A Boy Picked Up a Shell While Walking the Beach. What He Heard Was Priceless

A boy and his mother were walking along the beach. 

When the boy found a conch shell, his mother told him if he put it up to his ear, he could hear the ocean.

The boy was delighted to learn this and held the shell up to his ear, but upon giving it a listen, his face fell. He dropped the conch shell and ran far ahead of his mother. 

When she caught up with him, she asked him what was wrong.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“But you threw the shell down and ran away. Was there something wrong with it?”

The boy thought for a long moment and then wrinkled up his nose as he answered, “You said it would sound like the ocean.”

“Well, that’s because you can hear the ocean waves if you listen hard enough.”

“But it’s not the same.”

“No, I suppose it’s not the same,” replied the mother. “The ocean is much bigger than the shell, after all.”

“Yes,” the boy acknowledged, “and when I asked Dad about that noise was coming from your room last night, he said, ‘It’s just the motion of the ocean,’ but it didn’t sound anything like that.”