You are now in the highest tower, twice as high as its closed companion. Climb to the top if you are so inclined, but take care: there is only open sky framed by decrepit walls and their crumbling cornices. Do not linger near the ledges. Keep the children close by.

Long did I work to erect this tower and build it taller than any other sand tower in the world. But whenever it reached a certain critical height, the forces of wind and gravity united against my ambition and toppled it systematically inward, as if to confirm the unlikely kinship between the sand castle and its proverbial cousin, the house of cards. These stairs will take you as high as I myself could climb. After many an attempt, I finally decided to leave it as it was.

If you feel able to take it even higher, feel free to continue where I left off. At your own risk.

A sand castle should always be unfinished to a certain degree.