A/N:
Issue #4: July 2020
Theme: "Underwater"
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A seashell sat at the bottom of the ocean. The conch glittered as the sunlight filtered through the clear water, its outer edges seeming nearly iridescent. Invisible waves, soft and light, rocked the object gently to and fro. All seemed at peace in the underwater paradise; the large corals and brightly-colored fish certainly seemed to think so.
That was when the current picked up, and the conch was swept along with it, away from the reef and its inhabitants.
As it careened closer to the surface, the light on its outer edges seemed to fade. The sky clouded over and the waves became more violent as the wind battered them. The shell was knocked back into the sand with great force and remained for another moment before another big wave picked it up with the strength and speed of someone trying to make a getaway. The wind howled nastily over the water, all of the calm that had previously been now dissipating like the light of a setting sun. And yet, by some miracle, the conch did not crack, no matter how much force was added to it. It continued along its destructive path toward who-knows-where, carried in the almost protective embrace of the current.
. . .
A day passed. The sand rose higher. Some of its own small grains were lifted and thrusted toward the surface as well in a murky fog, clouding around the shell, and yet it still seemed to shimmer as the sun slowly crept its way back into the horizon.
A very large sandbar was bathed in radiant light, the sun reflecting off of it and making it appear blinding white and dotted with colored splotches accidentally left to the storm by whoever had forgotten them. Bright green palm trees towered above everything, and whatever lay beyond was masked by shrubbery. The beach was deserted apart from two figures—one tall and blonde, and a much-smaller green one sitting atop the first's head.
"What a pretty shell!" came a soft voice followed by a human hand's reach into the water. The conch was taken into the palms of a human girl, who admired it with a smile.
More voices echoed from farther away, their owners masked by the many bushes lining the island. The girl looked in the direction of the noise, then closed her eyes. After a moment, she dropped the shell back into the water, allowing it to be picked up once more and carried back to its home amongst the tropical fish and the colorful reef.
And later, it appeared, the shimmering shell would grant the girl's wish of hope and long-lasting friendship once it returned to the waves from whence it came.