Two Friends and A Cave of Sea Glass: A Spread Your Heart Story

By Randy Mootooveran – January 30, 2026

(Image Source: Unsplash Images)

On a small island off the coast of St. Thomas, there lived two young men, Tim and Chris. Their families had been neighbors for as long as they could remember, sharing everything from Chris’s front lawn for group barbecues to Tim’s garage during the hurricane season. Despite attending school a year ahead of Chris, it was a rare sight to see Tim spend time with anyone else between classes, during lunch hour, or on any field trips. By all accounts, they were inseparable brothers.

After graduation, the two friends stayed on the island and got local jobs. Tim worked as a cook at a beachside bar and grill, while Chris became a lifeguard. Considering they usually spent every waking hour on the same beach, their career paths weren’t a surprise to anyone. As time drew on, however, they began seeing less of one another as the struggle to stay ahead of bills and insurance began taking its toll. Before long, the only time they ever left their houses together was to pull extended shifts.

Things took a dire turn for Tim when a tree collapsed through his living room during a brutal storm. Covering utilities and his jeep had been difficult enough, but now he had zero savings to speak of after taking out a bank loan to repair the damages. As the sole owner of the estate, Tim was faced with the grim prospect of selling his family’s house to escape all the mounting debt. As much as Chris wanted to help, he and his sister were barely managing to hold onto their own house.

Fed up with his situation, Tim took off on his family’s powerboat one weekend to Thatch Cay.

(Image Source: Thatch Cay Wikipedia Page, January 30, 2026 )

He came to a stop at a small cove tucked away on the east side of the island. Few were willing to venture there due to the rough tides and jagged cliffs surrounding it, which made it the perfect sanctuary for Tim. As he eased the boat closer, he gazed toward the entrance to a small cave that sidled between two of the largest cliffs. Tim had always wanted to explore it as a child, but his father insisted he wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to attempt it. With so much being uncertain in his life, he wasn’t going to let this hang over him any longer.

Once he tied a rope between his boat and his life jacket, Tim leapt over the side with a thunderous splash. Paddling across the swirling currents was still difficult for the 27-year-old man, but he managed to propel himself into the cave entrance through furious kicks and breaststrokes. To his surprise, the narrow entrance led into a vast chamber that must have been carved out from the raging waves during the storm season.

What drew his attention most, however, was the beach of multicolored sea glass piled along the back of the chamber. Countless shards ranging from pebbles to cobblestones littered the shore and shallows alike. An idea suddenly sprang to Tim’s mind, and he proceeded to scoop up several handfuls of the smoothly carved stones before pulling himself back to his boat.

(Image Source: East Coast Mermaid Sea Glass Guide, January 30, 2026)

After returning home, Tim poured his discovery onto his dining room table. He had a decent spread of colors, including red, blue, green, brown, white, and orange. Tim spent the night painting and rearranging the sea glass on a wooden cutting board. By morning, he had transformed his stones into a beautiful mosaic of a sunset-stricken beach. It wasn’t quite as immaculate as the professional pieces he’d seen online, but it was good enough to bring Code and his sister over that same morning. Now that he had created a solid start, he was ready to share his wild idea with them.

“You want to sell this?” Chris asked, surveying the mosaic with wide eyes, “And there’s an entire cave of this stuff?”

“Enough to make a hundred more, at least.” Tim nodded, “I always loved doing stuff like this in high school, and if a gallery buys them, it could actually cover my loan.”

“The tourists would love it, and I could help promote you online if it works for you.” Chris’s face broke into a bright grin. “I’m always trying to get people to sponsor me for surfing. We could help each other out.”

“Let’s do it.” Tim and Chris shook on it Predator-style: “We can do more than flip burgers and chase away seagulls all day.”

They got to work immediately, taking multiple trips to Thatch Cay to build their supply. As Tim created more mosaic pieces, Chris and his sister built a website to showcase them while directing everyone they knew to check it out. With his knowledge of graphic design and her expertise in site design, they made it as appealing as possible for casual viewers and potential customers alike to browse Tim’s artwork.

It was surreal to do what he’d only been fascinated by during the absent hours of his school years. Tim often got into trouble for doodling on homework sheets and some light graffiti, but never imagined he could ever depend on those skills as anything more than a hobby. When his parents split up and left him to tend to their forgotten house alone, Tim put aside any aspirations to attend art school. As much as he loved picking up the paintbrush again, he knew he had a long way to go before it could sustain him as a full-time career.

He expanded into combining acrylic paintings with 3D objects, using the sea glass to depict things like fluttering snowflakes, errant leaves billowing in a strong breeze, and pieces of sparkling jewelry or golden chains adorning the people he got to pose for him. As far as variety was concerned, Tim had proven he could do more than just collages or paintings by themselves.

