I Was A Clam Once

The sun on their faces. Air milky.

They unpack their lives.

Kobo goes first, because she is the oldest.

I was a clam once. A young bouncing clam.

I didn't know that! says Pinky. So you were softer. Do you remember?

I remember, says Kobo.

Terence, you go next.

I used to live in a palace, says Terence. I fell off the front door. And guess who caught me?

The doorman, says the comb crested jacana.

Good guess, says Kobo. Have you travelled at all?

Here and there, says the comb crested jacana.

Not the doorman! says Terence.

My turn, says Pinky. My life has been short and interrupted.

Yes, says Terence. She was my pink thing. I got her in an aeroplane. For my magic bracelet. No, my magic crown.

What happened? asks the comb crested jacana.

I lost it, says Terence.

Not that, says the comb crested jacana. What happened to Pinky?

I've been let down, says Pinky. So many times! But it has taught me to be optimistic.

That is admirable, says the comb crested jacana.

She had snakes inside her, says Terence. Two snakes. See my shorts? Snakes like these. And you still haven't guessed the person who caught me.

Your mother, says Pinky.

Not the Virgin, says Terence. It was Sweezus.

Is he someone I should know? asks the comb crested jacana.

Not really, says Kobo. Unless you follow the Tour de France. Tell us your own life story.

You lived in a pale brown EGG! says Terence.

I did, says the comb crested jacana. Full marks for knowing.

And minus ten for interrupting, says Kobo.

I know all about birds, says Terence. I have a bird book and you're in it. You eat molluscs.

I eat seeds and aquatic insects, says the comb crested jacana.

Oh, says Terence. My bird book is wrong.

I think you'll find that shorebirds eat molluscs, says the comb crested jacana. I am a waterbird whose habitat is fresh water. And I ought to be going. I'm famished.

What a shame, says Kobo. None of us have finished our stories.

Finish yours, says the comb crested jacana.

Over time I transformed from a dead clam to a fossil. I began to read Japanese novels, says Kobo.

Until you met me, says Pinky.

Nice. Now finish yours, says the comb crested jacana.

Tonight, says Pinky, we will ride in a plum box with wheels made by Ageless lobster, Kobo's former beloved.

And me, says Terence.

This time I'll stay awake for it, says Pinky.

I might come back to see that, says the comb crested jacana. What time approximately?

Ooh-a, says Pinky. What time, sweetheart?

When the snakes wake up, says Terence.

I wasn't calling you sweetheart, says Pinky.

I know you meant me, dear, says Kobo. Terence is right though. When the bandy bandies wake up.

Bandies? says the comb crested jacana. Okay. I'll be back at six thirty.