough. People had their own individual angels, of course, but the eight helpers from the fifth-dimensional city of Telos helped people as groups. Because she was the most recent resident of Telos, having come from the race of the Mer, she was most able to access her third-dimensional human form for direct conversation with humans, and thus she had been appointed Ambassador to Earth. Being a mermaid was much easier, she thought, but then I wouldn’t have met all of my Earth family. She kept a secret from her Earth family—they thought she was helping them, but in reality they were helping her just as much. Maybe it was time for a visit with her Earth friends.

She checked in with Kahlil to see where he was. She had met Dr. Kahlil Jones in Texas three years ago during a hurricane on the Gulf Coast. She had helped him treat people in a temporary hospital set up in a gym farther inland, and their friendship had grown. But since she couldn’t explain how she traveled so quickly between California and Texas, she had stopped seeing him. In the meantime, he had transferred to Stanford University. He was now almost finished with his residency at Stanford, specializing in epidemiology, infectious diseases, and global health. Thanks to these programs, he had been able to travel around the world to better understand the medical needs of lesser developed countries. Since he was Black himself, he had especially enjoyed working in various countries in Africa, developing instant rapport with the patients he treated. She had seen him a couple of times in California, and that situation had been easier to explain since Greyhound had daily bus service between the Bay Area and Seattle with stops in between. She wondered what it would be like to drive a car or ride in a bus. Teleporting was much faster.

Another issue she had was so-called modern communication. If she wanted to contact him, she couldn’t just contact him telepathically. She needed to call or text him, and for that she needed to borrow Anna’s cell phone. She decided that would be a first step. She hadn’t seen Anna in a long time. It was time for a vacation to third-dimensional Earth.

***

Anna sometimes wondered why she was still living at home, but actually she knew, and his name was Sean. The three-year-old kept her busy. She had finished high school and was enrolled in an online computer science program at a Bay Area university. Her original goal was to have a career that would support the two of them independently. Since she had enrolled in the courses while she was still in high school, she was well on her way to accomplishing this goal. She also welcomed increased human contact, even though it was over the internet. Many courses involved group projects, and though they couldn’t meet in person, video chats were recorded so the instructors could check on their progress. She could easily have moved herself and Sean to the Bay Area, but something was holding her back, and it was not named Sean.

That something was the fact that Sean was way too advanced for his age. At three years old, he was too young to be in the first grade in the Mt. Shasta school system, so she had enrolled him in an online primary school. Both public and independent schools across the country had developed online courses during the recent pandemic, and many people had taken advantage of them. Their popularity ensured their continuing existence. There were many students who still needed classroom learning, but for the already-advanced Sean, it was perfect. For one thing, she was able to age him by three years on the application, presenting him as a six-year-old. And since he actually looked older than the normal three-year-old, he was able to participate in classroom discussions held on both audio and video. He loved learning, so getting him to sit still for class was not a problem. If she moved to the Bay Area, she would have a hard time explaining Sean to anyone.

Besides, everyone here loved Sean. They would be heartbroken if she and Sean moved away. Those who thought he was a bit advanced for his age didn’t say much. After all, this was Mt. Shasta, and miracles happened here. It also allowed her to avoid the question of who Sean was. Anna’s father was Caucasian and her mother was Black, giving Anna a full head of kinky black hair, brown eyes, and beautiful light brown skin. Since Sean’s father was Caucasian, Sean was quite a handsome boy, ending up with beautiful blue eyes as well as curly black hair and a lighter skin tone. The racial mixture made it hard for people to guess his age.

Anna was working on a project when she heard Maya tap on her thoughts. Hi, Anna. May I come visit?

Sure. I’m at a stopping point. I’m making the same mistake over and over, and I need a different focus for a few minutes.

Maya teleported to Anna’s bedroom. Anna set aside her laptop and gave her friend a big hug. Long time no see. What have you been doing?

The usual. Saving the planet. I actually came to borrow your phone for a minute to text Kahlil.

Anna had lent Maya her phone a couple of times in the past and knew who Kahlil was. Sure. Tell him hi for me.

Maya sent her message and then sat down with Anna to chat. So, what’s happening with your family?

Well, as you know, Dad is doing some experimental building. It took a long time for the plans to be approved, but it’s finally happening. He bought the lot next door and is building an underground house. The most time-consuming part was preparing the ground. Naturally we’re on a hill, so digging back into the hillside was not the problem. Being made of concrete, the house will be basically fireproof. The hard part was digging deep enough to put in a lot of gravel for drainage. We still have wet winters, and the water has to go somewhere. Starting at the top of the hill, it seeps into the soil and flows down to the gravel, traveling underneath the house instead of through it. The house actually sits on concrete piers and won’t slide downhill with the water.

