Jace's Plan

That Sunday morning, a large group sat at the table in Olive’s home. It wasn’t any larger than the group that usually sat there, and was smaller for a usual Sunday morning. Nobody had had a sleepover that night. The children's Grandmother scolded Luke, Olive's older brother, for his manners. She often scolded the children for manners at meal times. “Stop munching your food like that! This is not a horse stable!” Luke is a freshman in high school, and is by far the rudest of the family. Well, at least in terms of table manners! The table was not huge, and to those sitting there, it seemed tiny. At their table, which was an average sized table, eleven people sat. The grandmother got the most room. It was her home, after all.

The group at the table made lively conversation. Olive explained her daring plan to prank her Sunday school teacher. Nobody minded. They all knew she adored him, and wouldn’t dream of doing something hurtful towards him.

“Guys!” Jace, Olive’s nine year old cousin, was eager for everyone’s attention. “I have been forming this great idea in my head for a long time. It’s how to stop earthquakes.” Jace was good at school, but nobody expected him to know enough about earthquakes to be able to stop them. They didn’t think earthquakes were stoppable, anyways. Despite their doubts, they let him continue. “When I was, I don’t know, maybe two years old, I was playing in the dirty water in the gutter of the street. While I was there, there was a little shaking in the ground. As if the information was handed to me, I suddenly understood exactly what causes earthquakes, and how they work. And I just finished figuring out exactly how they can be stopped, even if you don't know they're coming!”

Everyone was fascinated, except Dominic, Jace's one and a half year old brother. “Tell us more, Jace,” Evelyn, Olive's 7 year old sister prompted.

“I will,” Jace began again. “Earthquakes are caused by shifting of the plates that make up the earth's surface. Naturally, to stop them, you would have to stop the shifting of the plates, right?” Jace knew he was perfectly right, but everyone nodded anyways, and he knew they were all paying attention. Dominic nodded when he saw everyone else nodding, and they all laughed.

Then Jace explained how he had decided to stop the earthquakes. His plan included space craft that sent radar, a freezing of the earth's core, and super glue that was not yet created. It sounds absolutely impossible. Jace, though, explained how every step should be done, and after hearing his explanation, everyone at the table thought it a completely plausible idea.

The family was fascinated with his idea. For a while, the children continued to chatter, with the adults happily listening in. The grown ups considered children's chain of thought fascinating.

“Grandma, is that the clock striking… nine?” Jace asked after the family had been chatting for a while. “Yes, I believe it is,” Grandmother replied hurriedly. “We have to get ready for church! And no one is dressed nicely yet!” Grandmother considered it very important always to arrive at church on time. Leaving the dishes on the table, and the mess in the kitchen, the family rushed to prepare for church. Calls rang down the hallways in an effort to find clothes, scold siblings, and prepare as fast as possible. The chaos didn’t help with speed, and probably had the exact opposite effect.

After the rushed preparation, everyone piled into the car. Off they rushed, with a frantic Grandmother at the wheel. While most days she seemed to be the slowest driver in town, when she was in a rush on Sundays, she was quite the opposite.

Once they arrived, everybody clambered out. Even Olive's best friend, who almost never arrived at church before Olive's family, arrived on first. “Josilin! Are we late?” Olive was scared by the sight of her best friend, because she thought it meant she was late. “No. We just came really early. I don't know why. Just we all happened to be ready early. We were so antsy, Mom decided we should come here to get out of the house,” Josilin replied. Olive was relieved. “Oh, good! I thought we must be late!” Josilin was only somewhat surprised by this understanding of when she arrives at church. “You think we always are late? Well, it's kind of true!” Josilin and Olive got a good laugh in there.

“Sounds like everything is getting quiet inside the building. We'd better hurry up!” Josilin agreed, and she and Olive snuck inside.

After church, Olive, Josilin, Jasmine, Olivia, Wendy, and Sage rushed together. Sage suggested they race the boys. A laughing group of kids ran across the lawn. Some went too fast for their legs, and soon the race turned into a rolling and giggling pile of children. “That was fun! Good idea, Sage,” Wendy commented. Sage's face was sprinkled with freckles, because she always seemed to be playing outside, and acting quite adventurous. None of her friends could imagine her without them. Wendy was a bookworm, who often read long novels while perched on a tree trunk. She loved to play she was a character in a book she had read.

That evening, Jace's mother Sarah's best friend and her family came over for dinner. Everyone was chattering away, and Jace's father mentioned Jace's crazy idea. The father of the family visiting, Charles, was a geologist. Charles' ear caught the quietly said words, and asked for more information. “Oh, it's very detailed,” Jace's father said. “How about you ask Jace.” So Jace was brought from the children's table, to explain his genius plan. Charles was captivated the whole time, and afterwards, congratulated Jace at his genius. “I doubt any geologist ever could have thought of that! May I try to convince the use of your idea to other geologists? It would definitely save lives, if used.” Jace readily gave his consent. All that Charles could talk about afterwards was Jace's genius. Jace headed back to the children's table, and immediately was laughing with them.