The world within a shell

The white gold beach curved gently along the dunes. Bobbie and her dad scanned the wet sand before their feet, watchful for shells or crabs or other marine treasures. This was the favourite part of Bobbie’s weekend.

She darted forward, picking something up from the beach as the water receded over her toes. A shell; spiralling, smooth and polished by the ocean’s caresses.

“What have you found, Bobbie?” 

She held the shell up for her dad to inspect.

“That’s a good one. You could hold it up to your ear and listen to the ocean.”

Bobbie held it to her ear, eyelashes fluttering slightly as she concentrated on listening to the inside of the shell. 

“I think I can hear it, dad! It sounds like the waves!”

Her dad smiled down at her.

“I’m going to keep it,” she declared, curling her fingers tight around the shell. It looked big against her chubby hand. “Dad, let’s build a sandcastle. I can use this as a decoration.”

“Good idea, Bobbie.”

They sat on the sand, just out of reach of the water. Together they scooped damp sand and shaped it with their hands, building up a spire and smoothing the sides. Bobbie placed the shell on the very top of the castle and grinned with pride. 

“Now I need something to make a flag.” She jumped to her feet and looked around for something suitable. Her dad stood up with her just as a long-reaching wave swept over their feet and legs, knocking Bobbie onto her bottom. She exclaimed in horror when her dad pulled her to her feet and she saw that the castle had been washed away.

“The shell! The castle! It’s all gone!” Hot tears mingled with the cool ocean spray on her face.

“It’s ok, sweetie,” dad said, but his words were useless. The precious spiral shell was gone. Bobbie cried bitterly, looking in the water around her ankles to no avail. She slumped down on the sand.

…..

Out to sea, past the breakers, the shell spiralled through the water. The little creature inside clung to the shell wall so as not to tumble out into the water. It travelled in this manner for a long time. 

Just when the little shell creature thought that it would be tumbled completely out into the open water, it was brought up to the surface by a warm current. It had a brief, thrilling moment of sunlight filtered only by the air before being caught again by the water’s movement. The shell and its creature drifted along like a dandelion seed floating on the wind. 

The ocean started to swell and shift, its energy increasing. A wave picked up the shell and then dragged it down to the sea bed. The little creature sighed with relief; here was quiet and safety. One tentative claw poked out of the shell, then another, and the little creature looked around. It scuttled with its shell to shelter under a waving frond of seaweed.

From its hiding spot, the little creature observed plants waving back and forth, dull-coloured flatfish scooting along the floor, and the shapes of larger sea animals swimming above. Life moved to a strong but peaceful rhythm. 

The peace was broken by the arrival of an enormous school of fish. They turned and twisted in unison, sweeping upwards then down again in a wave of pulsing silver. The little creature marvelled at them. They looked as if they were dancing to music that they heard through their bodies, picking up the beat through their fins and tails.

Riding on their wake came a sea witch. The little creature shivered and withdrew into its shell. Brandishing a coral baton, the sea witch described an arc of silver bubbles. The school of fish responded accordingly. She looked like a conductor, drawing the movement of her aquatic orchestra with her arm. After a few more loops, the sea witch calmed the school of fish with her baton. She reclined in a seat of coral and the fish settled around her, creating a halo of silver. The little creature poked its head out slightly and watched as all manner of fish and animals approached the sea witch. Tentacled deep-sea fish came towards her, and she gave them lights for their eyestalks. The little creature hastily retreated into its shell once more as the fearsome fish swam past, dangling their lights before them. 

A shark with an injured dorsal fin swam slowly up to the sea witch. She embraced the shark which made the little creature, watching from its shell, shudder. The shark’s fin was too badly hurt and the sea witch could not heal it completely. She wept for the shark.

After the shark had limped away, the sea witch turned her attention to the shell. The little creature tried to be brave but it trembled again, causing the water around it to vibrate gently. The witch’s hand reached forward and she picked up the shell, peering inside.  

The little creature’s eyestalks shrank backwards but the witch smiled. “Are you not ready for a larger shell?” she asked. The little creature nodded. The witch held a shell in her palm and the little creature crept out of its small shell into the new one. Once safely inside, the witch held the old shell up, pierced a hole through its lip and threaded it onto a cord that hung around her neck. 

“Are you comfortable in there, little one?” the witch asked. The little creature poked its head and claws out to wave at the witch in gratitude. She smiled back, her green eyes sparkling.

The moment of calm was broken by a thick cloud of something drifting down towards the seabed. Fish darted out of the way. The cloud sank downwards, coating the coral and kelp with its murkiness. The little creature scuttled out of the way but could it escape the falling cloud without being buried alive?

The sea witch’s hand shot out and grabbed the little creature, saving it from the microplastic deluge, which was what the cloud was. She tossed the little creature upwards and it spun through the water, up towards the sunlight. Round and round, up and up, until, with a burst of bubbles, the little creature broke the surface of the water.

A wave picked up the little creature’s shell and tossed it towards the beach. The little creature sank momentarily until the ocean gathered up its energy into another wave. Once again, the little creature found itself on warm, wet sand. 

“Look, dad! A shell!” A young boy picked up the shell and held it up for his father.

“Hold it to your ear and you can hear the ocean,” the father said. 

The boy held the shell to his ear, brow furrowed as he concentrated his hearing. “I think I can hear something,” he said.

Hidden in the shell, the little creature hummed and vibrated to the sea witch’s magic that danced inside the shell.