9th Life - This is a creative writing assignment which is an introduction to a horror story.

While on vacation, I chanced upon a conch shell. I was always told that if you held one up to your ear, you would be able to hear the sweet sounds of the ocean. Shockingly, I found that this was completely untrue. I just kept hearing the same sentence over and over again. It did not matter to me because I couldn't make any sense out of it. The only thing to be heard was …

…I felt like a fish out of water but my parents seemed to feel right at home in the African milieu. That first night, I awoke to strange jungle noises. There was loud growling and banging coming from the downstairs den. I shot out of bed and was just about to open my door to investigate the goings on downstairs but quickly stopped in my tracks when I recalled the hollow voice from the conch.