Liam sat on the edge of the breakwater, complaining incessantly, as he regularly did, into the empty centre of his special shell. With one hand he gripped its familiar conical shape to his mouth while the other flopped around like a conductor who’s disinterested in music. Pink faced and pit-stained, he’d had another shit day and needed to get it all out.

“So he said the parking spot was for executives only and I’d just have to find a space elsewhere, the prick. And he knows fine well that the nearest spaces are bloody ages away from the office. Can you believe that?” Liam asked into the shell. He moved it from his mouth to his ear and paused as he listened. He heard only the faint sound of the sea churning and echoing in the hollow of the shell. But then through it, a voice emerged in a slow accent sown from waves – 

“Mmm, yeah, no, totally. That is…bad.”

He put the shell back to his mouth and he continued, free hand conducting a crescendo. “I know right! It was a total power-play and so obvious! Honestly, they’re all like that there. You’d think earning as much as they do they’d be a bit chirpier. But they’re completely miserable. Not to mention lazy. I honestly can’t stand them!” He was shouting into the shell now, something he’d never do elsewhere but the isolation of the breakwater seemed to help him really get it all out. Also the shell only seemed to work close to the sea. He held it back to his ear. Through the hissing reverberations the sea eventually whispered again;

“…mmm, yeah, no, definitely. They sound really…you know, bad.” 

There was a pause between them as Liam waited to ensure that that was all the sea had to say. As he did, the tide lapped over the stones of the breakwater below him kicking up spray. A few tiny droplets landed on his face. He scoffed and a shuffled around a bit so his uncomfortable shoes and trousers wouldn’t get splashed. This, along with the rest of reality, served only to further calcify his annoyance. Liam couldn’t feel the warmth of the sun on his skin or the gentle breeze that had travelled hundreds of miles to caress his face. He was colourblind to the million variations of blue and green and silver that danced on the sea’s surface for him. He couldn’t taste the sweetness of late summer on the air. Despite coming here at least twice a week he was numb to it all. He was too busy bubbling, like a resentment-flavoured fizzy drink left to roll around a footwell.

The voice of the sea spoke through the shell again, its voice sounding like the tide, “Liam. Liam! Look – you’ll like this. Behold.” 

He lifted his eyes to the water and squinted. He noted how low the sun was getting but only because that meant he’d get a bit chilly soon. Then in the waters he saw a dark shape moving just below the surface. Before he could fully knit his eyebrows a dolphin suddenly leapt from the water and arced a joyous trajectory through the air. Water droplets fell from its body and sparkled in the sunlight like tiny fireworks. It splashed its reentry but no sooner did another dolphin leap, joining its friend in a jubilant dance. And then another. And another. Liam’s expression didn’t change. He lifted the shell to his mouth.

“Oh right, the dolphins again. Lovely. Thanks.” He half-heartedly offered into the shell. The white water where the dolphins had leapt settled and dispersed and became a gentle swaying sea once more. He lifted his head in a sudden burst of energy.

“Oh yeah – I didn’t even tell you about Caitlin! I’d spent ages putting this slide deck together, for the client up north I told you about last week. So, she said that she’d been asked to help out and oh my god, this girl is useless…” and off he went once more. As he rambled on, somewhere nearby four dolphins chased crabs along the sea bed. And in the sky the sun gratefully crept away. But the sea had nowhere to go.

Had he chosen to listen to the shell at that moment, he’d have been the only man to have ever heard the sea let out an exasperated sigh.