Beach Bounty

At first glance, the freshly washed beach appeared to be empty. 

In fact, even after half a dozen trips between the shade of my umbrella and the refreshing, rolling waves of the South China Sea, I noticed nothing to catch my fancy. 

But today, a tiny sliver of white caught my eye. I didn't dare to get my hopes up until I noticed the delicate scalloped edging of whatever this was that lay half-buried in the sand at my feet. 

And you have already guessed what my hidden treasure turned out to be. 

Shells. 

Precious little white scallops. 

Fragile pairs of angel wings.

An impossibly tiny sand dollar that's just a little bit broken. 

Once I noticed the first shell, my eyes found them everywhere. I gathered and sorted and compared until I'd narrowed my collection down to a carefully curated handful. 

I will take them home and they will be my finest treasure of these happy Vietnamese days at the beach.