Shadow in the Water

Chapter 4

The thought tickled my mind once more. Could the stories hold more than just a tiny grain of truth? 

I shut that down right away. Just because I found a glowing necklace didn't mean fairies were real. There had to be a scientific explanation for the reaction. Determined to find it, I turned off the shower and hurried to dry myself, bringing the necklace with me. I wrapped my hair up in a towel, slipped on my fluffy green robe, and all but sprinted down the stairs to open up my computer to do some research.

I started at the most obvious point, Googling 'are there rocks that glow under water?' The search results pulled up information about rocks that glow under UV light and minerals that glow in the dark. That wasn't quite what I was looking for. Next I tried 'what things glow under water?' That gave me information about bio luminescent plankton called Noctiluca Scintillans that glow blue when disturbed in the water as a defense mechanism to scare off or distract predators, and some science experiments on how to make glowing water. Curious, I clicked on the science experiment video and watched a Russian man pour some powder called "Instant Light Powder" into a beaker half filled with water. Per the name of the powder, there was an instant reaction and bits of the powder began to glow. As he swirled it around it got brighter, and glowed exactly the same color that the pendant did. That was a start. Next I Googled this Instant Light Powder to find out what it was made of. The search pulled up several shopping websites that offered science kits including the powder. The first description I clicked on told me that the kit demonstrated chemiluminescence, the emission of light during a chemical reaction which does not produce significant quantities of heat. Then I asked Google, 'What is in instant light powder?' Similar shopping results came up, but the one on top had a better explanation. "Observe how luminol is converted to an excited state in the presence of an oxidizer, such as hydrogen peroxide. As the excited state molecule decays (or returns to the ground state), energy is produced as light."

I followed that up with a search for luminol, and found that it is a white-to-pale-yellow crystalline solid that is soluble in most polar organic solvents, but insoluble in water and that forensic investigators use it to detect trace amounts of blood at crime scenes because it reacts with the iron in hemoglobin. Biologists also use it to detect copper, iron, cyanides and specific proteins in molecular biology. I typed in 'Can luminol form into large crystals?' and hit the enter button. That brought up more information about luminol that I read through, detailing its chemical composition and its date of creation, neither of which were what I was really looking for. I supposed, though, that it was entirely possible that it could form, or be formed, into a large crystal and be unique in a piece of jewelry... but I wasn't a chemist. I had no idea if the compound could form into a large crystal or stone.

Somewhat satisfied with the results, I sat back in my chair and stretched. I wanted to show off my interesting find to my friends and family, but my stomach growled, reminding me that I'd entirely skipped breakfast. I glanced at the small stack of books next to my computer and remembered that I still had homework to finish before my classes on Monday. With a sigh, I decided that showing off the necklace would have to wait until later. I had other things to do. 

Several hours later I heard a gentle knock on my bedroom door. I turned around to see Nick leaning against the door frame.

"Hey, I just wanted to check on you, I haven't seen you all day."

"I'm alright. I ah... slept in, and have been doing my homework," I said.

He shook his head. "Homework with a hangover? On a Saturday?"

"I don't have a hangover," I said, mildly defensive. Truthfully I did still have the remnants of the headache I woke up with, but I had a feeling it was less because of the alcohol the previous evening and more because I'd been working consistently without giving my eyes a break for too long.