"Tick… tick… tick…" His little shoes crunch on the pebbles as Ronza steps out from the last safe coral corner toward the deep. The blue light fades behind him, and the depth grows heavier around him, step after step. He stands frozen in place. A tiny golden glint shines in the far sand, and his eyes never leave it, his head not moving at all.
The blue deep stretches without an end, and the light grows dim until it almost melts into the dark. Far away, a tiny golden dot twinkles in the sand like a dying candle among grains of ash. The water is still. A silence deeper than anything.
Ronza stretches his arm toward the glint, but a strong current grabs his legs and holds them under the water. He clings to a piece of sea moss, and his fingers dig into the sand to hold on. An inch… then another inch.
Ronza crawls inch by inch, the moss gripped between his fingers, the sand shifting beneath his feet. The glint grows brighter and shines more with every inch. The water presses harder around him, but he does not stop.
At last, his foot reaches the sand where the pearl rests. It is not still — it turns slowly and sends out tiny colored lights that bounce on the sand around it. He stands a short distance away, his eyes wide.
Ronza slowly curls his fingers around the pearl. His thumb touches its smooth, shiny surface, and tiny rainbow lights dance across his skin. He whispers, almost to himself: "Wow…"
Ronza starts back toward the surface, and suddenly the current snatches his arm. The pearl slips from between his fingers, and the brief glow of its colored light almost disappears in the rush of water. His fingers open, then close.
Ronza grips the pearl tight, plants his feet in the sand, and pulls. The water releases him all at once, and he stands firm. The pearl is solid and warm in his palm, and its little light colors his lips.
In his small underwater home, Ronza sets the pearl on his glass porch. Pale blue light falls on it from above, and the water is calm around him. He taps the porch glass slowly with his finger.
Ronza thinks quietly to himself: "I haven't lost anything." The pearl rolls a little on the glass porch and paints a tiny rainbow on the wall. The water is still. Everything is exactly where it belongs.