Pearl Cove

His mother was a pearl farmer on the coast where they lived and was forever telling him stories of the magic of the ocean. She would speak of mystical fantasy creatures, magic powers and faraway lands at night as the waves lapped upon the shore of their pearl farm. The small fire in their living room would crackle as his mother told him tales of a place called Pearl Cove. 

Pearl Cove is a misty and ethereal cove in jackalope land where the sand is made from small pearls and cold mists wash over the rugged black stone shores. It constantly sounds like it is raining as the pearls are dragged back and forth across the coast. It is said every pearl that comprises the beaches of pearl cove is a lost memory or forgotten piece of knowledge that has drifted ashore. 

Pearl Cove is home to the Perleis, a sisterhood of pearl nymphs who are said to be the wisdom keepers of the ocean. Many humans have been lost trying to find these elusive creatures, for it is said that they hold all the secrets of the universe and will be able to give you the answer to any question you might have in return for a pearl of wisdom from your own mind. As the Perleis gained these orbs of knowledge, their hair would slowly turn white and their eyes would turn to pearls—no longer needed as they could see more than human eyes could capture.

One day a powerful and greedy King heard that there were creatures out there who hold the answers to any question in the Universe. Struck with greed and the desire to gain power over lands outside his own kingdom, the King called upon his people to find a sailor who knew the seas well enough to find this Pearl Cove. One name kept being mentioned to the king, the name of a man who not only knew the seas better than anyone but also told stories of the Pearl Cove.  Samudra had grown up into a strong man and learnt to master the seas all these years later, in the hopes he would get to live inside the fairytales of his mother. 

Several days later, Samudra stood before the King as he was ordered to embark in search of Pearl Cove. The sailor was promised a boat full of gold as payment for the quest, and had no choice but to accept the King's orders. 

That same night, Samudra took off across the waves. For days he traversed the oceans with only his shadow for company. Just as he was about to lose hope, the sound of rain started to fill the air as he realized he had reached the Pearl shores. 

The boat slid onto the infinite pearls and he was greeted with a soft mist that wrapped around his legs and pulled him forward. He took step after step through the deep pearls until a creature appeared on the horizon by the water. Long white hair fell around her face under a hood made from pearls. As Samudra took one more step towards the nymph, he noticed pearls growing from her skin and embedded in her clothing and saw that her eyes were made of white pearls. 

The Pearlie took the young man’s hand and led him to sit on the black stone next to him. 

“Are you sure?” she asked in a soft voice. 

He paused for a moment, torn as he looked at the soft face of this beautiful creature, which made him feel like he belonged in this world instead of his own. He pulled his gaze away as he envisioned the ship full of treasure he was promised and nodded “yes”. 

The nymph reached up, plucked two large pearls from her ornate diving hood and held them in front of the sailors eyes. The young man waited, and was about to open his mouth when his vision started to turn white. Slowly the world around him sunk away and he was plunged into eternal white as a cold sweat broke down his neck. Before he could realize, colors started to fade into this white cloud he was trapped within, painting scenes of a terrifying future in front of him. 

The sailor saw flashes of an army of ships slamming ashore the Pearl beach and the nymphs being dragged away to be enslaved in the Kingdom for their wisdom. Fear struck him as he saw the King gain power and destroy everything in his wake. Lastly, the sailor saw himself asleep at the bottom of the ocean next to his boat full of treasure whose weight had dragged him down. Suddenly, everything came to an end and the man was plunged back into this strange world made of Pearls. 

The nymph stared at him with her white eyes, he felt like she could see every thought in his head. Now he knew it was his turn, that was the unspoken deal. For every piece of wisdom the Pearlies gave, they took something back from you that you were doomed to forget forever. The sailor’s world became dark as the nymph placed her cold hands over his eyes and began to sing. He saw papers and maps flash before his eyes, and when it was time to open them again- he realized what had been taken. Gone was his knowledge of maps and the seas as it was absorbed into the network of minds belonging to the Pearlies. He stared at the nymph sitting across from him, and noticed three pearls started to grow on her shoulder. He knew he could now never leave this place with no knowledge of how to find home, but a small smile came across his face.