Sarena's Discovery

Sarena had her head down, hands in her pocket, and her feet kicking some cans.

She was thinking about her fish losses and was really disappointed.
I can't believe it.... Just when it started out great, I lose everything. Even the minnows.

Sarena kicked a can really hard in front of her and it hit something hard that made a loud noise and made Sarena jumped.
She had kicked the can to a dumpster behind the Crescent Beam library.

The noise also startled a cat that was in the dumpster and it jumped out, ran away, and kicked the dumpster down, revealing an object half hidden in sand.

Curious, Sarena went to see what it was and she dug it out of the sand and found it was a book. A journal.
The cover was old, ripped, and damaged. When Sarena opened it to the first page, two words were written on it.

Eric J. Faradite

Sarena gasped. Eric J. Faradite! That's my real father's name! Oh my Gosh! I can't believe this! This must be my father's journal!....He was actually here in Ercreia!?

Sarena flipped through the pages to see many pictures, maps, and journal entries, all from her father.

She sat down on the dirt and began reading some of the entries.
She read about how he had traveled to many different states, exploring, going on expeditions, and having new experiences.

(Some journal entries and NOT IN ORDER!)

"May 12 (unknown year)....Traveled to Minnesota..... Ate many honeycrisp apples and they were delicious!.... There were a lot of cows..... Tried milking them, and it did not work out so well.....Did some farming for about 2 weeks than headed west...."

"June 27 (unknown year) Traveled to California.... A lot of hot girls at the beach.... Remembered meeting Emily here at Coronado Beach... I miss her.... and Sarena too.... I hope my expedition will be worth it.... I hope Sarena will understand.....
Found a lot of golden poppies in the forest. It was strange that I was not allergic to them.... California is awesome."

"October 9 (unknown year) Traveled to Texas.....Visited the Almano. It was cool......Watched people tried to horse back. But sometimes the horse would lose control and knock their rider off their backs..... It was hilarious!"
Sarena read many entries of where her father had traveled and repeatedly he kept writing about missing his family, his regrets, and something about the Fountain of Time, which Sarena had never heard of before.

When she went to the last page it read how he was really sorry about leaving Sarena, not dealing with Emily's death well, and for many other regrets he had.
And the last few sentences had read that Eric was sure that the Fountain of Time was right here in Ercreia. Well actually, below Ercreia.

And then there was no more.

Sarena felt tired from all that reading and decided to go back to her home with the journal to think everything through.

I can't believe my father's here.... This entire time he was here... Or at least that's what the journal had said. Ercreia was the last place he visited in his entry, yet how come I haven't seen him? I've been here for years!.... The journal did say he thought the Fountain of Time was below Ercreia, so that means he went into the Undergrounds....I hope he.... didn't die...

And Sarena walked home, gripping on to her father's journal.