What they are teaching your kids these days

The Alchemist's words echoed out like a curse. 

He reached over and picked up a shell from the ground.

"The desert was once a sea," he said.

"I noticed that," the boy answered.

The alchemist told the boy to place the shell over his ears. 

He had done that many times when he was a child, 

and had heard the sound 

of the sea.

"The sea has lived on in this shell, because that's its destiny. 

And it will never cease doing so until the desert is once again 

covered by water."

RUBBISH.

 The sound of "surging waves in a seashell" is merely 

due to the rush of blood through the blood vessels in your ears!

Suddenly lost all the respect I had for that Paulo guy, tsktsk.