The Lone Shell

Once upon a time

there was a lone shell.

She was very pretty,

flawless and wet from

the travelling sea.

She was tired and lonely

as the sea cast her upon

the white sandy shore.

Yet, there was no other

shell near her. 

She longed for others.

One day a crab came by

and decided to rest nearby,

but he wasn’t her kind.

He didn’t look like her

and she didn’t like his claws

trying to move her aside.

Another of his kind wasn’t

hiding underneath.

He left and she waited silently.

Lonely she was

and then suddenly after

a short while

a wave crashed up against her.

Something bumped her.

After a few minutes

she realized it was another shell.

He looked to be exactly like her.

She became excited and suddenly

felt a warmth of surfacing love

well up inside her.

And he rested near her for a long time.

A long time.  And time went on.

And things didn’t change.

And the lone shell

wondered where their hearts were at.

Would he stay with her forever.

He had been talking about staying,

talked about sharing a sandy home.

And then suddenly no talk.

He became silent and didn’t talk anymore

about sharing a home.

And then one day

she felt a tear come to her eyes.

And she wondered where she stood.

And then her fear came crashing down

as a big wave burst in

and disrupted the lone shell.

And suddenly she was tossed

into the whirling sea.

She cried as she couldn’t find her soulmate.

And she wondered what rock

she was going to land on next.

And she worried that her

perfect shell was going to get broken

by the careless sea.

And she remembered him

and she wondered if she would

ever see him again.

But he had stopped talking

about sharing a home

and she didn’t like that.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted January 30, 2012