Few knew the safe route from the sea. None had mastered the trade like him. He knew that once he was far enough inland and the coast was out of sight, far away from the other beach collectors, he could be more bold, although there was always dual dangers from the desperate and the ignorant.
It was perpetually a surprise that others hadn’t stumbled across the same lucrative trade, but then, if they’d tried, he would have made it his business to make sure they fell hard and were buried six feet under. Or left for the corvids.
His trade satisfied all his personal needs, granting him safe passage to scattered communities, from the big city to those up in the hills.
Shells for shells. Such a simple trade, yet so effective now that his army of young scavengers had helped to create quite the arsenal. A day’s walk inland, he had amassed a whole team of
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Gabriel Hemery | author • photographer • silvologist to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.