Leo grinned. For the first time, the mountain didn't look like a place for a picnic. It looked like a story waiting to be read.
She scooped up a handful of the sandy soil. "That's Geology 2. Rock, returned to sand. But we're not there yet."
"Lesson one, Leo," she said, tapping a fingernail on a sparkly cluster of crystals. "This is the beginning."
Elara nodded. "Everything. A billion years of fire, pressure, ice, and time. And right now, it's in your hand. That's the most amazing part. Geology isn't just about the past, Leo. It's the story of how we get to stand here at all."
She put the pebble in his pocket. "Lesson one complete. Next week: volcanoes."