Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

pounded in my ears. Even though I’d expected to see someone standing there, I still couldn’t calm my racing heart. I should’ve run from the room. But my curiosity and her distress kept me from running. And this was only a dream.

“Help me. Please.”

I swallowed, went slowly back to the window, and peeked through the blinds. The same red-headed woman I saw at the store and the beach stood there. She put one hand on the window. Her large eyes brimmed with tears. Her pale skin reflected the moonlight. She was beautiful, but eerily so—like a ghost.

“Please.” Her voice sounded like a whisper through the glass. After a minute, I calmed down and slid the window open. The damp, cold air exhaled on me and I could smell the ocean. Where was the window screen? Had she removed it?

“Take this,” she said without any other introduction. Into my hands, she placed a white clam about the size of my fists. It was smooth as glass and heavier than it looked.

“But—”

“Keep it safe at all costs.” She looked quickly over her shoulder, then back at me. “Take it home, make sure the Captain gets it. Tell her Lieutenant Delfina gave it to you, but tell no one else where you got it.” Then she turned and ran away, her long, wild hair flying behind her. A half-empty bottle of water jostled at her side.

I opened my eyes. Bright morning light shone through the blinds in the window. Ugh, what a weird dream I’d had. I sat up on my bed, still in my clothes from last night, feeling tired, stiff, and icky—until the smell of bacon and eggs reached my nose. I smiled. The aroma pulled me out of bed. I changed out of my clothes and walked out of the bedroom.

“Hey, sleepy,” Samantha said from the kitchen. “Come get some bacon before it burns.”

“Aw, thanks.” I headed for the kitchen. Sam handed me a plate. I took a bite of bacon as I went to sit down. “I had the weirdest dream last night.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Remember that red-headed lady we saw with the Scottish guy at the beach?”

“Uh huh,” Sam said with a snort.

“I dreamed she came to my window and gave me a seashell.” I smiled and shook my head. It sounded even more ridiculous out loud.

Samantha laughed. “Must have been the pot pies. I dreamed I was tap dancing on a surfboard to impress Cooper.”

“Nice. Junk food hangovers are the best.”

“So, what do you want to do today? I’ve wanted to go shopping to get some souvenirs.”

“Yeah, we can do that. There are some places to shop within walking distance. I’m also thinking I’d like to try and get a summer job or volunteer at an aquarium while we’re here.”

“You’re going to leave me all alone to go off and hang out with some fish?” she asked in mock distress. I gave her a look. She laughed and turned the stove off.

“Maybe I’ll go see if any surf shops are hiring.” She put the empty pans in the sink and walked out of the kitchen. “I’m gonna go shower.”

“Thanks for the breakfast, Sammie Ka-blammie,” I called after her. Then I finished eating my breakfast and cleaned up the dishes since Sam cooked. Bacon smell lingered in the kitchen.

I took my turn in the shower, then went into my room to get dressed. Where’d I leave my shoes? Not in the suitcase, not in the closet. I lifted the bedspread lying half on the floor, then stopped.

Underneath the bed sat a big, white clam.

A knot twisted in my chest. I reached down and picked up the clam, swallowing through a tightened throat. The dream—it actually happened? Why would a total stranger come to my house and give me a clam in the middle of the night?

I looked at the window, crossed the room in two running steps, and threw the blinds up. The window was still open. I stuck my head outside and looked down at the flowerbed. The screen sat on the ground next to the window, propped against the wall. There were fresh footprints in the mud.

“S-Samantha?” I called. I could hear her asking what I wanted, but I didn’t answer her. Her footsteps came quickly down the hall.

“What is it?” she asked from the door. I turned from the window and held out the seashell. She looked at it with a furrowed brow. “I thought you said it was a dream.”

“I guess it wasn’t.”

“You didn’t go buy it yesterday and make up a story just to be funny, did you?” She shifted her weight and put a hand on her hip.

“No. We were together all day yesterday. When would I have had time to buy a clam?”

“Let me look at it.” She held out her hand and I gave her the shell. She turned it over, felt the smooth exterior, and weighed it in her hands. “It’s heavy.”

“Maybe it’s still alive.”

She tossed it back to me with a shudder. I caught it and stuck my thumbs on either lip of the clam to pry it open.

“We might have to get a knife to…” I gasped and dropped the seashell on the bed. No rubbery flesh. Only light. A golden glow like a candle flame came from the inside of the clam.

“What?” said Sam.

“It was glowing!” I stared at the seashell as if it were a snake about to strike. For a long time, neither of us said anything.

Sam looked at me with wide eyes. “You said the lady from the grocery store gave it to you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did she say anything?”

“Um… yeah. She told me to take it home. Oh, and give it to the captain.”

“The captain? What captain?”

I shrugged.

“That’s so weird.” She looked back at the clam. “Maybe she was just drunk.”

“She was carrying a water bottle,” I said, remembering it from last night. “Maybe it had alcohol in it.”

“Did she smell like alcohol?”

“No, I don’t think so.” I thought back on the woman’s face, which