squiddy's story part 13: A Chat Over Polished Treasures | chapter 2 beach time

I pushed three smooth, wet quartz pebbles across the sand into a neat semicircle before Max. Now that he has found his lively voice, our conversations flow with bright excitement. Max hopped enthusiastically from one stone to the next, his plastic base making crisp clicks while he chimed in with cheerful little chirps to name each treasure. I lifted a ribbon of sun-dried kelp with my tentacle, draping it gently across the rowboat's timber like a leafy canopy for our shop. Every time I pulsed a warm cyan glow over the quartz, Max wobbled his googly eyes and chattered back in happy staccato notes.