Silt and Spring

Cold silt clings to trembling fingers as they unearth a fossilized nautilus shell containing a single, rusted spring. This jagged shard of metal catches a stray beam of light, pulsing with a phantom rhythm against the heavy weight of calcified sediment. Even buried under layers of drifting earth, the small mechanism holds its shape, refusing to dissolve into the surrounding decay. In this quiet corner of the world, a fragment of intent survives the crushing slow-motion drift of ages.