Water can crack the concrete?

Given enough time, water can crack anything. Concrete. Brick. Adobe. Whatever. Look at the Grand Canyon. People think a little river took a long time to create that big canyon. But in reality, it was a whole lot of fast-moving water that made the canyon. Geologists say there are some old, small volcanos in the area and river water may have been blocked up by lava flows. Eventually the dams broke and the water rushed downstream, gouging out softer soil.

Hmmm. I’ll never look at water the same way again, Maya said.

I didn’t mean to scare you. What have you been doing? Are you going to see Kahlil?

If he’s in the country, I thought I’d pop in. He’s almost done at Stanford.

Would you want him to come here to live? Anna asked.

I think he’d be bored here, Maya said. There’s not much to do. Everyone here is pretty healthy. After Asia and Africa, Mt. Shasta might not hold much interest for him.

Maybe he would want to see more of you, Anna teased.

That might be a problem.

Do you think you’d ever tell him about yourself?

Maybe, if I were sure I could trust him.

We’ll have to wait and see, I guess. Anna’s phone dinged and she looked at it. Message for you.

Maya read the message. Kahlil was home and would love to see her. He had just come back from Asia and had the weekend off for jet lag recuperation. If she could come to the Bay Area, he would pick her up at the bus station on Saturday.

Anna looked at the bus schedule on her laptop. The bus from the north arrived in San Francisco at 5 p.m. Rush hour. Ugh. Do you want a motel reservation in Palo Alto?

That would be great, but I don’t have any money.

I do. The world runs on credit. I’ll make a reservation for you for one night. I’ll have to tell them you have no identification. You know, you just might have to get a driver’s license so you can use it for ID so you can get a credit card so you can open a checking account so you can pay your Earth bills.

Me? Drive? Earth bills? Maya chuckled. I’m the ambassador. I should have a chauffeur and the bills should be paid by my country, which doesn’t use money.

Tell that to the Holiday Inn or Hilton Hotel. Text him back and tell him you’ll be there. You can teleport to the last row of the bus. No one will notice. Do you need an overnight bag with clothes?

Yes. A bag won’t teleport out of Telos with me, but it will teleport from one Earth location to another. Don’t ask me why—just rules of teleportation 101.

I’ll make you one and put it in my room. You can pick it up on your way to the back of the bus. What size are you? The two women browsed through Anna’s closet and chose some clothing to pack. They found a backpack she could use on the second part of her journey.

Thanks, Anna. I owe you one. Let me see that wonderful Sean before I leave. She knocked on Sean’s door and was almost bowled over by his fierce hug.

Hi Maya. I felt you here. What are you doing?

I’m learning Earth things. What are you doing?

I’m learning first grade things. They are boring. I’m going to ask them if I can be in the second grade.

"Good for you. Tell your grandma and grandpa hi for me. And Bobby, too. He’s upstairs, I guess.

Always. He’s going to be a can of paint in his next life.

Oh, I hope not. Next time he’ll be painting the world.

***

Lucas had spent the morning on the phone with various people. It came from having too many irons in the fire at once. The city had inspected the cement floor, walls, and ceiling of his new house. He had bought the lot next door to his current house, and he and the architect had designed a beautiful underground house. He loved the design—U-shaped with outside walls burrowed into the hillside, with the inside sliding glass doors opening onto a central patio. A large brick and stone fireplace would front on both the family room and the living room. The septic system had been completed and was awaiting inspection. Water and drainage pipes were in. The duct work for the furnace and air conditioning was in. The electrical wiring was in, but it had no source of power yet. Although Lucas had ordered a magnetic generator installed, backup electricity from the grid was required by code. Building a new house was complicated. It was a wonder houses got built at all, at least houses with new designs. Progress was slow, as everything had to be constructed according to code, or else construction would come to a halt. He sighed.

Luckily, he had Dennis to rely on. Dennis Macaw, a high school graduate he had hired three years ago, was able to take on more of his duties at the office. The only job Lucas kept was the accounting figures that he gave to his CPA Diane Brooks every two weeks. It was fair to say that both he and Dennis worked part time but got paid for a full-time job, albeit at minimum wage. This allowed them to complete other activities while still in the office. Dennis was taking some computer classes online and had learned how to create applications, apps for short, for computers. His love of video games was pouring out, and while his video games weren’t earning any money, they might in the future. His friends on the internet were always waiting impatiently for his next game to be revealed.

Lucas had joined the Mt. Shasta Volunteer Fire Department, which worked in conjunction with Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. There were two fire stations in town with a total of six engines and two water tenders. He had taken a few weeks off from his work to attend a special class for volunteer firemen. It didn’t cover the complete curriculum of regular fire school, but it was a great help in beginning to understand how fires started and the best way to prevent and fight them. Lucas had been instrumental in getting the Forest Service to create a few fire breaks around the town, which was a good start but not nearly enough. He also organized homeowners who lived on the edges of town and along country roads to clear the brush back from their homes. But if a big fire came along, it wouldn’t stop at those small breaks.

