[ WP ] You died . You were reborn . You remembered your previous life . But that 's actually pretty useless - because you were n't reborn human .

At first it felt like floating. I thought the afterlife must be made of clouds, and if I opened my eyes I would find myself drifting through them like a dandelion seed caught on the wind. It was such a giddy feeling, being *new* again, that I did n't even notice the pressure tugging me to all sides, slowly pulling me down. 
 
 
 I landed gently on soft ground, but it was n't right. Something ingrained in my reborn self told me to keep going, to float a little further - to find a warmer, livelier place. *Are there livelier places in the afterlife, though? Is there ground? I should open my eyes. * But I did not. 
 
 
 I landed several more times, but none of them were right; none of them were `` home''. Something told me there was only one chance to find it, one chance to float in the... not wind. No, there was too much pressure for air. I was floating but not flying. *Swimming. I'm swimming! * I did n't even know how to swim. 
 
 
 Then, I felt it: warmth, life, ground. The presence of other beings, the feel of sunlight drifting in from above. On instinct, I reached out and grabbed the floor below me. I opened my eyes to see my new home - except I could n't. I have no eyes now. 
 
 
 That was fifty years ago; I have n't moved since. 
 
 
 I open when the sun comes out and close when it sets. My food drifts in through the water or lives in my mouth, trading nutrients with me in turn for safety and light. I can feel the heat from the day; I can feel fish and other wildlife swimming past; but, I can not see them. 
 
 
 It's a strange thing; as a human, I left my hometown and never looked back, never stayed in one place for more than half a year. I wanted to see the whole world and very nearly did. I was always meeting new people, going to new places, trying new things. I could n't be stopped, even well into my old age, until life finally caught up and put a stop to mine. 
 
 
 Sometimes, as I wait here alone with my thoughts, I wonder if that's why I was born this way. I wonder whether I'm balancing out the travel of my previous life. 
 
 
 It is n't bad here; it's peaceful, and I'm well protected. But even without eyes, I would like to roam again, to experience something new. I ca n't, though, not for another fifty years... more, maybe. As long as I'm alive, I will never leave this spot. It took a while to work out what I was, but I remember one thing from biology still. 
 
 
 Giant clams only have one chance to find home.
