Breathing space – Part 3

Just as I am about to move in, the beach shakes, more intense than before. Oh no!

Feet come to a stop beside me. Then a shadow descends on me. “Look Suzanne, I have found a double shell!”

Before I can stop it, thick, salty tears roll down my face. “Please, please give them to me!” I beg the boy.

Astonished, he looks down at me. “Ugh, what are you?”

His disgusted looks humiliate me even more than his words, but I have nothing more to lose. If I don’t intervene now, it will be too late.

“I am a shell that has lost its home. It took me all day to find this new dwelling, to regain shelter and clothing. Can’t you look for other shells?”

“But they shimmer so beautifully!” The boy clasps the shells so tightly with his hand that I’m afraid he might break them.

“If you keep them, I will die. I have no strength left to look for new shells.”

Anxiously, I watch the boy. Finally, he sits down with me in the sand and gently lays the double shell next to me. “I didn’t know that. And I didn’t mean to offend you, I’m sorry. May I help you get dressed?“

While the boy holds the double shell slightly open with his hands, I crawl into it with the last of my strength.

“Is it all right if I put you in the surf?”

I try to control the tears. “Yes, you would be doing me a great service.“

I feel my parched bowels soak up the water like a sponge and sigh with relief.

“Are you feeling better now?” he asks worriedly.

“Yes, very much indeed. I want to give you something in thanks for your help,” I say, as the waves wash round me.

He looks at me curiously. I unfold my new shells and enjoy his admiring “Oh!!! It’s beautiful!”

“This pearl I gave birth to in pain, but I know that it is of great value to you humans. It shall always remind you, that helpfulness and sacrifice are rewarded.”

I close with a snap and let the waves carry me away. When the water is deep enough, I finally sink to the bottom of the sea after an eternally long day of struggles. Breathing space. At least for a brief moment.