Barnacle ✰

But tonight was different. The water felt heavy, smelling of old wood and rusted iron. A shadow loomed, blocking out the moonlight. A massive hull of a cargo ship was drifting too close to the reef.

Barnaby felt the massive pressure change. Most creatures fled, but Barnaby just tightened his grip. He was part of the rock now. The ship scraped the outer edge of the reef with a groan that vibrated through Barnaby’s very glue. A few of his cousins on the outer ledge were crushed, but Barnaby held fast. barnacle

The first wave hit like a cold, liquid slap. Barnaby waited for the second and third, ensuring the tide was truly back. Then, he cracked open his doors. Out came his "cirri"—delicate, feathery legs that looked like a tiny fan. He began to kick. Sweep. Retract. Sweep. Retract. But tonight was different

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. A massive hull of a cargo ship was