Monday, October 14, 2013

The Shell

I was beach-combing on the northeast coast of Florida. I toyed with the idea of going for a swim but the washed up jellyfish, the semi rough surf, and the rain talked me out of it. However, I ventured out ankle deep. The surf temperature was much warmer than cool rain.

Anyway my eyes caught a perfect conch like shell in the surf and I decided to pick it up. Most shells like that get beat up by the surf before it lands on the beach. I thought I found a nice souvenir. I picked it up out of the water and inspected the perfect shell. As I turned it over I discovered someone else had already found the shell! Inside the shell was a crab of some sort who had made the shell his home.

Times are tough and  didn't want to evict the little fellow for my selfish reasons. So, I set the shell back down in the ocean and went on my way. I don't know how the crab made out. Did he wash ashore or did the tide pull him back out? Did the seagulls and other birds turn him into lunch? I don't know. I do know the crab had his shell to face his adventures in.

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