Prior Authors note: The previous chapter has been illustrated! Feel free to copy and paste the link to view here (or go directly to DeviantArt): butterfrogmantis/art/Passing-Of-The-Pearl-790411744

Now back to the story (mostly a filler chapter)

Chapter 6

The pearl was easy enough to conceal in his shopping bag, and as Skiff walked home he tried to think up the best plausible explanation for having found such a rarity. In the end, he decided that would claim to have hauled one up from the ocean floor using a lobster pot. The likely hood seemed extremely doubtful, but his only other option was to claim he had scooped it up with Pescecorp's net. Whilst the idea of this seemed more justifiable, he'd hate having to admit that he had sunk to their levels. Instead, the idea that a lobster pot had somehow been attached to a large clam seemed to be the explanation that kept his morality intact.

He placed the pearl next to his bedside table that night. Even in the darkness of his house the crystal seemed luminous, its misty colours swirling round and round. Although they looked nothing alike, it reminded Skiff of a lava lamp his mother had brought him for his seventh birthday. Skiff had always had trouble sleeping in the dark as a kid. Nowadays he wasn't so fussed. But a child's mind played tricks on him and caused shadows on the walls to turn into frightening monsters. So after months of being woken up in the night by their son, Finn and Abigail had saved up the money to buy a small lava lamp for his birthday. At night it emitted little blue bubbles, and Skiff watched these rise and fall in the darkness. The monsters seem to disappear even with the light – the vampire on the wall was actually just the shadow of the tree outside after all, and Skiff slept soundly in his own bed for the first time that night.

He slept soundly next to the pearl too, which still seemed to be humming. Skiff was too tired to question it. Between a musical gem and a half fish man Skiff wasn't totally surprised anymore. It was a pleasant noise at least, and the more he listened, the more it sounded like singing. Perhaps not singing he'd hear on the radio, but a muffled voice. The last thing he wondered before he slept was whether it was the sound of merfolk songs. He had an even stranger dream that night. He was out fishing on his dinghy, which seemed like an everyday occurrence. Something tugged at the end of his line, so he pulled. The more he pulled and reeled, the heavier the object became. So the harder he tugged. Eventually, the thing became so heavy that he was pulled right into the water. His reel suddenly turned into chains that wound their way around his arms and pulled him deeper. He couldn't see what was on the end of the chains, but they dragged him down, deeper into the blackness, his lungs screamed for air-

The fisherman woke up in a cold sweat. Sunlight streamed through his curtains and his digital clock read 9:34AM. The pearl sat innocently on his desk, not quite as bright in the sunlight, and it didn't seem to be humming any more. Skiff left it in its place whilst he showered and made toast. The whole time he thought about his dream, and whether it had any meaning. Probably not, dreams were just sleep hallucinations. But it had felt so real ... he shuddered. Still, it wouldn't do him any good to dwell on dream, so he resorted to his bigger plans. Mainly getting rich. He gathered his prize up in a roll of leftover sail fabric and placed it back in the bag. He had a little spring in his step as he made his way towards Lucy Blair's estate again. He wasn't after a secretary job this time; he was after the big fish. Not literally, for once.

The mayor looked a little nervous when he approached, wondering if he was back to beg for the job she'd rejected him for.

"H-hello again. Skiff was it?" She began politely. "To what do I owe the pleasure to this time?"

"I believe I have something that might be of interest to you m'am!" Skiff smiled "You see, last night I went fishing as I usually do, and I let a couple of lobster pots off the side of the boat – standard stuff. After a while I dragged them up and uh, one felt a little heavier! So I um, pulled it up and there was this clam on the end see and uh, well I had a knife with me and it was a little loose so I managed to open it"

The mayor was giving him a somewhat way look, so Skiff decided he better get to the point. He dropped his bag to the floor and began to unravel the sail cloth.

"Well usually clams only contain little things but to my surprise-" Skiff suddenly unravelled the gleaming pearl "This appeared!"

There was silence for a few moments. Lucy Blair stared at the pearl, her eyes shining behind her half moon glasses, her mouth hanging open a little in shock. Never once in her forty years of mayor ship had she ever encountered a sight like the one the young sailor held in his hands. She had seen pearls aplenty – being the richest woman in Brigodston was not without its perks. But the sight before her was almost enough to make the old girl faint, and she did find herself having to cling to her reception desk, lest that just so happened.

"So what do you think Mayor?" Skiff beamed, holding it out to prove to her that it was real.

"What do I think?" She said breathlessly "Why I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" She suddenly snapped back into formation, still gazing in awe. "This will put Brigodston on the map, yes yes. Think of the tourism! The journalism! World's largest pearl! Right here, caught by Skiff!"

The sailor liked the sound of that.

"Don't suppose that secretary job still needs an application?" Skiff half joked.

"Secretary?" Mayor Blair blinked, and then hooted with laughter "My dear boy! From this moment forth you are my deputy!"