La conchiglia che cantava ancora

C’era una volta, a Ischia, una conchiglia di nome Lina.

Lina viveva attaccata a uno scoglio, vicino al mare di Sant’Angelo. Accanto a lei c’era un’altra conchiglia, Toni. Stavano insieme da sempre. Ridevano con le onde e cantavano con il vento.

Tutti dicevano:
“Guardate Lina e Toni, che bella coppia.”

Un giorno arrivò una burrasca fortissima. Il mare si arrabbiò, le onde ruggirono e fecero un rumore enorme.

Quando l’acqua finalmente si calmò, Toni non c’era più. Il mare se l’era portato via.

Lina rimase sola sullo scoglio.

Il primo giorno pianse così tanto che l’acqua diventò ancora più salata. Il secondo giorno non cantò. Il terzo giorno guardò il mare e disse:

“La mia canzone è finita. Senza Toni, a chi la canto?”

Quella notte venne a trovarla il Granchio Vecchio. Aveva le zampe lente e gli occhi pieni di mare.

“Lina”, disse, “perché sei diventata silenziosa?”

“Perché Toni se n’è andato”, rispose lei. “E senza di lui la musica è finita.”

Il Granchio rise piano.

“Sciocca. Il mare non finisce perché un’onda va via. Ne arriva un’altra. E un’altra ancora.

Tu non eri la canzone di Toni. Tu eri la conchiglia che cantava. E le conchiglie cantano anche da sole.”

Lina non riusciva a crederci.

Ma il giorno dopo provò. Aprì un poco il guscio e fece shhh insieme al vento.

Arrivarono i pesci ad ascoltarla. Il giorno dopo cantò più forte e vennero anche le stelle marine. Dopo una settimana, tutto lo scoglio si fermava ad ascoltarla.

Un anno dopo passò un’altra conchiglia. Si chiamava Mareo.

Non era Toni. Rideva in modo diverso e cantava una melodia diversa.

Si fermò ad ascoltare Lina e disse:

“Che bella voce hai.”

E rimase lì, vicino a lei.

Lina capì allora una cosa importante.

Toni era stato il suo primo mare. Un amore bello e prezioso.

Ma la sua vita non era finita insieme a lui.

Perché lei non era “la conchiglia di Toni”.

Lei era Lina.

E Lina cantava.

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Morale

Quando qualcuno va via dalla tua vita, fa male. È vero.

Ma la vita non è una canzone a due voci.

È la tua voce. E finché respiri, puoi continuare a cantare.

Il mare porta via, ma il mare porta anche.

E tu non smettere mai di restare sullo scoglio.

Fine

Nonna Zaira

The shell that still sang beautifully

Once upon a time, on the island of Ischia, there was a seashell named Lina.

Lina lived attached to a rock by the sea near Sant’Angelo. Beside her was another seashell, Toni. They had always been together. They laughed with the waves and sang with the wind.

Everyone would say,
“Look at Lina and Toni. What a beautiful pair.”

One day, a terrible storm arrived. The sea grew furious, the waves roared, and the sound was deafening.

When the water finally became calm again, Toni was gone.

The sea had carried him away.

Lina was left alone on the rock.

On the first day, she cried so much that the water became even saltier. On the second day, she did not sing. On the third day, she looked out at the sea and said,

“My song is over. Without Toni, who will I sing it to?”

That night, the Old Crab came to visit her. His legs moved slowly, and his eyes were filled with the wisdom of the sea.

“Lina,” he asked, “why have you become so quiet?”

“Because Toni is gone,” she replied. “Without him, the music has ended.”

The Old Crab chuckled softly.

“Silly little shell. The sea doesn’t end because one wave is gone. Another one comes. And then another.

You were never Toni’s song. You were the shell that sang. And shells can sing even when they are alone.”

Lina found it hard to believe.

But the next day she tried. She opened her shell just a little and whispered shhh with the wind.

The fish came to listen.

The following day, she sang a little louder, and the starfish came too.

A week later, every creature on the rock would stop to listen to her song.

A year later, another seashell drifted by.

His name was Mareo.

He wasn’t Toni. He laughed differently and sang a different melody.

