The Sound in the Shell, page 7 of 12

Pip sits among the laid-out leaves holding a small curled shell against his head with both arms, his eyes closed, listening with his whole body.

He took up the shell, the first given thing, and held it to his ear with both arms.

The sea was going inside it, whole and unhurried, under everything, kept.

She had given it to him years before he would need it.

© 2026 A.J.Sharpe