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He said it like they were in a race and he’d given theht, but Call, Tamara, and Aaron just stared at him in horror Tamara was the first to find her voice

"Separate out the sand?" she said "But shouldn’t we be learning soue ele the boat or --"

"Two piles," said Rufus "One light, one dark Start now"

He turned around and walked away The wall becaain as he approached it, then turned back to stone as he passed through

"Don’t we even get a tool kit?" Tamara called sadly after him

The three of them were alone in a roolad he didn’t have claustrophobia or he’d be chewing off his own aruess we should start"

Even he didn’t e to say it with any enthusias it would be before the daht as Tale around the sand pile They all stared at it Finally, Taht," she said, sending a grain spinning toward the floor "Dark" She sent that one on the floor, too, a little distance away "Light Dark Dark Light"

"I can’t believe I orriedat the sand pile

"You could die of boredom," said Aaron Call snickered

Taht of that is the only thing that’s going to keep ined it to be to rains of sand with his mind, it was even harder than that He res before, how he’d accidentally broken the bowl during his exa in hiswhile he stared at the sand, and it started toa device with a re up the sand, but he was stillit happen His hands felt clarain hover in the air for long enough to see whether it was light or dark was tricky Even worse was setting it doithoutup the pile already there More than once, his concentration slipped and he dropped a grain into the wrong pile Then he had to find it and pull it back out, which took time and even more concentration

There were no clocks in the sand roo watches, so Call had no idea howFinally, another student showed up -- he was tall and lanky, dressed in blue, with a bronze wristband that indicated he’d been at the Magisteriu with Tamara’s sister and Master Rock

Call squinted at hirinned fro of lichen and cheese sandwiches, along with an earthenware pitcher of water, at their feet "Eat up, kids," he said, and headed out the way he’d co for hours and his brain felt fuzzy He was exhausted, much too tired to make conversation as he ate Worse, as he studied the re sand, they’d h the pile The heap that re This wasn’t what he’d pictured when he’d iic This stank

"Co to have to eat dinner down here"

Call tried to concentrate, focusing his attention on a single grain, but then his er The sand exploded, all the piles flying sideways, grains splashing the walls and settling into a giant, unsorted mess All of their hard as undone

Tamara sucked in her breath in horror "What -- what did you do?"