He stopped to listen to Lina and said,

“You have a beautiful voice.”

And he stayed beside her.

That was when Lina understood something important.

Toni had been her first sea.

A beautiful and precious love.

But her life had not ended with him.

Because she wasn’t Toni’s seashell.

She was Lina.

And Lina sang.

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Moral

When someone leaves your life, it hurts. That’s true.

But life is not a song sung by two voices.

It is your voice.

And as long as you breathe, you can keep singing.

The sea takes away…

but the sea also brings.

And whatever happens,

never stop holding on to your rock.

The End.

Nonna Zaira

 

Review

The Shell That Still Sang is a gentle and meaningful fairy tale about the pain of loss, but above all, about the journey of self-discovery.

Lina’s story is not only about losing Toni, but also about an inner transformation. Before they were separated, Lina found her happiness mainly through being with Toni and never fully realized the value of her own voice. She saw herself as one half of a pair, as though her beauty and her ability to sing depended on the presence of the other shell.

When the sea carries Toni away, Lina is overcome with grief. Yet it is through that sorrow that she learns something truly important: she has worth even on her own. Guided by the wise words of the Old Crab, she discovers that she was never simply “Toni’s shell.” She is Lina—a seashell with a voice that belongs entirely to her.

With a simple yet poetic style,  Zaira Sellerio, writing under the affectionate name Nonna (Grandma) Zaira, tells a story born from the heart and shaped by a deep understanding of human emotions. This enchanting tale speaks to both children and adults, reminding us that we often learn to love ourselves only when we begin to listen to our own hearts. It is a story of courage, renewal, and the realization that every person carries a unique light and a melody all their own.

 

Zaira Sellerio’s book „Il coraggio è femmina“(Courage Is Female) is now available in Italian on Amazon!

Some of the awards and honors received for her work

• • National Poetry Prize “Arturo Massimi” – Mentana (Rome), October 1999.
  • Narrative Prize Plaque – International Competition “Pelosa”, Messina, November 2000.
  • Poetry Award Plaque – Province of Rome, October 2000.
  • International Literary Competition “Antonio de Curtis – Totò” – Rome.
  • “Poets and Society” Prize – German-Swiss Delegation, International Competition – Honorable Mention.
  • Unpublished Poetry Prize “L’Attualità – Bartolucci” – 5th Edition, Finalist Diploma, October 27, 2001.
  • International Artistic-Literary Competition “Antonio de Curtis – Totò” – Rome, October 22, 2002.
  • ALIAS Award – Italian-Australian Writers’ Academy, in collaboration with C.R.A.S.E.S. Palermo.
  • International Literary Competition – 3rd Ex Aequo Poetry Prize, October 10, 2003.
  • First Poetry Prize “Il Salotto dell’Arte” – Rome, March 22, 2009.
  • “A Life for Culture” Prize – “Il Salotto dell’Arte” Gallery, Rome.
  • 4th International Literary Prize “Europa” – for the novel From the Depths of the Heart, Lugano, May 11, 2014.
  • 2nd Navarro Prize – for the novel From the Depths of the Heart, Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily, May 13, 2018.
  • Special Lilly Broggi Prize “La Pergola Arte” – for the novel From the Depths of the Heart, Florence, October 27, 2018.
  • 5th Literary Prize “Massa, Fairy-Tale City of Sea and Marble” – Versilia Club, for the novel From the Depths of the Heart, September 28, 2019.
  • 1st International Prize “Donne d’Amore” V. Barrett – Female Universe Section, Poetry Category, for On the Steps of Piazza di Spagna.
  • 1st Prize – Literature Section (Novel) – for Courage Is Female, Rome, May 22, 2023.
  • Poetry Prize “At Your Feet” – City of Mercogliano (AV), for the poem And There I Met My Mother, September 8, 2024.
  • 11th Edition San Valentino Prize – City of Atripalda (AV) – Cupido World Wide Section, for the poem “Ich habe dich geliebt” (I Loved You), April 26–27, 2025.
  • Prize Belli – Lami 2026 – Accademia Tiberina, Roma – Recognition for the book “Il coraggio è femmina”, June 25, 2026