He grabbed his lunch and left Dennis in the office happily creating a new video game. Walking down the main street, he entered Home Again, the craft store where Bobby had begun his painting career. He always enjoyed chatting with owner Peggy Yates, who had taught Bobby how to paint. Peggy, an older woman with salt and pepper hair and round glasses, was busy, but she motioned Lucas back to her office anyway. He entered and made himself at home. Closing the store at noon for an hour, she grabbed her lunch and joined him at the small table by the back window. They got drinks from the refrigerator and opened their sack lunches.

I’m not a psychologist, she said, but it looks to me like you’re tired and impatient.

I should be counting my blessings, but it seems like things are moving so slowly, he admitted.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, she reminded him.

But it sure fell in a hurry.

It was a long time in falling. Cracks were hidden. Rules were ignored. And maybe their motives weren’t quite good enough for what they were trying to create.

You’re saying I might not be thinking correctly?

Peggy paused for a few moments before answering. Thinking correctly, yes. Drawing conclusions, no. Look at the big picture. Look at where you were four years ago. Bobby was unmanageable. Anna was in Oregon with her uncle; you didn’t even know her. You were going to live in Seattle, but that didn’t happen. Sylvia was holding you all together, but being an anchor was hard on her. Look at where you are now.

We certainly have come a long way. Perhaps I’m expecting too much of myself.

You’re thinking there’s not enough time. You must see time as your friend. Relax. You don’t have to save the whole country. One state at a time will do. She tried to hide a smile but wasn’t successful.

What? The whole state?

Okay, just this town.

That’s better. They finished eating and threw their paper bags into the recycling bin.

Let’s walk around before you open up again, Lucas said. They left by the back door and walked along behind the commercial buildings. Eventually they veered off into the trees that bordered the freeway and found a log to sit on. Tell me how Charlie is doing? I hear she’s a cat lover now. Charlie was Peggy’s granddaughter who had come to live with her three years ago.

Those silly cats. I’ll never forget when she brought them home. They were such scraggly little things—just born. She had to feed them every hour. She took them to the vet, who didn’t even charge her for the visit. Somehow she managed to keep them alive. I paid for the cat litter, food, shots, and neutering. They were easily adopted out after two months.

"Is she still going to high school?

No, that didn’t work out. She dropped out—didn’t even get a GED. But something else came along. You’ve probably heard about our shelter in the back yard.

Yeah, a shed or something where she keeps stray and injured animals.

I paid for the new shed. When I told the salesman what it was for, the shop owner sold and installed it at cost. The vet, Dr. Kendrick, gave her some spare cages, and we get straw and other bedding from a ranch north of town. It’s actually a pretty nice shed. Has windows and ventilation for animals not needing TLC inside the house.

This must get expensive for you, with food and all.

They rose and headed back to the craft shop. Good things come eventually. The vet said if she would work part-time in his office, he would trade her work for cat and dog food. The other condition was that she take some online zoology courses through UC Davis. He could see that she was good with animals. He just needed to be able to trust her more in handling the injured animals that are brought to his clinic.

How long does she keep the animals?

Anna runs a website for her. It’s mostly about adopting the animals out, the tame animals. If she gets animals like squirrels or birds or possums, she nurses them back to health, then has Dr. Kendrick give them one last exam before they are freed into the forest. She even has some neighborhood kids helping her when she does this. She gives them her phone to take their pictures with her, and Anna posts the pictures online. Everyone in Shasta now knows to give injured wild animals to Charlie.

As you say, Peggy, that’s an improvement from three years ago. They rose and returned to the shop.

Yes, I guess it is. Thanks for the walk, Lucas. It’s always good to get some fresh air.

My pleasure. Don’t work too hard.

Never. Say hi to everyone for me.

Will do.

Lucas walked back toward his office. He remembered his initial plans of driving his family to Washington State and getting a job in Seattle. He worked in the bustling city for a major importer for just one day, meeting Anna on his return to Mt. Shasta. The birth of Sean seemed like it happened yesterday. Then there was the additional member of his family, Maya, initially introduced to the adults as Bobby’s angel but now an important and spiritually powerful woman whose influence was being felt around the world. It seemed like it all happened last week. He decided to give up on time. Time was unreliable. What was that phrase—go with the flow? Live in the moment? Make love not war? Maybe the hippies of the sixties were on the right path after all.

