The Current Question (or, when pushing just makes more waves)

The Current Question

Or, When Pushing Just Makes More Waves

BARRY the Barnacle Bunch was having a tough morning.
The younger barnacles weren’t settling properly
No matter how much the elders shouted
“STICK! STICK! STICK!”

“We need a stronger current!” declared BARRY
(all voices emphatic)
“More force equals more settlement
That’s just simple physics
I’ll redirect the water flow!”

OPAL watched thoughtfully as BARRY
Organized an impressive engineering project
Recruiting anemones and tube worms
To build a channel of shell and stone

The new current rushed powerfully through
Exactly as BARRY had planned
But something unexpected happened
The larvae tumbled head over tail

“More FORCE!” insisted BARRY
Adding another layer of stones
While the little ones spun dizzily
Even further from home

OPAL drifted closer
(shifting to gentle purple)
“May I share what I’m noticing?”

BARRY’s voices came fast and frustrated
“The physics should be working!
Push harder, get more movement
That’s how things WORK!”

“Shall we watch one little one together?”
OPAL suggested softly
Moving closer to a tiny larva
Who had found a quiet eddy

In the small space behind a shell
The larva’s antennae quivered
Reading tiny changes in the water
Like a dance of invisible letters

“Oh,” whispered BARRY
(voices synchronizing in surprise)
“They’re not being pushed
They’re reading…”

OPAL nodded
As BARRY slowly began to lower
Some of the stone walls
Creating more quiet spaces

By sunset, the little ones
Were finding their way home
Not driven by force
But dancing with difference

BARRY’s voices hummed softly:
“I thought I needed power
When what they needed
Was poetry”

OPAL smiled
(rippling rainbow-gentle)
Watching the last larva
Spiral home
On currents of meaning