The Opal Cavern

by S.G. Byrd

Curl says she’d rather die than spend the rest of her life trapped under Wasso Lake. What if her wish is coming true?

Nineteen years old and longing to see new things, the impulsive Curl plans an exploration trip with her friends, Mindik and Chera, to find Tarth’s legendary Opal Cavern. But Lacht, who rescued Curl from her last expedition gone awry, has recurrent, heavy feelings that her underwater friend shouldn’t go. Nobody, including Lacht, listens to her forebodings until the explorers have left.

When Wave, another Wassandra, learns a shocking secret from an old diary—a secret that can mean life or death for Curl—a rescue team rushes off to find the explorers. But will they be too late?


A brilliantly creative tale that whisks the reader into another world
For Y/A and all who love fantasy

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 13, 2014

About the author

When I was a child, my stuffed animals had incredible adventures. When I wasn’t playing with them, my sister, friend, and I galloped all over Mercer University’s campus in Macon, Georgia, dodging students, whinnying, and having a wonderful time as horses. We thought the students were impressed by us—now I’m not so sure. I have to confess also that we played a game called “Pretty Girls,” in which we put on a record and flung ourselves about the living room in stunning choreography. All these imaginative games had long, intricate stories.

I became a Christian around the age of twelve. I don’t remember an exact conversion experience, but I do remember walking out of the school lunchroom one day and realizing that I knew God. I hadn’t before but now I did. Becoming a Christian that young meant I had a lot of growing to do. I’m still growing.

I majored in English and Religion at Duke University and graduated in 1973. Then I became a US-2 missionary and drove a bookmobile in beautiful West Virginia, where I saw sheep grazing on mountain pastures. Unfortunately, I got sick and had to leave the program. For the next three years, I worked small jobs and learned the truth behind the words, “He is faithful.”

In 1977, I married Bob Byrd and, over the next ten years, had three children, a boy and two girls.
When Stephen, Sarah, and Elizabeth got older, I began writing. All those imaginative games, all the beautiful places, all the hard lessons of faith, even the grammar I learned as an English major prepared me to write. I want to give to other people the same kind of story I have always loved.