This is the seventh and final story in the collection Ripples.

An old man's routine walk along the beach in search of shells is interrupted by a young girl who questions his unusual ritual.

His wife had not really cared for collecting shells. She would stop and admire them on the sand, but she never kept them. A native of the Carolina coast, she had explained to him once that a shell was beautiful because of what it was—a home. Some creature had formed the calcified armor as a way to survive, to protect itself from all the predators and caprices of life in the ocean. It was for this reason that she always left them as they lay. They belong to the beach, to the sand and sun and waves. To the place where their architects were born and had perished. 

Visit the show's website at:
hiddenanimalspodcast.com

Or send me an email:
andrew@hiddenanimalspodcast.com

Books available on Amazon:
Ripples
Judas Wept

This is the sixth of seven stories in the collection Ripples.

In the aftermath of a serious car accident, Marcie Anderson ruminates on the absence of her husband after their recent divorce, seemingly unaware of a much more immediate and medically urgent loss.

Over the years, she had become accustomed to the emptiness of the house, the silence that collected like dust in the corners, long before he actually left. It wasn’t his absence that grieved her—how can you feel something that isn’t there?—it was the unanswered questions he left behind. 

Visit the show's website at:
hiddenanimalspodcast.com

Or send me an email:
andrew@hiddenanimalspodcast.com

Books available on Amazon:
Ripples
Judas Wept

This is the fifth of seven stories in Ripples.

A little girl and her father witness a fruitless battle between two ants, prompting a discussion about the nature of God's perspective.

"Big Ant stumbled blindly around in circles, pausing occasionally to try and dislodge Little Ant’s jaws from his leg. For a minute or so, they stopped completely, but then their combat resumed with increased fervor. Jordan studied their movements carefully. He, too, wondered why they fought, and he couldn’t help but note the futility of their struggle. There was no way for either of them to win; they were bound to their quarrel—and bound to each other by it."

Visit the show's website at:
hiddenanimalspodcast.com

Or send me an email:
andrew@hiddenanimalspodcast.com

Books available on Amazon:
Ripples
Judas Wept