Long, long ago, in the shallows of a vast ocean, a beam of light slipped in through the crack of an oyster’s shell, and tickled his eyelashes. He awoke with a start, and giggled.
The little oyster peered up through the dark water, to a beautiful face floating among the stars.
He called to the old oyster beside him. “Hey! Have you seen the moon tonight?”
“I see her every night,” grumped his neighbor.
“But tonight she’s completely round! Isn’t she beautiful?”
“Go back to sleep!”
The little oyster was too excited to sleep. He called to his friend the seahorse.
“Hey! Isn’t the moon beautiful tonight?”
“Sure. I guess so,” said the seahorse.
“She does so much for us. I want to do something nice for her. I want to be her friend.”
The seahorse scoffed. “She travels the world, and can be friends with anyone. Why would she want to be friends with an oyster?”
The little oyster pulled his shell closed. THUNK! What was wrong with oysters?
As he sat inside, wondering what to do, he picked off a grain of sand that had been irritating the sensitive folds of his skin. He wrapped it in some of the lining from the inside of his shell. It looked just like a teensy moon! That gave him an idea.
“Hey!” he shouted to his neighbor again. ”Look at this!”
“What is it now?”
“I’ve made a gift for the moon!”
“A grain of sand?”
“More than that. I wrapped it in the lining from my shell, and it looks just like her!”
“Hmmph!" grouched his neighbor. "Why would she want something so small and worthless?”
The little oyster again shut his shell. SLAM!
Months passed as he worked to make his gift bigger and bigger. In the meantime, he continued to watch the moon. She was always changing. Some nights she was so thin she disappeared completely. Other nights she was round and lit up the whole sky.
Though she was busy pulling the great ocean waters in and out from the shore, she never
failed to notice him. Sometimes she would even play peek-a-boo with him among the
clouds.
After three years the gift had reached a size that the oyster was happy with. He was ready
to present it to her and waited for the seahorse to swim by.
“Hey!” he called, “I need someone to take this to the moon!”
The seahorse swam closer and gasped. “It’s beautiful! But I cannot swim to the moon.”
Hmmmm. The little oyster hadn’t thought of that.
“But . . . maybe I can give it to a sea star to place on the shore. It will glow against the dark
sand tonight and I’m sure she’ll notice it.”
“Oh! Thank you!” said the oyster.
He handed the beautiful pearl over to the seahorse and pulled his shell closed. Click.
That evening a beam of light slipped in through the crack of his shell and tickled his
eyelashes. He heard a knock. He opened his shell to find the seahorse and the sea star
waiting impatiently outside.
“The moon is weeping and she wants to speak to you!” they exclaimed.
Had he somehow offended her?
The sea star picked him gently up in two of his arms and the three of them rose to the
surface.
Air washed over them as they broke the surface and looked up at the moon through her
tears.
She spoke. “My dear little friend, no one has ever given me a gift before.”
“Do you hate it?” asked the oyster.
“Of course not. These are happy tears. I wanted to thank you.”
The moon had called him her friend. A giant bubble of happiness rose in his heart. He was
just a tiny creature in a vast ocean, but he had done something very big.
To this day, oysters pay tribute to the moon by making beautiful pearls. If you’re outside
some night and feel raindrops, though the moon shines bright, make a wish. That is the
moon sharing her happiness with you.
THE END
I hope you enjoyed my story. I've been meaning to post it for quite a while, and I thought that the week leading up to a total solar eclipse would be an appropriate time. The moon has a very important job to do on April 8th: entertain the masses!
I live in the path of totality, so I'll have a once in a lifetime opportunity of experiencing it in my own backyard.
P.S. Have you ever experienced rain while the moon was shining? I remember experiencing it once, but it was before I wrote the first draft of "The First Pearl" (more than 25 years ago). It would be like experiencing rain while the sun is shining which does happen occasionally.
