Barnacle -

To the casual observer, Barnaby was just a tiny, grey, volcanic-shaped hump of calcium. But inside that fortress, Barnaby was an adventurer—or at least, he had been. Like all barnacles, he’d spent his youth as a "cyprid," a microscopic wanderer swimming through the vast, terrifying ocean. He had survived being hunted by shrimp and avoided the mouths of whales, all to find the perfect home.

Barnaby didn’t answer; he couldn't. He was too busy waiting. Life for a barnacle is a game of patience. As the water vanished, he pulled his four sliding door-like plates shut. This was the "Low Tide Lockdown." Inside, he stayed moist and cool, listening to the gulls scream overhead and the sun bake his shell. barnacle

Hours passed. Then, a vibration. A rhythmic thrumming began to shake the granite. The return. To the casual observer, Barnaby was just a