The Varmint in the Shell

Yesterday, my mom commented on my blog and asked me to write her a poem about "the varmint coming out of her shell".  Well, I think I need to clarify what this means.  :)

For Thanksgiving, Mom, Dad, Jim and I were in Biloxi, MS together.  We walked on the beach and found a lot of shells and some of them had hermit crabs living in them.  We only took a few of the empty shells with us, leaving the live crabs on the beach where they belong.  Or so we thought.  Mom and Dad went back to LA for another week or two, then drove home to TN with their shells from the beach.  After they got home, they realized, as one of the shells moved across the counter, that they had brought a hermit crab home accidentally.  I have NO earthly idea HOW this little critter lived for a week or 2 without saltwater or food. 
So, here goes on the poem for Mom:

The shell looked empty
on the shore
It stayed quiet in the truck,
riding from LA to TN
then took a walk
across the kitchen

Or maybe a limerick:

She picked up a shell from the beach
And left it in the truck within reach
It quietly rode
To their humble abode
And then crawled, making my mother SCREECH

Well, that's all I have for today.  Not my best work on such short notice, but I'm sure it's entertaining!