The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0555

Holding Elva's hand, we followed Bridget around to the side of the mansion. A camera crew followed us, with their cameras trained on Bridget, Elva, and me. I tried to keep my head up high and my grip firm on Elva's hand. Constantly having cameras watching was unnerving. It felt like I was constantly under a microscope, so I had to perform to be the best person I could be. Since mistakes weren't tolerated, I felt like I couldn't be myself.

As we came around to the side of the mansion, I saw a massive sand sculpture right there on the beach. Bridget ran to it, then threw her arms out, and spun around.

"Elva!" she called. "Look what I made you!"

Elva gasped, then tugged me forward. We rushed toward the sculpture, which I realized as we drew closer, was an elaborate sandcastle.

It was multi-leveled, with towers stretching even taller than Elva. Each tower had winding stairs down the sides that led to a main, large building with carefully carved windows. Every detail was meticulously designed and crafted, even down to the brick façade that covered the entire sculpture.

Elva was in total awe. I was too, for a minute. It really was a work of art.

I wondered who Bridget had brought in to make this.

"I made this castle for you, Elva," Bridget said, "As an apology for the unfortunate accident which destroyed your own little, dilapidated castle."

Bridget made this? My initial thought was to majorly doubt that, but I pushed down on that feeling, recognizing it likely as jealousy. Bridget was so damn good at everything. Would it be so out of question for her to be good at this too?

*This is for me?" Elva released my hand, so I let hers go too. She dashed forward to look closer at the castle.

"I thought you might want to see what a real sandcastle should look like," Bridget said. Her sugary voice might have sounded nice, but I could hear the insult underneath. Fortunately, Elva seemed blissfully unaware, too caught up in appreciating the craftsmanship and beauty of the sand sculpture.

compared to what I'm used to," Bridget went on. "You can see now how I would have thought it wasn't anything when I

I said, unable to contain myself anymore. "Children, for instance, are learning and playing. They don't need to make sculptures

need to," Bridget replied, "But they should certainly strive to. If we pushed our children to do better, maybe they would grow up

a

smiling, totally ignoring the fact that

my mouth, about to really give Bridget a

"Mommy! Look it!"

see where she was pointing. There, tucked into one of the windows, was a little sand cat, snoozing on the windowsill. To carve something that intricate would have required such a steady hand, it was

by windows," Bridget said.

admiring the cat,"

looked at

in my mind that Bridget hadn't crafted this sculpture herself came rushing back to me, this time with renewed fervor. Anyone who had taken the time to design and make this castle would appreciate

details that she

recognizing how easily it could be twisted to make Bridget seem a victim. Hopefully, through the cameras, the public

Nathan called from where the others had been

her

"But the castle, Mommy..."

back

I spotted Nicholas and Julian now standing near Veronica. Nathan was just beyond, setting up the cameras alongside a crude start line, which

in the water, a few boats were set up to show the water side of the

time. Content belong

me his typical, sideways-slanted smile, though it didn't quite match his

as I'll ever be,"