I, a grain of sand standing among millions, have decided to break into this invincible shell. I like how this shell glows with colors as it reflects the sun light coming from above; lying deep inside the ocean, it seems connected to the sky. I decided to forsake my fellow sand grains and jump into its heart, like a moth to a flame.
As I crossed its skirting without permit, it shook strongly and wanted to expel me, but I would not let her; instead, I will embed myself within its tissues. How safe it feels here! This is my inescapable fate... I can feel it. Whether the shell accepts this or not, it has to deal with it.
It calms down; it seems the shell has finally surrendered to my insistence. What is happening? My Goodness! I am being submerged with something*... I am doomed to suffocate! What is this putrid viscosity? The shell is fighting me... she does not want me inside it; she is trying to kill me, suffocate me, and get rid of me.
But no way, I shall survive! I broke into it from the beginning. It was my decision. I have forsaken my family and peers to be here. So, I must survive; I will not let her bury me in her wastes. Nobody decides for me, I decide for myself.
I kept my cool amidst the putrid surroundings; unable to move, yet still breathing.
Time has passed; I am not sure how long or short, but I can feel the change. I am changing inside out. Does everything come to those who wait, or was it all just a death bait as a fellow sand grain once told me? Will this shell be my grave? Is it a gate to a new life?
I do not know what happened to me exactly. I became larger in size, my features changed, and I gained hues from the shell's colors. Has the shell finally agreed to coexist with me to the extent that it has given me, a poor grain of sand, some of its dazzling beauty?
I waited and waited, not caring to count how long. Why should time matter if my beauty increases everyday? Why should it matter as long as I am safe and protected inside the shell, armed with my patience?
Then, one day, a strong earthquake shook the shell so violently that I felt I was going to lose my safe shelter and fall outside it. To my surprise, I saw the sunlight and felt its warmth; someone must have opened the shell! I felt another strong movement and then the world shone around me and I left the darkness behind, forever. I saw many eyes gazing at me and heard a voice saying: "I have never seen a pearl this beautiful in my entire life!"
Pearls form inside shells as part of a defense mechanism when foreign bodies make their way into their fragile inner part. The shells secrete a substance known as "nacre" or "mother-of-pearl" to enclose these foreign bodies. As layers of these substance accumulate, they form pearls inside the shells.