Despite his hard work, however, site traffic remained consistently slow. While Tim and Chris were considered celebrities among their close friends, the Internet was far less accepting of newcomers looking to gain notoriety. The simple fact was that Tim and Chris just had their website, which wasn’t much compared to other artists who had cornered the market for eye-catching art and engagement farming long before they came along.  As weeks drew into months, even their current followers weren’t responding to their posts with the same enthusiasm.

(Image Source: Unsplit Images, January 31, 2026)

“Got another one asking if it’s AI.” Chris said one day, sinking back into his computer chair with a sigh, “Maybe you should livestream your work, so they don’t give more people the same idea.”

“I already tried that once.” Tim dropped into the lone armchair of the living room; he had been forced to sell the two largest couches to cover last month’s bills. “The chat kept distracting me, so I turned it off. You can’t concentrate with all those notifications going off in your ear.”

“That’s just how everyone’s wired today, and we need that kind of engagement if we want this to work. Can you try it again at least?”

If you think it’ll help, fine. Just don’t expect me to watch chat the entire time, or they’ll think I get easily distracted.”

“Sure.” Chris laughed.

It had been so long since the two of them enjoyed a comfortable silence together. Tim had lost count of all the wild antics they’d gotten up to, but nothing made him happier now than sharing a room with him as they did entirely different things together. Nothing was stopping Tim from sketching new designs alone or Chris from editing their website from his house, but it was the best they could do with the spare time they had. Adults had to be more conservative than the rambunctious troublemakers they used to be, so meeting up for the sake of work was as good an excuse as they could afford.

“It’s past noon.” Chris glanced towards the rolling beach perfectly framed by Tim’s porch. “Maybe I can catch a few waves before my shift starts. I can post the links to your next livestream when I get back tonight.”

“How’s the sponsor hunt going?” Tim did his best to cast one eye at him while keeping the other fixed on his current sketch.

“Slower than this by a mile,” Chris breathed a heavy sigh, “Unless you’re pulling off wild tricks every 5 seconds, people click off and just assume you’re an amateur.”

“You’re usually good at pulling off tricks. What’s the problem?”

“It’s not so simple when I know the whole world’s watching me. They expect me to be better than everyone else online and surf the most dangerous spots. It’s easy for them to judge me when they aren’t the ones who don’t have to worry about getting a face full of reef or being sucked beneath the current. You know how bad it can get out there if you’re not careful.”

Tim remained silent for a while. Getting noticed as an artist was hard enough, but athletes often faced far more grueling challenges. On top of lifeguard duty, Chris practically lived the rest of his life between the local gym and the sea. The only thing less appealing than a substandard performer who couldn’t maintain a sharp physique to promote the best image for the brand they were representing.  It was a miracle that Chris hadn’t been seriously injured throughout all the times he paddled out amidst the most turbulent conditions. Several old friends from their childhood had been far less fortunate.

“If you ever need someone to spot you, just ask.” Tim finally said, “Most of my shifts start the same time as yours, so just swing by the Havana Blue whenever you want.”

“Really?” Chris looked back at him with a mix of surprise and concern, “It’s going to get pretty rough for the next few weeks. Are you up for that?”

“It’s only fair, after everything you’ve done for me. Besides, I could use the exercise. It’s way too easy for artists to become fat slobs.”

“You know, I was going to say you should lay off the junk food for a while.” Chris replied with a sly grin, “That’ll help boost your image, too.”

“Watch it.”

(Image Source: UnsplashImages, January 31, 2026)

As the weeks pressed on, Tim’s art managed to retain a steady stream of engagement. Now that he had established a consistent upload schedule and several productive livestreams, he had finally broken through the barrier separating a fledgling creator from a known personality. Chris’s constant promotion was instrumental in gaining tens of thousands of followers, whom Tim was eager to thank at the end of every stream.

Chris and his sister even got a T-shirt store going to help with the promotion. Tim didn’t expect it to amount to anything, but once more than a hundred orders appeared in his email, he couldn’t help grinning like an idiot at the amount of revenue they generated. Between the T-shirts and art sales, he had managed to pay off his loans and buy some new furniture. For the first time in his adult life, Tim finally had the compulsion to spend money on more than just the bare necessities. He wouldn’t be renting yachts any time soon, but he was making enough to treat himself, Chris, and his sister to the best steakhouse on the island every other week.

Tim’s biggest break yet ended up coming from the last place he expected. While he was visiting his dentist for a routine cleaning, she mentioned being friends with a gallery owner on the nearby island of St. John. Despite being the littlest sister to the rest of the Virgin Islands, it was also one of its hottest tourist spots. All it took was her referral and a quick phone call for Tim to be in its big December showcase.