***

From the back of the bus, Maya could see Kahlil impatiently waiting for her. Finally she disembarked and gave him a big hug. As they walked to the parking lot, she looked around. She had never been to San Francisco and was amazed at the skyline, of the multitude of buildings reaching for the clear, blue August sky. She hadn’t traveled much to big cities, as her work usually took her to flooded areas where whole towns had disappeared. She had made a couple of quick trips to Stanford to share a meal with him, but she had always appeared at his doorstep, not pretending to arrive by bus.

Did you enjoy your trip through northern California?

Oh, yes, she replied. But it was long and hot. We made a lot of stops. Thank heavens for air conditioning in the bus. She hoped that itinerary was correct, although he probably wouldn’t have looked up the route and might not know the exact stopping points.

This is a long state. People have been trying to divide it up for ages, but nothing ever happens.

Between the southern deserts and the northern mountains and everything in between, it certainly has a lot of different geography. They reached his Prius. Same car, I see.

He smiled. It gets me around, and there are charging stations all over the place.

As they drove south on 101, she could see San Francisco Bay and the bridges that spanned it.

Is the Bay Area having any problem with higher sea levels?

The town of Alviso in the South Bay may have to be abandoned. They have already built taller dikes. The town used to be thirteen feet below sea level, now it’s about sixteen feet below at high tide. Luckily, being at the far end of the bay, it doesn’t get rapid changes in sea level. Other than that, either the water is cresting over existing wetlands or the city involved has built dikes.

What do you think will happen to Alviso?

The San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility is located east of Alviso. It is absolutely vital to the residents of the South Bay. They’ll be building dikes soon, I’m sure. The cities aren’t impacted so much, at least not yet. I don’t know what kind of planning they’ve been doing. Smart people should buy stock in cement companies.

Maya wasn’t quite sure what stock was, but she didn’t say anything. Soon they left the freeway and were driving through the residential area of Palo Alto.

This area is beautiful, she said. Lots of trees. Makes me feel right at home. By the way, I’m staying at a hotel on the Alameda. Do you know where this is? She gave him the address.

Yeah, it’s on the main drag. Do you want to check in and then go out to dinner?

Main drag includes restaurants, I presume?

Yep. Any kind you want. Do you have a preference?

Maya hadn’t eaten out much on third-dimensional Earth, although she was familiar with a few Palo Alto restaurants she had enjoyed during several previous visits with Kahlil.

You choose. You’re the native here.

I know you like vegetarian and seafood, so there’s Mexican, Indian, Chinese, and Thai. Indian is spicier.

Let’s have Thai. Maya checked into her motel, and soon the two were in line at the nearest Thai restaurant. Saturday night was always busy anywhere in the Bay Area, Kahlil informed her.

Do you want something to drink while we wait?

Since Maya needed all her concentration to stay in her third-dimensional form, she chose a soft drink. Kahlil ordered a glass of beer.

So what do you want to do tomorrow? he asked.

I’d like to see the ocean. I haven’t seen it for a long time.

Not many oceans on Mars.

She laughed. You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?

Their drinks were served and they clinked glasses. Toast, he said, for your visit to the Pacific tomorrow. They sipped their drinks slowly, enjoying the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant. Maya was glad she had come. Even ambassadors needed an occasional vacation.

***

Kahlil picked Maya up promptly at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. She had already checked out of the motel and threw her backpack into the back seat. They grabbed a quick breakfast at a nearby family restaurant. Don’t eat too much, he cautioned. We’re going on a road with lots of twists and turns. Plus, we’re going to have a seafood feast when we get there.

Is your car all charged up?

It goes a few miles on battery power, but then the gasoline engine takes over. And yes, I have lots of gas.

Soon the couple was headed west on Highway 92 toward Half Moon Bay, and Maya realized he wasn’t kidding about curvy roads. To get to the Pacific Ocean from the middle of the peninsula, it was necessary to cross the Coast Range, a twisting road on both the east and west sides of the hills. It did do a good job of protecting the beaches from the millions of people living and driving in the Bay Area.

Kahlil enjoyed his job of tour guide. First, we’ll go to a nice calm beach where you can meditate on where all these waves come from. I brought some beach towels so we can soak up the sun. Then I’ll take you to one of the most famous surfing spots in the world—Pillar Point, where the Mavericks surfing contest is held.

Maya didn’t dare ask what surfing was. It wasn’t something people did in Mt. Shasta. She connected with Anna. Anna, what is surfing?

She could hear Anna laughing. Anna sent her a thought video of a surfer speeding down the face of a huge wave. It looked dangerous and fun at the same time.

Do you like surfing? she asked Kahlil.

I like it, he said, parking the car and retrieving beach towels from the back seat. "But I grew up in Texas, and the waves in the Gulf of Mexico aren’t very big, so I