Consider the lesser species

We found a lovely big scallop shell while we were strolling on the beach.

The tide was far out - Newfoundland, i think - and we walked for miles across the sands and round the ragged rocks.

Then there was the scallop, complete and with seaweed attached; the kind of shell you buy on holiday, with a photograph of Elvis or the pope inside.

"Is it dead?"

"Yep"

And so it joined us on our walk.

"There's something inside it."

"Elvis?... "

"It's very heavy..."

"It was his diet"

"Might be alive..."

"He fell in the toilet."

And so we put the scallop back in the water.