Sunday, May 14, 2006

Conch





She walked along the sandy shore..lazily...lost in her own world. Without too many concerns or thoughts to weigh down her mind..she was at peace.She felt one with the ocean and its warm breeze.Absent-mindedly she dug up shells from beneath the sand with her toes and examined them. The colourful ones she pocketed..the less fortunate ones were returned to their resting place beneath the waves.
After collecting nearly a dozen exotic shells (her necklace would be the talk of the class) she was returning back home when she struck her foot against it. It was the most beautiful shell she had ever seen.

Pearly white and shiny.In her mind she thanked the little critter for having vacated and left her with his home. She picked it up and dusted the sand off it. Too big to fit into her pocket with the rest of them, she carried it in her hand.

Then a thought passed through her mind. Didnt they say that you could hear the heartbeat of the ocean if you listened closely to a conch? She pressed the shell to her ear, closed her eyes and absorbed the sound.A part of her knew that the sounds she was hearing was nothing more than the echo of blood being pumped through her ears. The rest of her scorned the learned part of her and delighted in the sounds of the ocean. She imagined that she heard each wave as it broke upon the shore and lethargically retreated back from where it came. She imagined that she heard the breeze moving gently over the water and meeting the land. She imagined she heard the high-pitched scream of a girl....

Immediately she took the shell away from her ear and cursed under her breath.My mind is playing tricks on her,she thought.Thats what you get for being in the sun for too long.Instinct told her to toss the shell away and return home as fast as she could. Sadly following her instincts wasnt her forte. Curiosity had already got the better of her as she drew the shell close to her ear once again.

This time the voice was crystal clear.In an instant the waves seemed to have died away leaving the ocean still as death and the warm breeze had been replaced by a cold wind that made her shiver in her bikini. She was all alone on the beach. Just her, the vast expanse of the black ocean, the cursed shell and the scream which was quickly reaching its blood curdling crescendo.
She was paralysed...She used as much force as she could muster but could not move the shell away from her ear. It had taken control over her.She was its slave. As her knees gave way she could do nothing but lie there on the wet sand, tears running down her sandy cheeks, with the shell pressed against her ear. The scream had engulfed her. The last thing she heard before the darkness embraced her was a second voice. A voice that was much more familiar to her. A scream emitting from the back of her own throat...

A lifeguard found her lying cold and lifeless on the sand. The ambulance was sent for as he fervently tried to breathe life into her dead lungs.Within a few minutes he knew that she had passed on to the afterlife and said a small prayer over her body. Accompanying the body in the vehicle to the hospital he looked at the shell which had been pressed to her ear hard enough to draw blood. With tears in his eyes he held it up to his ear and tried to listen to the ocean that they had left behind.

11 comments:

_dirtboy said...

Sounds completely like King.. Nice goin,fella..

Meenakshi Rehani said...

neato!!!

Switchblade said...

Thanks guys. Ive had this story in my mind for quite a few days now and it felt good to finally pen it down.

Haritha said...

Cool!! Good to read! BUMP!

P. S. Btw, are into writing fan fiction?

Haritha said...

*are "you" into writing fanfic?

Switchblade said...

Thanks Haritha... Regarding fan fiction, two of my earlier posts about the Bookslinger can be considered to be fan fiction so yes I am into it :) This one came to me when I saw a shell sitting at the window at a friends place.

ishipishi said...

hmmmm!!...I am not too good at getting over such stories:(...this one will be in my head for a long time now...! not a good thing considering the fact that m home alone all day...*luks over my shoulder*...there c luk what u've done!!:(

i think this was beautifully written...waiting for more!

Switchblade said...

I know this is a mean thing to say but im glad my story's got you looking over your shoulder! Thanks for the compliment Ishita :)

goldfluke said...

very cool... write more...

Cinderella said...

Nice vivid description.
But dint quite understand what made her die.
Couldja explain?
And oh hafta say smth,
"....that made her shiver in her bikini.",you had to put in that too...huh?
Lolz.

Switchblade said...

@cutting: Thanks a lot. I do have a few more stories in my mind so check back soon and your wish will be granted :)

@cinderella: Thanks! What made her die? To tell you the truth Im not sure about it myself but then again Ill leave it to the readers's imagination. Afterall there are so many things that we cant explain...like voices in a shell ;)