The Magic Conch

Arriving at the beach, the lively environment made Dan ponder on the promise he made to Shibani. He had to find a conch shell, one that held 'the sounds of the sea'. It was easy enough to find any old shell, and hopefully there were some pretty ones that Shibani would like. Assuming that all of the colourful and interesting ones weren't already swept up by beach goers. 

Shibani took little time setting up a blanket and umbrella on the sand, waving off Dan to his seashell collection. The pale green bucket in his hand was light, swinging side to side against the breeze of the cavern. His eyes darted across the sand as he walked, hoping that this hunt would be quick. He really didn't know what his original plans on the beach would have been, but this wasn't the worst way to spend it. Ducking down to swipe a bright red shell, it almost looked fake if not for the hard and gritty texture it had in his hand. Not the right kind of shell, but it wouldn't hurt to grab anything that looked nice. 

Forty minutes had passed without even noticing. The bucket was over a third of the way full now, varieties and patterns of shells ranging from nearly totally spotless white shells to speckled rainbow coloured shells. Even some sea washed stones that felt nice to hold, and pieces of broken shells that he was thinking of piecing together to make decorative dishes for the summer themed mochi he'd serve at the shop. All of this saying, Dan still hadn't found the Conch he had promised to collect. 

All of it almost felt futile, the perfect shell wasn't just going to appear, and even if it did. Who is to say that it will even do what Shibani thinks it would. He was sure by now the other bun was sleeping soundly on the beach where he had left him, so he definitely had more than enough time to think of a plan. 

Turning to the road, he spotted a collection of stands that led to the way back into the rest of the city. One stand offered to use the seashells to make different types of jewelry, some examples hung around them looked to be necklaces and crowns. A long string of shells hung across the front of the counter like a banner, this gave Dan an interesting idea. 

"Do you think you could string these together like a sash?" Dan set out several handfuls of the shells he had collected, multiple shades of reds, oranges, and browns. The colours were reminiscent of Shibani's ropes, although clearly whatever was made from them wouldn't be very secure or comfortable for bonding. It would be a fantastic garnish for his favorite snack. 

The stand worker agreed, telling Dan to come back in a few minutes while they worked. This gave him a bit more time to come up with a plan to get a Conch. Straying out to the sandy shore once more, he decided to stay close by. Perhaps getting his feet wet wouldn't be the end of the world. The water did look nice, and in the time he took walking the shoreline, the crowds had thinned out some. When his feet hit the water, he stood idly by. Closing his eyes and listening to the soft crashing of the waves. 

His mind kept wandering to that silly story of a conch sounding like the sea, there wasn't anything special about that specific shell. Why had he agreed to look for one, and why did they seem to be nonexistent on this damn beach. He took another few steps into the water, and then he felt something hard under his foot. The shape felt bulbous, and made his thoughts come to an immediate halt. He opened his eyes. 

Slowly exposing the object under his sole, he kicked the sand off of the surface. Revealing a bright purple shell. Delving his hand into the water, he had to shimmy the shell out of the caked on sand. It was indeed a conch, the very shell he had been hunting for this entire trip. He began dumping out sand that had filled the inner crevices of the object, before studying it. The waves had luckily been kind to the shell, it looked in very good condition and had an almost galaxy esque range of purple and black hues to it's exterior. 

Dan laughed, all of his worrying had come to an end. At least had something to offer Shibani at the end of the day. If not that, then the shells he had given to the stand owner before would hopefully be a good consolation. He returned to the stand, the long string of shells were now arranged in a gradient that wore well when slung over his shoulder. He gave the remaining unbroken shells to the shop keep as payment for their work, now pleased with his expedition.

Walking back towards where he had left Shibani. He felt an urge to try something. It was silly, he knew it was. But he still pulled the conch out of the bucket. Looking it over once more, before slowly raising the opening of the shell to his ear. His face hardened, and his eyes stared off long into the distance. 

Maybe this shell did sound like the sea after all.