The pandemic rages unchecked in a country where health care is a commodity. Climate change continues setting horrifying records. It’s all relentless bad news.
#YouFindARock. You cling to it, determined to lose yourself in the stony rose for at least a moment.
You ignore the translucent white beads, fingers rolling the grape chalcedony in your pocket as a reminder of past misadventures.
You focus on the salmon orange crystal bloom.
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> Pet
You reach out, fingers tracing the delicately-radiating crystal fivers. It’s hard under your touch, but extremely brittle.
A single spine snaps free despite your caution. “Ah, drat!” You mutter under your breath. “So sorry about that.” You pat the crystal reassuringly.
>
> Lick
The hydrated calcium silicate is too hard to detect much flavour, although it vaguely reminds you of a calcium supplement.
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> Zap
Playing it safe, you pull out your trusty UV flashlight and zap the mineral.
It glows a vaguely disquieting yellow-brown.
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> Bake
“You didn’t taste like much, but you look like sliced strawberries,” you muse, sprinkling the fibrous zeolite on shortcake batter & stuffing it in the oven.
During baking, you detect a voltage change. Hurriedly, you conduct further tests. “Pyroelectric!” you determine
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> Burn
Digging through your pockets, you extract a blowpipe & load the assay chamber with the fibre that broke while petting. You hold up a flame & blow gently.
The crystal fragment twitches & curls like a worm. “Skolec,” you identify in Greek, naming the root of Scolecite.
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> Squeeze
“Come here, you beautiful mineral!” you coo, gathering the scolecite into a tight embrace.
As you squeeze the casuals, they generate a brief voltage. “Hah! Piezoelectric, too.” you smugly concludes. “Knew it.”
>
> SMAS—
“Bwahaha!” you cackle, winding up to smash the mineral, then abruptly stop when you realize you can just look up its cleavage or fracture.
> Revere
You carefully collect the sample. “How do you feel about starting a zeolite museum?” you ask as you set it on a cushion.
After setting up lights, checking humidity, and installing security display boxes, you step back to admire your hard work.
“Today, it’s just a scolecite. But who knows what rocks tomorrow will hold?” you muse. “Silicon, aluminum, & oxygen can combine in so many beautiful ways!”
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