Existence

Long before mankind ever breathed the ancient air of our developing earth, there were simpler creatures which thrived and populated its vast, ancestral oceans. The anatomy of these creatures was as vast as their lifestyles; varying from small, single-celled organisms basking in the post-volcanic waters which formed wherever the continental plates were fighting for domination, all the way up to complex creatures with shells, gills, and beating hearts. The populations of these creatures far larger than the monstrous glaciers that carved their environments. The world was a daunting, slow-moving frenzy of Darwinian Supremacy and evolutionary experimentation- only the strong survive, only the best structure gets passed down to future generations.

Amongst all this chaos, progress, destruction, and development, a small group of creatures (oyster-like in shape and behavior) started moving toward the submersed mountains, away from their deep ocean home. It is unknown what caused the oysters to initiate this move but it is speculated that it may have been an early form of curiosity or maybe even boredom of their current environment. Leaving home in hopes that existence would be better in other place or under a different circumstance.

The advancement was a slow and arduous process but the oysters continued on, inching closer and closer toward their mountain goal. They raised little curiosity with the surrounding species, just another fleeting attempt at achieving superiority to them. Many different species had already tried to transition to the land, out of the life-giving water; they all invariably failed. It was something that the world was not yet ready for, creatures living on the hard ground and breathing the harsh, ancient air.

After several months of exhausting and unrewarding advancement, a couple of the oysters stopped following the others; in fact, they stopped altogether, never to move again. Could this simple gesture be the ancestor of doubt? Could the roots of a breakable will be found in a creature so unlike the ones we now consider sentient? Whatever the cause, the others continued on.

These creatures had very few, if any, natural enemies and thusly the only hindrance of progress was their own ability to keep advancing. The further along they went, the less that followed; it could be observed that once the first few oysters abandoned the group, the easier it was for the others to drop out- sort of a justification mentally (if it can be called that). But despite their dwindling numbers, these creatures were almost to their destination; the base of the mountains were less than miles away.

Once the oysters reached the base of the mountains, they paused. This might have been out of exhaustion but a more progressive form of thought is that these creatures were taking some time to bask in their accomplishment, a primitive form of pride. They still had the task of climbing the underwater mountain to reach the shore ahead of them, but the progress they'd made so far was remarkable given their condition. Several of the creatures were content with where they were and made no effort to advance; the few that did continue did so at a very slow rate.

By the end of the next month, though -to our knowledge- no form of time keeping was present at the time, the handful of journeying oysters had reached their destination- the sandy shores of the infant mountains. Now, this may not seem like a very monumental event to anyone or thing besides the creatures themselves, but what happened next is quite possibly the single most important event in the history of evolution. The oysters from their new home on the shores started to produce beautiful pearls, as was their nature. Some of their pearls were very large and rolled all the way to the base of the submerged mountain, others were smaller and only rolled part way or several feet down. Over time the entire face of the submerged mountain was nearly covered in glimmering pearls. The mesmerizing shine lured many different types of fish and water-creatures from all around. They could do nothing but stare at the beautiful pearls, captivated by their ethereal glow.

Much time passed, some of the fish decided to leave but the majority stayed and watched; through the right eyes this could almost be perceived as a form of worshiping the pearls. Several of the fish were daring and tried jumping up onto the shore to find the source of the brilliant light but were never able to reach the oysters.

As time wore on more and more oysters found their way up to the shores, by the end of the century it was hard to find a shore that wasn't covered with them. The other creatures in the ocean were always trying to develop new methods of reaching the shore- some tried burrowing into the sand so that the water would follow, but the oysters would move before anything could reach them, forcing them to move further up the shore. Some creatures tried following the tide up as it rose and holding their position when the tide went down so that they could be as high up as the oysters; however, when the tide went down they were then either forced to retreat or die where they lay on the shore.

Each generation gave birth to another, slightly more agile and clever breed, each with it's own attempt at making it onto the shore. Then one particular breed was born, off the shores of what would later be known as northern Canada, the ancient peoples who would later inhabit the land would have called this breed "Tiktaalik" or "large freshwater fish in the shallows." This fish was able to pull itself out of the water with wrist-like fins and breath the air with adapted lungs.

After millenia of trying, the fish had finally succeeded in walking on the shore. Though scientists have been unable to confirm the reasoning for their actions, the Tiktaaliks attacked the oysters with their crocodile-like jaws and drove them off (this is known because around the same time that the Tiktaaliks arrived, the sediment that was left from eroded pearls started to die out in core samples). The Tiktaaliks had no discernible reason for attacking the oysters because their shells were too tough for any worth-while amount of sustenance to be gained from eating them. A more daring assumption would be that in one way or another the Tiktaaliks were showing signs of jealousy toward the oysters and their thousands upon thousands of years-reign over the shores.Some of the oysters were forced back into the depths of the ocean where the Tiktaaliks didn't bother to go. Others ventured inland, seeking small pools of water to populate with precious pearls.

And so it went, the oysters being forced from one region to another by the ever-envious, treasure-seeking Tiktaaliks. As most are aware, these Tiktaaliks later evolved into the different species which roamed and conquered the land, becoming the dinosaurs and limitless other creatures remembered in history as the majestic forefathers of all modern life-forms. No one ever would have assumed their motive was as simple as the quest for something more, something beautiful, something always out of reach.

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"Do you think they even know we're still here?" asks an impatient woman rhetorically to her husband. She plays with the sterling silver butter knife that had been neatly folded in her napkin when they arrived.

"I'm sure they know," the husband responded, glancing around the dimly-lit restaurant anxiously, "they're probably just really busy."

"Busy?!" she scoffs, "Harold, we gave the waiter our order thirty minutes ago. He hasn't even been back to check on us yet!"

The husband starts to protest, but is silenced by the look in his wife's eyes. "I'll go find the waiter." He says, and scoots out of the booth. He wanders around past the lifesavers, ropes, and anchors on the wooden walls until he finds the hostess stand. "Hi, excuse me, my wife and I have been waiting about half an hour for our entree and our waiter hasn't even been back to check on us. Can you..."

"Oh sure," the hostess snaps perkily, "I'll get your entree out right now. What table are you seated in?" The man gestures to the booth by the far window with the angry woman in it. "Alright. I'll get that right out to you, sir." And she forces a smile. The man returns to his seat.

"I talked to the hostess and she's taking care of it." He announces.

"She better." The wife grunts. A long, tense silence passes and finally the hostess stops by their table.

"Here you go folks, so sorry about the wait. Your entree is on us tonight."

"Thank you." The couple says in unison as the hostess sets down a beautifully arranged plate of leafy greens and steaming oysters, full-shell.

"Enjoy, you too." The hostess chirps and then walks off.

The wife is the first to grab one of the oysters and start prying it open with her butter knife. She works the knife up and down until the shell cracks open. "AWHHH!!!" She gasps and her eyes go wide with a wonderment the husband hasn't seen since he presented her with an engagement ring.

"What is it?!" He asks, almost panicked. She slowly turns the the oyster to face him, resting on its muscle is the most pure and white pearl he has ever seen in his life. He sits in awe, staring at the pearl, mesmerized by its ethereal glow. "Imagine that." He says and shakes his head, "Imagine that."