The Sea's Voices

If one travels to the edge of the map and a little bit further, they will pass into the borders of the Pearl Sea; where the waters run as glossy, thick stretches of shimmering fluid, viscous as pudding and sweet like sugar cane. The waves lap over each other like folds of dough when making fresh croissants and mist climbs the sky, emerging from the heated waters that steam its contents like buns. This is the home of the Perle Verdi.

The Perle Verdi were a peaceful tribe of sea and land creatures; having both flippers and feet attached to their very long legs. As if like a frog, the people had graceful, long, thin, green legs that stretched out as 2.5 metre spindles below their short petite torsos that were speckled with a rainbow of greens that painted beautiful art across their skin. Long lanky arms travelled down to their knees terminating with webbed delicate fingers and seashell fingernails that curled, twirled and whirled in different patterns and geometrics. Their faces were the most striking of all, their godly features; a pair of large, full, pink lips sat directly in the centre of their round head with sad, dopey, yellow eyes at each corner of their smile; when the Perle Verdi smile their eyes slowly slip into their dimples, like a beautiful sun setting behind the endless ocean. Heavy straps of seaweed poured down from their scalps like a waterfall in all shades of the rainbow, a spectrum of illumination. The gorgeous sun reflected the different shades of age and beauty from the glistening bodies of the Perle Verdi as they emerged from the ocean onto their island.

Every year on the summer solstice, new Perle Verdi emerge from the depths and the old are laid to rest. From the froth of the steamy waves and the tides of the singing currents emerge small clams, brought up from the caves below, which wash ashore on to the golden sand. Inside each clam is a stunning, shimmering, smooth pearl, all with its own unique shade of colour that reflects the heart of a new child. Those who have found mates will walk the shores together that morning and wait for fate, a perfect sign, to guide them to which clam will be theirs. Which clam will be their child. Once the pearl has been chosen, it is implanted into the female’s belly button where it plants the seed for the new child of the depths. You see, Perle Verdi do not have hearts, they live and breathe the sweet ocean waves and so their heart belongs to the sea; inside their ornate chests are the colourful pearls that were given to them by her. Therefore, eventually she wants them back and so in the evening of that same day the bodies of those who have died are put to rest at the pearl graveyard. From these graves, beautiful golden clams grow to encase the pearl of their loved ones which opens only to the touch of their own blood.

From these pearls relatives can communicate with the dead because they now live within the water, breathe with the ocean currents and exhale within the whirlpools. The people speak the language of the ocean therefore they are never alone, they have guidance from the past and present who surround them every day. This is their most sacred possession.

A long time ago there was a curious Perle Verdi, who always dreamed of going to the island and seeing the sunset from another perspective, to see if the glimmer was even more spectacular. Everyday, like the other children, she would go the pearl graveyard, sit inside a clam and hold a pearl tight to learn the ways of the waves from her ancestors. They would speak to her as clearly as I would speak to you but as soon as she left, their voices would cease, only their presence would follow her like a tail. As she grew up, their feeling became even stronger and she felt their warm embrace when she was sad and their cheers when she was happy. Her name was Eve.

After many years, Eve finally found a mate who wanted to share a life and children together, everything was as it should have been. On the morning of the summer solstice, Eve and her mate climbed ashore for the first time and felt the warm summer breeze, the sizzling sun against their moist skin and the burning sand against their feet. It was breath-taking. They quickly got to work in finding the perfect pearl so they could bask in the lands glory before the evening came; hours went by and still no obvious sign as to which they should pick, midday came by and still nothing. Eve grew weary so decided to consult her ancestors.

Diving into the water once again she felt cold, she felt shivery, she felt silence. Quickly she swam to the graveyard and open the closest golden clasp and hugged the purple pearl that rested in the middle of the cushioning. Words started to flicker in her head

“What have you done?” came a clear crisp voice.

“Why did you do it?” the voice began to fade.

“You wished to be on land, you lost your desire to be with the ocean,” the voice crackled.

“You are losing us.” The voice faded once more.

“No,” Eve cried, “No I never wanted this, I never wanted to lose this, all I wanted was to go and see the surface and be in the sun, all I wanted was to be on land.”

But as the words slipped out of her mouth, she gasped. If only words could be taken out of the water but the vibrations can spread across all her depths and across the vast waters in a matter of seconds. Immediately, Eve knew what she had done.

“Hello,” she whispered to the pearl, “I didn’t mean it, I swear I didn’t mean it.”

But it was too late. For the first time in her entire life, Eve felt alone. Surrounded by the immense body of water she swam to the surface to find her love to tell him what had happened. By this time all the pearls had gone and he was sat watching the sun set below the horizon.

She felt so alone, for no longer did she speak the language of the sea and feel its history around her, so they made a raft out of reed and ventured across the borders, onto the map and set up a new life on a distant island. Eve begged her mate, Adam, to never leave the land again as it was too painful to feel that alone and cold in the wet, dark liquid. So, they didn’t. As generations passed by, their connection with the ocean continued to fade until it was lost completely and they became what we know today as the first humans.