While walking along the beach I became enamored with a cluster of a dozen or so birds no bigger than golf balls. The birds moved in a hypnotic pattern; rushing seaward with the receding of a wave, pecking at the wet sand, then, with all the speed their tiny legs could muster, fleeing the oncoming wave at the last second. I watched this dance for an hour, imagining their internal dialogue:

Okay… gettin’ this food. Crab… yes, where’s the crab? Nope, not here. Maybe over here, Alright-HOLY SHIT. HOLY FUCK THAT’S A WAVE COMING. IT’S GONNA CRUSH ME. THIS IS THE ONE THAT GETS ME. RIGHT HERE. OH MY GOD! RUN! RUN! RUN! HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT… Okay. Wow. Made it. Never doing that again. So hungry… Look, crab over there? Okay… gettin’ this food…

I asked one of the birds if this was accurate and he seemed amused. “What a miserable existence that would be!” he said.