the pearl pt 7

The Pearl, Part VII & Epilogue

a magic carpet ride

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So now you know the story of everything that Sally told William and Freddy on Thanksgiving day, the morning after the storm. It took Sally almost all day to tell everything because it was so long and complicated, but William and Freddy were very patient while Sally talked. There hadn't been a lot to keep them busy while she was away and they were interested to hear all about her adventures. Of course, like Sally herself, there was much they didn't understand, but by nightfall each of them, in his own way, knew that they wanted very much to do something to help little Miranda and her father, but what could it be?

I won't keep you in suspense very long here. Maybe some of you have already made a good guess about what happened next, but if not, here it is.

It was William who came up with the 'grand idea'. It came in a flash of inspiration just at sundown. All three friends were resting quietly after Sally finished her story. Suddenly, William's bell gave one very loud chime, for no particular reason. It surprised him because there were no ships nearby. When the sound died away, he said "I think I know what we can do to help Miranda. We can give her the pearl!" As if by magic, all three of them understood, at that same moment, what William had in mind. Freddy didn't even wait to blow bubbles. He jumped right out of the water and came down with a big splash, something very unusual for a flounder. Sally leaped into the air and beat her wings hard as she flew in circles around William.

When they had all settled down again, William explained his plan for them. He said, "Sally will carry the pearl in her beak to Miranda's house and will give it to Miranda's father. Her father will exchange the pearl for a big stack of green paper. Then he will give the paper to a piano teacher and Miranda will get the lessons she's been praying for."

The friends were amazed. William's plan was so clear and simple. They all agreed that it was a marvelous plan and decided right then to carry it out.

Epilogue

Every one loves a good story and this one has been a lot of fun to tell, but unlike stories, real life can go on for a long time, while 'stories' must come to an end. This story has a happy ending for everyone, but because William and Freddy live so far away from Miranda's house, we'll have to use our imaginations and a little magic to bring them all together for some parts of it.

On the day after Thanksgiving, Sally did indeed take the big pearl and carry it to Miranda's house in the evening. When Miranda had finished playing the piano and gone upstairs to bed, Sally tapped on the window with her beak. We can easily imagine Miranda's father's surprise to see a seagull perched on his window sill, trying to get his attention! When Miranda's father opened the window and Sally dropped the pearl into his hand, his amazement was complete. Sally didn't stay long. She quickly flew off again.

From that point on, everything went pretty much exactly as the three friends had planned. Miranda's father took the pearl to the same shop where Sally had first seen the man and the woman. The man in the shop took the pearl in exchange for 10,000 pieces of green paper. With the money, Miranda's dad found a very fine piano teacher and Miranda was able to begin to make real progress with her studies.

Now we can use some magic to make many years go by very quickly.

Miranda studied hard and practiced every day. By the time the money from the pearl was used up, she had already become a fine piano player. She was given a scholarship to a famous music school in New York City. When she was 20 years old, Miranda began to give concerts where she played for hundreds and then thousands of people. It made them very happy to hear the beautiful sounds she made. Miranda's dream had come true, just as she had prayed for it every night beside her bed as a little girl.

Sally, of course, and Oliver, too, came often to her little house during those years to listen to her play. Sally was very faithful to report each step Miranda made to William and Freddy. So their dream of making a little girl happy had come true, too.

There's not much more to tell except, just this once, we'll borrow a magic carpet, a big strong one, for a special trip that wouldn't be possible without it.

One evening, many years later, the carpet arrived at the spot where William and Freddy lived out in the ocean. William unlocked his chain and climbed aboard. Freddy jumped into a special fish bowl designed just for this trip. The magic carpet lifted into the air for the trip to Providence city, while Sally flew ahead to show the way.

Miranda's concert that night was in a large outdoor theater. It was a beautiful Summer evening and a thousand human beings had come to sit on the grass and listen to Miranda play. The stars were bright on that clear night and fireflies blinked on and off in the grass among the people. When the lights were turned on over the big stage, Miranda came out in a long, shimmering, black dress and sat down at the grand piano in the center. Even magic can't show us just how beautifully Miranda played that night. For that you'll have to use your own imagination to think of the most beautiful sounds you have ever heard. Now imagine a thousand people gazing in wonder at Miranda, sitting at the grand piano and making those sounds herself, while her fingers dance across the keys.

If the people that night had not been so completely entranced by the magic of Miranda's music, perhaps one or two of them might have looked up for a moment at the twinkling stars overhead. No one did, but if they had looked up, they might have seen a very strange sight indeed. They would have seen a carpet floating in the sky high up between the stage and the stars. They would have seen, on that carpet, a very large bell buoy, a fish in a tank, a sea gull, and an owl, but no one looked up.

Miranda's music went on for several hours. By the time it was finished, everyone was very happy with what they had heard. It was just as Miranda had pictured it many years before, when she told her father of her desire to make other people as happy as she was. All had come true, the way it can sometimes, in a story.

When Miranda stood up from the piano that night, the people clapped their hands for a very long time as she stood and bowed and smiled. The clapping sound was very loud, of course, but through it all, one careful listener might have heard the sound of a bell over and over, close by at first, and then fading farther and farther away. And if that listener had glanced up to see where the bell sound was coming from, he might have been astonished to notice a carpet, high overhead, sailing away, out toward the sea. Perhaps he might have heard, ever so faintly, the lonesome cry of a seagull, and then imagined he heard the sound of a fish blowing bubbles, even though everyone knows a fish makes no sound at all.

The End