Cockles of Our Hearts
On a quiet Florida beach, two cockle seashells known as Hitcher and Rider, decided to embark on a journey. Unlike their fellow shells, who were content to stay nestled in the sand, Hitcher and Rider were curious about the world beyond their present shoreline.
As the tide rolled in, they let the waves carry them to new shorelines. They visited bustling beaches wherever the tides took them. Everywhere they went, they asked the other shells why they chose to stay put. Answers were becoming very familiar.
“We find comfort in the familiar,” said one after another old, weathered shells. “The waves bring stories to us.”
“Yeah,” responded Rider, “But we all know about the stories. Same ol’ same ol’. Don’t ya think?”
“How many times do you hear the same story?” asked Hitcher.
“Oh, there’s always something new in each one, at least enough to keep us homebodies entertained.”
“But, don’t you wonder what’s out there… really out there?” Rider asked.
“We do,” replied a small, delicate shell. ‘But our roots are here. We listen to the ocean’s tales and dream of distant shores. That all we need.”
Hitcher and Rider pondered these answers as they continued their journey. They realized that while their quest for knowledge drove them to explore, the other shells found their own kind of adventure in the stories the sea brought to them. “Kind of like that crazy thing we’ve watched for years on the Miami beach. Young people never entering the water. Just content to stay glued to the screens of their phones taking in God knows what, or from where.
Six months later, Rider and Hitcher returned home to their Florida beach, their hearts full of a different kind of affection for each other, and… so many firsthand experiences that they could now share with the other shells.
“Been there. Done that,” became their identity. They understood and accepted that every shell had its own way of experiencing the world, whether through exploration or through the tales carried by the waves. Hitcher smiled, “We're in a world of many different shells. Guess a good part of our world isn’t much different than those young’uns gathering experiences from smartphone screens.
Once, during a sorting of shells during a shell hunt on the beach by a group of children, one asked “Do they move around a lot?” “You mean find themselves traveling? I think so. Some of them… sure.” I used the question to tell them about the rewards of travel, short or long distances with their parents can really be special. Another child asked if sea shells ever got together for some really long travel. Curious question, I thought. Maybe some flash fiction here.(Image by Odin AI)
Nice children's story showing how people with different ways of experiencing can come to share their thoughts on things together. Some through actual physical experience and others in various forms of media like reading for the latest thing, the Internet.
Ron