Hi, my name is Charlotte Shale. I am a Sedimentary rock called Shale, as you can see by my name. I live in Yellowstone. It is a great place to live as a rock. I love being a Sedimentary rock so far but I know that I will soon become a Metamorphic rock. Also, I felt very muddy during the time that I was forming into a Sedimentary rock.

I was formed from the sediments mud and clay under great pressure for many, many years. I now smell like mud and clay. But I especially smell like mud and clay when I am wet. When I was being formed, I was very nervous because I didn’t know if I would like being the Sedimentary rock, Shale. But now I am very glad that I am a Sedimentary rock.

Soon after being the Sedimentary rock, Shale, I began to change again. I was underground and suddenly was under a lot of pressure and it was very hot. I was used to it though because I was under pressure in the ocean when I changed from sediment into a Sedimentary rock. I knew that I would have to wait for a long time though until I formed into a Metamorphic rock but even though I was nervous, I would get used to it.

After many long years, I was finally a Metamorphic rock. I had become Slate. Unfortunately, I missed being a Sedimentary rock. My home was changed from Yellowstone to the Canadian Shield. I missed my old home in Yellowstone, but you can find some really fascinating views in the Canadian Shield just like in Yellowstone. So I didn’t feel too far away from home. It also smells a lot like pine trees in the Canadian Shield.

Soon, I decided to move somewhere else. So, I decided to move to California because I was tired of living in the Canadian Shield. I found a good spot to live in a volcano. I guess that wasn’t the best place to pick because I started to get very hot and I began to melt. It was not very comfortable. Just think, would you like to melt all of a sudden?

I then figured out that I had melted into magma. Magma is the hot liquid that is inside of a volcano. Don’t get it confused with lava because lava is the liquid that flows out of a volcano and lava and magma are two very different things. I definitely liked being an actual rock better than being magma because I smelled very strange and at times I smelt burnt. But I guess that was one more of the steps of being a rock (or a least the substance that eventually turns into a rock) going through the rock cycle. I just couldn’t wait to find out what I would be next.

Eventually, the magma chamber that I was in was full and began to bubble. Soon, the other magma and I slowly began to rise up through the center chamber to the top of the volcano. Then, as I looked up, I realized that the top of the volcano didn’t have an opening and that the other magma and I were going to break through the top! Then I started to panic as the magma and I were only about two inches away from the top of the volcano! Just then, we broke through the surface of the volcano and I finally had fresh air (or at least better air than what was inside of the volcano). Also, I realized that the other magma and I were not magma anymore, we were lava.

Then I began to quickly cool as I slid down the volcano. Some of my edges became very sharp and pointy. I had a black, glassy surface. I was the igneous rock, Obsidian. Once I got to the bottom of the volcano, I traveled to a nice, grassy spot near a river to live where I could hear the birds chirping and the water flowing (I decided not to live in the volcano anymore so that I wouldn’t melt again). It was a great place to live and it was much better than the volcano. Also, being Obsidian was much better than being magma.

After a while of living by the river hearing the birds and the sound of the running water, I started to break down. My what used to be sharp edges were dull and all worn away and I looked like a boring dull rock unlike when I first became Obsidian and was brand new and shiny. I didn’t really care so much about how I looked. But I didn’t like that I was wearing away either. But as I said before, it was just another step to the rock cycle. I knew it was part of the rock cycle but I didn’t know what part. I was very eager to find out.

Once I was all worn away, a big gust of wind came and blew me into the river. Instantly, I knew I was sediment again. It felt good to be what I started as again. I then floated down the stream and eventually floated into the Pacific Ocean. I slowly fell to the bottom and once I did, I waited and waited. Let’s just say that was boring. Other pieces of sediment soon fell on top of me. I then knew I would have to wait many years until I would become a rock again but I would be able to wait.

I have been able to wait. In fact I am still waiting on this very day. I will have to wait until I become a sedimentary rock. But by now I am used to waiting because I have had to wait many times as I went through the rock cycle and I will have to wait many more times as I continue through the rock cycle. Well, now I have to say good bye because I will soon become a sedimentary rock.