The Pearl in the Glass House

The Pearl in the Glass House

 

There once lived a pearl in great house made of glass that shone brilliantly in the sunlight.  It was the wonder of all the land, a great glass castle and inside the largest pearl in existence (at least that was known), shimmering an opalescent shadow.  All who gazed upon this curiosity tried to enter the castle, for they wished to lay their hands as well as their eyes upon this prize, as it would suffice to support the largest of families for generations.  All who tried, however, ultimately failed.  Even those whose intentions were good had no success because a pearl is not something that should be stolen.  This created a great problem, as no one knew who owned the house or the pearl, and as they could not begin to bargain with one whose identity is unknown, the pearl was left where it was.  It was a problem for the pearl herself, as she got lonely in a great glass house where she could look out and see people and animals of all kinds, and the sea but had to be admired from afar.  She could not talk to any of them, because no one could get into the castle.  This made her very sad as she wished very much to be able to entertain visitors. 

 

On one particularly stormy night, the pearl got her wish.  The tides raged fiercely and a terrible thunder and lightning razed the skies.  A spike of lightning struck the tallest tower of the glass castle and it shattered into innumerable tiny bits.  With nothing left to tether or support the pearl, she rolled and rolled until she came to the sea, where she sank down, and down, and down.  Happy to be free of her glass cage, she was not at all scared as she slowly descended into the abyss to the bottom of the sea.  When she finally landed, she looked about and found herself in a dark cavern a million times the size of her glass castle.  She couldn't see much, save the occasional bioluminescent creature that floated by.  Not much lived in these parts of the ocean, like an underwater desert. 

 

Just as she was considering rolling about to a better spot, what little light there was suddenly vanished, and she found herself in another kind of cage, only this time it was dense and opaque; she no longer had a view of any kind.  She stayed this way for a very long time and grew melancholy.  She began to miss her old dwelling, seeming ancient by now, and wished to be above the waters again in the warm sunlight with a view of the whole land. 

 

One day, when the pearl was feeling particularly melancholy, she suddenly felt her cage being lifted upward.  This gave her a start; nothing else was supposed to be down here, much less something big enough to lift the heavy prison in which she now resided.  After a time, she felt the pressure inside the prison become lighter and lighter, and eventually the water inside began to drain out.  She began to wonder now what was going on.  When some more time had passed, the pearl realized she could see the faintest crack of light - hope!  And suddenly the world was bright again. 

 

People were standing all around her, applauding the one in particular who had broken her free of her prison.  After much celebration, the pearl arrived at the man's home, which had a cozy feeling about it.  The pearl was meant to be a gift to the man's wife, and she accepted this duty with excitement as she knew this meant something good.  The pearl lived out her days in happiness on display inside another house, but this time the house welcomed all visitors, and they all adored her.  She shimmered more brightly with each day and never needed polishing, though sometimes the woman to whom she had been given would do so lovingly, and she felt as warm as if the sun still shined on her every hour of the day.  Finally, the pearl was happy.