Nothing in my experience has ever matched the sheer intimidation of being in a small rubber raft in the middle of the ocean. It felt so odd, like we would be swallowed at any minute by the deep blue waters. It took several minutes before I could settle myself and calm down. I thought that perhaps my experience in saving Dad from drowning had created a phobia of water.

Rayna and Joseph told me to sit up front while they used the wooden paddles provided by Captain Tinkles to row us toward the gaping abyss. The water was relatively calm, but the boat bobbed up and down with the great waves that were so large it was impossible to distinguish or mark them. My stomach was already beginning to turn, and I felt sad that if I did throw up, Tanaka would not be around to catch it for me.

We didn't speak as we approached the invisible retaining wall; instead, we kept our eyes peeled for any indication of what it was we had discovered. A seething fear was growing inside me that some malicious beast would fly out of the depths of the hole and have us for supper.

As we got closer, I could better make out the details of the anomaly. The two edges closest to us were sharply defined, ending abruptly against the barrier—the water really did appear to be sloshing up against a glass wall. Looking to the far side at the other two walls of the square hole, we could see the opposite perspective. Where the water hit the force-field, it flattened completely, then descended in a plane until it went beyond our field of vision. We were witnessing the largest aquarium in the world, and I couldn't help but wonder at how much money we could make off such a spectacular display.

We came to within two feet, then stopped.

“Reach out,” Joseph said. “See if there really is a wall there.”

A nervous tension ran up my spine, like I was approaching the very edge of the roof on a seventy-floor building. My heart was beating in small, rapid explosions. My hands were sweaty and my eyes were watery. I had to squeeze them shut a time or two to clear my vision.

I grasped a seam on the edge of the raft with a firm hold, then leaned out over the water toward the invisible wall. I held my other hand out, palm flat and facing forward, until it was just an inch or two in front of where the wall should be. Before I went further, I looked down, and almost fainted when I saw the descending walls of water ending in blackness far below. I shuddered, and looked back up at my hand.

With exaggerated care, I moved my hand forward.

It bumped into something invisible, but nothing like I would have expected—it rebounded, just slightly. It was solid, but soft, like touching a balloon that was filled to capacity with helium. I pushed again, this time a little harder, and it burst through the barrier. I gasped and had to catch myself with my legs and other hand or I would've fallen out of the raft.

A tickling sensation surrounded my wrist in a perfect ring, in the exact spot where the barrier wall would be. I pulled my hand back out with no difficulty, then bounced it a couple of more times on the force field. I pulled back and sat down in the boat.

“Man, that was weird,” I said.

“Let me try,” Rayna said. She crawled over to the other side of the raft and stuck her hand out. It rebounded just a little like mine did, then she pushed her hand through, and wiggled her fingers on the other side. After a few seconds, she pulled it back and returned to her rowing position.

“Joseph, you do it,” she said. “That way we'll all know what we're dealing with.”

Joseph did as he was told, trying to act like he was obliging her when it was obvious he was dying to see what it felt like. When he'd finished, he had a huge grin on his face.

“That is some kind of bizarre,” he said. “I don't think there's any doubt that this is it, friends. This is definitely the Tower of Air.”

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

“Well, didn't you feel it? I think that's air that is repelling the water. Not some magic force field or invisible wall—I think it's just air. I don't know how in the world it works, but it's air. That's why it holds the water back, but with enough of a push you can go right through it.” He let out a huge sigh. “These Givers never cease to amaze, do they?”

“Okay,” I said, “I'll agree that this is the Tower of Air. But what do we do now? I mean, yeah, it's cool and all that, but how is it supposed to help me get the Third Gift? I don't think I'm quite ready to squeeze through the barrier of air and fall to my death at the bottom of the—”

Something caught my vision, cutting me short.

“What?” asked Rayna.

“What is that over there?” I said in reply.

On the opposite wall from where we were currently bobbing in the water, there was an odd protrusion on the inside of the tower, jutting out from the wall of flat water toward us. It was impossible to tell exactly what it was, but it appeared regular and consistent in size. It started at the very top, near the surface where the water was breaking against the wall of air, and descended at an angle down into the depths of the tower, zigzagging back and forth until I lost sight of it, the wall on our side clipping it from my view.

“Holy camoli,” I said, barely a whisper.

“What?” Joseph and Rayna said at the same time, snapping me out of my dazed stare.

“I think those are stairs over there.”