Genre: Fiction Family Saga – 42 pages – 9,576 words

Synopsis

Soames and Pedro are two teenage boys growing up in the tiny rural coastal town of Livingstone. The Oyster and pearl trade is where the town has its center.  Pedro works in the factory shucking oysters every day after school.

 Both Pedro and Soames dream of owning a dune buggy and each afternoon watch from there hiding place as the wealthy older teenager’s  from the next town ride their sand bikes and dune buggy over the sand dunes. The boys watch in wonder at the speed they ride and dream they’re dream as only teenage boys can. Set in the 1960’s  there lives are greatly affected by the “Torre Canyon” a rusty old oil  tanker as it spills thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean not far from their village. The oyster business is ruined and the factory must close bringing with it certain Black Death to the town and its inhabitants.

But over the preceding months Pedro and Soames have been hiding pearls, after Soames unique gift for Oyster tapping was discovered quite by accident. But now the boys must decide. Do they use the stolen pearls to purchase a dreamed about dune buggy or return the pearls and maybe even save the towns economy from certain collapse.