Barnacle -

As the ship passed and the silt settled, the ocean grew quiet again. Barnaby went back to his kicking. He had no eyes to see the stars, but he felt the pull of the moon in the swell of the waves. He was small, immobile, and stuck to a rock for life, but as the cool Pacific current brought him his midnight snack, Barnaby decided there was no better way to see the world than to let it wash over you.

Barnaby didn’t answer; he couldn't. He was too busy waiting. Life for a barnacle is a game of patience. As the water vanished, he pulled his four sliding door-like plates shut. This was the "Low Tide Lockdown." Inside, he stayed moist and cool, listening to the gulls scream overhead and the sun bake his shell. barnacle

But tonight was different. The water felt heavy, smelling of old wood and rusted iron. A shadow loomed, blocking out the moonlight. A massive hull of a cargo ship was drifting too close to the reef. As the ship passed and the silt settled,

He remembered the day he chose the rock. He’d used his sensitive antennae to "walk" across the stone, tasting the surface for just the right chemical signature. When he found it, he did what any sensible barnacle does: he glued his forehead to the rock with the strongest cement in nature and decided never to move again. "Morning, Barnaby," clicked a nearby crab, scuttling past. He was small, immobile, and stuck to a