The sand beneath his feet seemed like an eternity, and the horizon was just the edge of a dream, when he saw it. A mussel, the size of a dune, lay with its doors slightly open, like a gateway to another dimension. And from this shell, instead of a pearl, an ocean was born. It was not the waves that splashed, no, the very essence of the ocean poured out of it, an endless stream in which myriads of stars and the whispers of ancient gods were reflected. He sat, tiny and lost in this splendor, and felt how the tide of infinity washed not only the shore, but also his soul, dissolving the boundaries between him and eternity.