Shell Shock

 

Shell Shock

 Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Clare loved shells and had collected them all her life. They were displayed informally in baskets and bowls throughout her house and garden, and were beautiful reminders of happy days at the beach and fabulous holidays in exotic locations.

Her favourite shells had pride of place in her bedroom, delicate pastel greens and pinks, echoing the colours of her soft furnishings. Her room was comfortable, relaxing, tastefully decorated. Gerry was abroad so often on business that she felt the room belonged more to her than to them.

When he was at home, he worked excessively long hours and frequently stayed in the guest bedroom or even at his club so that she shouldn’t be disturbed. He was very considerate.

Today, he had left a cryptic message on her phone – ‘A word in your shell-like.’ He had always said her ears were like delicate shells. She smiled. She called to ask him what he meant, and he replied that perhaps she should consult her shells.

She was intrigued. She had dabbled in Tarot and astrology but had never considered reading shells. Was there even such a practice? Was he teasing her? Maybe he had hidden a precious trinket in one of her displays. He made sweet little gestures like that. She sighed, wondering, as she so often did, why she took him for granted. He tried hard to please her, but she missed the excitement and energy of their early days together.

She wandered about the house, trickling shells through her fingers, but could see nothing unusual.

Finally, in her bedroom, she studied what she regarded as her special collection, the shells she had found in the first years of her marriage, some even from their honeymoon. She touched each one lightly, then noticed a stranger, one that didn’t belong. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. It was just a small conch, a most attractive one, to be sure, but nothing remarkable. Why had he given it to her?

As she examined it more closely, she saw the minute spy camera tucked inside and her stomach turned over at the memory of what it would have recorded. Trembling, she replaced it among the others. What she would not give now to be able to turn back the clock and become again the loving, faithful wife she once had been. Too late!

He filed for divorce, of course, and naturally she did not contest it.