
- "Coal's
a fossil fuel, just like gas. Mrs. Lee told us all about it
once. She said that coal was formed after prehistoric plants,
like tree branches, died and rotted. They were crushed under
rocks and dirt and over time the pressure and heat of the Earth
slowly turned them into coal and other fossil fuels."
- "That's
why we have to conserve energy," Courtney added. "It took millions
and millions of years to get the coal and gas and oil we have
now. If we use the fossil fuels too fast, we'll use everything
up."
Collin
laughed. "Guess I can't escape Mrs. Lee and her science lessons
even when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere."
- Morgan
and Courtney laughed, too, but the merriment stopped when a
flaming ball whizzed through the void and crashed into another
puzzle piece, opening one more portal for the kids to explore.
- One
down, seven to go,
the whispering voice laughed. Hurry! Hurry!
- Collin
blew out a gust of air. "Are you ready to go again?" he asked
Morgan and Courtney.
- The girls
shook their heads. Morgan had no desire to begin another adventure.
One was more than enough. She'd fought off a dinosaur, almost
been swallowed by thick, stinky ooze, and she was still miserable,
stinky and covered with goo. She wanted to go home -- but the
only way to get there was to find seven more puzzle pieces.
"Okay.
I'm ready," she reluctantly said.
- Courtney
laughed. "Me, too, I suppose."
- They linked
hands, took a deep breath and jumped into an eerie kaleidoscope
of blue and green.
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