A PAIR of 11-year-old U.S. girls struck up a friendship thanks to a message in a bottle that traveled about 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) in just two weeks. Sofia Wilson, 11, of Clifton Park, N.Y., said she and her family were in Florida during COVID-19 lockdown, and she wrote about her feelings in a letter that was placed into a bottle and tossed into the water off the Fort Lauderdale coast during a boating outing. Sarah Beth Walters, 11, of Jacksonville, Fla., said she and her family were by the water during a trip to Olden Beach, N.C., when she spotted what initially appeared to be trash on the beach. Walters found Wilson’s message and the two 11-year-olds — who share the same initials as well as similar blonde hair — struck up a friendship using the contact information included in Wilson’s note. The girls’ families said they now talk constantly and are working on a plan to meet in person. (SD-Agencies) |