He presented her the amber shell, still with wet hair clinging to his face and his skin patted with salt. She prised it open with a butter knife. Inside lay a single glistening pearl, in all its iridescent glory. She picked it up and moved it over in her hand. It was truly beautiful. She carried that pearl around her neck on a chain. She was proud of its beauty and wanted the world to see. Over time she noticed the pearl began to lose its brightness. It was no longer luminous. It was saddened and dull and she felt sorrow for having ripped it from its home on the sea floor. She tried to polish and wash it with seawater but nothing would awaken its glow. She grew unhappier as the pearl became duller. She went back to the sea and broke the chain from around her neck. Rolling the pearl between her fingers one last time she dangled it over the water. She released the chain from her grasp and the pearl dropped silently, sinking to the depths below. As she turned to leave, she thought she could see a faint glow shining through to the surface from the murky depths below.