Magic of the Conch To my daughter, Amanda, for August 2010 The sunniest of days rises over the Gibara beach. My daughter and I ramble leaving footprint art on the fickle sand while water and earth openly consummate on the shoreline their ancient undersea romance. Look, Dad! - Skips my daughter joyfully, drawing less artistic trails now - A conch! That´s a huge one! We approach the seashell. Beautiful one, I tell her, The ocean lives inside it, you can hear it rumble within its spirals… What?! How?! - She asks. Well, bring the conch near your ear, close your eyes and listen, listen to the sea roll and murmur, flow and rumble… She looks at me in half disbelief but does as she is told. Her eyes light up when she hears the magic of the conch. Wow!! The sea is in there!! - She exclaims giving me her smile, the sunniest of smiles.
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