Kelly Crinoid remembers being an animal

A fossil crinoid from the Carboniferous of India. Source: wikipedia.org

“I can’t hear this guy complaining anymore.” Kelly Crinoid protests. “The warm tropical ocean…..paradise.” Her many sisters giggle as Kelly mimics Larry Limestone. Together they are part of his limestone layer. In fact, the many crinoids’ skeletons make up a good portion of Mount Rundle’s  cliff. 

Kelly believes that her upbringing in the warm ocean of the Mississippian period is really overrated. “I was glad when my animal life ended.” For her, it was only an exhausting start that led to her real destination – being a rock. “So many things were just wrong and felt exhausting.” Her sisters are all nodding in support. “Wait a minute!” old Larry Limestone  is waking up. “What are you talking about?”

Kelly is not surprised about his complain. “For starter: everybody called us sea lilies. But we were no plants!” Larry is surprised. He vaguely remembers that this has been pointed out to him before. “But who cares? Everybody loved you” Larry argues, “they admired your graciously waving petals.” Kelly frowns. “That is exactly the point, these were not petals!” Besides not being recognized as what she was, Kelly also though that being an animal was stressful. “All day long I was waving my arms trying to catch plankton  to eat, then digest it, and then poop it out again.” She still does not see much sense in it and her sisters all smile agreeingly.       
 
Kelly laughs relieved. “Lucky me, it was just for a couple of years. Only a glimpse in comparison to the rest of my 340 million years of happy rock life.” When Kelly the crinoid died, her bones settled on the seafloor and a new chapter started for her.