Two Halfs, One Heart

Chapter 42- Don't Drink The Water

We were visiting St. Augustine, Florida. At the moment, we were listening to our tour guide tell us about the Fountain of Youth. "Don Jaun Ponce de Leon arrived with Christopher Columbus on the adventurous second voyage to America in 1493. While in Spain, De Leon heard stories of the fountain of youth and made it his mission to find it," Our guide said.

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"He located this stream here in Saint Augustine, Florida. However, he never found the fountain." "This is so fascinating, Gwen!" I said, very interested in hearing about the fountain of youth. "What I want to know is where is the foundation of soda?" Ben said.

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"Shh! Show some respect. You're in the oldest city in North America," Gwen said. "You can read it in this text, De Leon's description of his discovery." "Now, why do the words always have to be so darn small?" Max said. "Well, if you can't read the words, Grandpa, maybe we should get you a magnifying glass or a big telescope. What?" Ben said as I gave him a death glare.

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"What did I say, princess?" He asked, grabbing my hand. I just shook my head as Ben kissed my forehead. "The one thing about old people is they don't want to be reminded they're old," she said. "I wouldn't worry about Grandpa getting mad at me saying stuff like that," Ben said. "And why is that?" "Because he can't hear me over your nagging. I got you beat."

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"I heard that. What do you mean I have lead feet?" Max asked. "Told you." Then he sprayed Gwen with water from a squirt gun. Then she ran after us and tried to catch us. "I can still catch the three of you." He said as he went to chase us.

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We hid behind a stand and I peeked out to look for her. I turned around and out of nowhere, Ben got cotton candy smashed in his face. "Gotcha!" She said, smugly. Then Max came up to us and was completely out of breath. "Are you all right, Max?" I asked, concerned. "Oh, yeah, fine. Must be the Florida heat and humidity," he said.

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"They say older people need to stay indoors in the summer. You should probably go in the Rust Bucket and cool off." "Who are you calling old?" Max asked, offended. "Ben meant age-challenged," she said. "I see another way to cool off." Max said as he headed over to a dunk tank. "One ticket, please." "Sorry, this booth is out of order," the man said.

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"Oh. It looks fine to me. Come on, let my grandkids take a couple of throws. They need to see I'm not some old fuddy-duddy." "Just one toss each." Then Ben and Gwen were handed two balls. He threw the ball but nothing happened. Then Gwen had her turn but just like Ben, nothing happened.

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"You all must go, now!" The man said, frightened. "Dude, it's three strikes and you're out, not two. He said as he threw the ball again and Max went into the water. "Yeah! All right! Uh-huh!" Ben said, proud of himself. "No. No! No!" "Dude, it's no biggie. He'll dry off." He said, not sure what the problem was. "How was the water, Max?" I asked. "Ooh, well, it could be a little warmer on these old joints of mine."