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Shy shell-eating creature

Dawn broke over the ocean, spilling oranges, reds, and yellows onto the rippling waters. The creature peaked her eyes open, taking in the dazzling sight. She slowly scanned the beach for the sign of what she'd heard humans refer to as "morning people." These "morning people" sometimes disrupted her eating schedule by jogging by the beach or taking their furry companions for walks. The creature preferred to remain unknown and "morning people" could ruin everything.

Luckily, the sun glittered along the water, the sand, and no "morning people." The creature smiled to herself, it was time to feast. She shuffled out of her spot among the rocks that lined the divide between the beach and the road and began to eat up a trail of little shells. Each color had its own flavor. The pretty yellow and orange ones tasted sweet, so the creature gobbled them up when she found them. The white ones had a subtle salty and fishy flavor and the dark brown ones tasted of seaweed. She knew to eat a balance of them, but there were so many yellow ones this morning that she got distracted.

Suddenly, she heard a sound.

"What the--?"

It was one of the "morning people!" The creature froze in her place, hoping that this "morning person" would be tricked like the others into thinking she was just a fuzzy, algae covered rock that had happened to get a little far onto a beach, perhaps carried by a curious child.

But no, this "morning person" approached her. The "morning person" was actually a young woman named Abigail, or Abby to her friends. She had been sitting still on the other side of the beach for sometime, waiting for the sun to come up. She had had a long night and needed to do some thinking and always found the vastness of the ocean put her thoughts in perspective. The early sunlight glinting on the shells had attracted her attention along the beach and she found that she kept turning her head to look at them as the sun crept into the sky.

That's when she noticed that a rock had made its way closer to her. There was no one else on the beach, she was sure of this, so she went for a closer look. It wasn't like a turtle like she had originally thought, but a small fuzzy green creature with some patches of grey. It appeared to be eating shells. Abby quickly ran through a list of everything she'd had the night before and gave herself a small pinch in case she could've been intoxicated or dreaming. But no, she was awake and sober so she said aloud, "What the--?"

Abby wasn't really sure what she expected to accomplish by saying this, after all, would such a creature even know English? Was the creature possibly dangerous?

At her utterance the small creature froze and, when Abby didn't make a move, turned two large grey eyes upwards at her. "Um hello," said the creature in a meek voice. "Please leave me be."

Abby blinked several times, "Are you okay?" The creature had sounded scared.

The creature was frightened by this "morning person," what would she do? The creature just wanted to be left alone. "Yes, just please leave me be. Don't tell anyone."

Abby tried smiling at the creature, hoping it would add some reassurance to her words, "I won't tell anyone. My name is Abigail, can you tell me yours?"

So the "morning person" has a name, does she? Having a "morning person" as a friend could be useful, help hide her. "My name is Pearl," the creature replied.

"Well, Pearl, I've just been sitting here thinking about some things. I'll leave you be if you let me go back to my rock and keep thinking."

"Must be a lot to think about," Pearl said. She had never really thought about what problems "morning people" could have.

"It is," Abby replied smiling again.

The creature nodded with understanding she didn't have about Abigail's problems and went back to eating her shells.

As Abby turned to go back to her spot she said over her shoulder, "If we cross paths again, call me Abby, all my friends do."

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)

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