Free Finally My Forever by Brooke St. James

students raised their hands.
    I put a hand on Thomas' back. " I'm all set up in the backyard so I'll meet you guys out there." I motioned to his painting. "I love your treasure chest by the way. I think it's beautiful that you're storing treasures in Heaven." He handed it to me. "You can have it if you want."
    He was so sweet that I had to struggle not to cry. I smiled and took it from him saying I'd be proud to own it, and would probably frame it for my new house.
    I went outside to wait for them, and Claire promised she would walk everyone out to me as soon as they finished up. There were 10 students watching the experiment, and I instructed them all to stand in a line several feet away from my set-up where they could see what was going on.
    Everyone else, including Claire, stood behind them to watch, seeming just as curious as the students.
    "Okay, guys this is a super fun experiment because we get to watch things bubble up and explode."
    "Like a bomb?" one of them asked, laughing.
    "Not quite like a bomb. It's safer than that, but it's still fun. Have any of you ever seen the Mentos and Coke experiment before?"
    All of them looked around to see if anyone would raise her hand, but no one did.
    "Okay good. You're in for a treat. I want everybody to pay attention because the soda you see in front of you is going to bubble up and fly out of the bottle as soon as I add this candy to it."
    I got ooh's and ahh's as a reaction from the students, which made me smile.
    "So scientifically, it's a physical reaction that's happening. You know how when you take a sip of soda you can feel it bubbling in your mouth?"
    Some of them looked confused, but most of them nodded and agreed.
    "Well that's called carbonation. And carbonation reacts to the type of candy I'll be dropping into the soda. This certain type of candy makes it produce more and more bubbles really fast and all of a sudden, it will spray out of the container."
    They murmured and looked at each other excitedly.
    "Now I've done this experiment lots of times, so I already know what's going to happen."
    I went behind the makeshift table and grabbed hold of one of the bottles. "I'm going to drop five pieces of candy into each bottle. Some of them will spray up this high." I demonstrated with my hand about 5 inches above the bottle. "And some of them will spray up this high." I stood on my toes and stretched my hand as high as I could to show a height of about 4 feet above the bottle."
    They clapped at the potential of it going that high.
    "Now, it's your job to guess which one will be the highest."
    I came out from behind the table and gave them each a pair of safety goggles even though they wouldn't really need them from their place several feet away. I gave them each a handout with pre-drawn bottles and a pencil to record our results.
    "We have Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, root beer, Coke Zero, and orange soda. You'll see six bottles on your piece of paper. Each of them is marked with a different type of soda." I glanced at the crowd behind the students. "Parents, they might need a little assistance keeping their data straight if you don't mind."
    I shifted my attention back to the students. "You can draw your results above the little bottles, or you can simply write down how high you think it was or which one was the highest. There are no rules with how to chart your results. I just wanted you to have a piece of paper so you can keep track if you want to."
    "When's it gonna explode?" one of the girls said, staring at the bottles with wide-eyed timidity.
    I smiled. "As soon as I add the candy, but you'll be fine, I promise."

 
    Chapter 9
     
     
    The key was to add all five candies as quickly as possible. I had a little tube shaped contraption that helped me add them all at once. I explained to them what I was doing as I loaded the tube with candy. Aside from a little traffic noise and a barking dog in the distance, you could have heard a pin drop. They watched intently as I stood