Tim and Chris prowled the cave for the most refined pieces of sea glass they could find, the very same day. It was the first time his friend took an active role in the creative process, which led to them spending the entire night making the painting together. The pair settled on recreating the time they went night surfing together, using sea glass to represent countless stars, breaking waves, and two indistinct figures in the middle of the scene.

“I think they like it,” Chris muttered to him during the gallery’s opening night, as a flock of onlookers gathered in front of Tim’s painting.

“You think so?” Tim had been too busy trying to blend into the back wall to notice anything else.

“Stop being shy and go stand by it.” Before he knew it, Tim had suddenly been pushed to the head of the crowd by Chris: “I didn’t blister my hands for nothing.”

The night was rife with nervous introductions, group photos, and explaining what sea glass itself was to more people than Tim ever expected. By the time the gallery closed out, he was confident that he had spoken to everyone who’d stopped by. The best part of the night, however, was walking in for the first time and seeing his work hanging in a real art gallery.

The next few weeks passed without much fanfare. Tim continued posting new work on his website while Chris continued promoting them and his surfing demos. Their side project had evolved into a comfortable living for both of them, securing their homes for the next year easily.

A month later, Tim received a call from a gallery in Miami interested in showcasing his pieces. It wasn’t the first time he had ever been off the island, but unlike his previous trips, he wasn’t sure when he would be coming back.

“If the showcase is a hit, I might get more offers from other spots across the state.” Tim informed Chris shortly after hanging up, “I could be up there for a while.”

“Is that what you want?” Chris asked.

“I… I guess so. I’ve been here for so long, and everyone else we knew moved up there to do bigger things. This could be my chance to make big money with my art.”

“Then don’t let me stop you.” As Chris clapped his back, Tim could see a grim resignation behind his eyes, “My sister and I can manage things here. Hell, we might have to hire more people at the rate the website’s taken off.”

“Thanks, man.” Tim gave his friend a brief hug. “I’m sure you’ll get a sponsor soon, too. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

(Image Provided by: Unsplash Images, January 31, 2026)

Moving to Florida was a massive adjustment that Tim wasn’t prepared for. Apart from living in a city bigger than his entire island, what struck him hardest was how silent it was at night. Falling asleep in his apartment was like being locked in an airtight tomb, compared to home, where the crashing of distant waves and the trills of constant insects used to be ever-present outside his window. People were also keen to keep to themselves rather than strike up random conversations.

Regardless, he got straight to work preparing for more art exhibits. Getting supplies and even fresh sea glass wasn’t an issue thanks to expedient shipping, which also gave Tim more freedom to decide what he wanted to paint. Gallery events soon became second nature for him as he traveled between cities. Sea glass art had apparently struck upon a thriving niche in the community. As much as he enjoyed all his physical patrons, Tim made sure to keep the website and online fans engaged with new releases each week. He had never been so busy or had so much fun in his life.

(Image Provided by: Unsplash Images, January 31, 2016)

After a year of constant art shows, Tim had gotten homesick. Once he learned there would be a wide gap before the next showcase, Tim booked the next flight he could back to the islands. Everything was just the way he left it, all except for Chris.

“You got a full sponsorship?” Tim repeated, staring dumbfounded at his nodding sister as he pressed the phone closer to his ear.

“Sorry, I didn’t tell you, but it happened so fast,” Chris spoke as though his break was as casual as going to the store, “They flew me out to California, and I’ve already got contests in Hawaii, Indonesia, and Australia booked.”

“When will you be back?”

“Couldn’t say. I might stick around in California and work out of a surf shop. It’s time for something bigger, as you said. Maybe we can meet up again when you have a show out here.”

“I’m not sure the organizers want to open up in California.” Tim felt a heavy stone in the pit of his stomach, “They’re focused on East Coast venues exclusively.”

“Oh.” The line was silent for almost a minute before Chris spoke again, “They actually discovered me through our website. I wouldn’t have stood out to them if you hadn’t brought that sea glass home with you. I owe you everything.”

“What are you talking about?” Tim said with a steady grin, “I never would have taken off if you didn’t manage the website. You know how much I suck at technology.”

“Yeah, we both would have had a rough time if we didn’t have the Internet,” Chris said with a brief snicker, “Lucky us.”

A long silence followed, only broken by the rampant jungle noises Tim never thought he would miss so much.  He looked back up at the old house he struggled so hard to save a lifetime ago.

“I don’t think I’m ready to come home just yet,” Tim finally said, “but I will someday. In the meantime, we’ve both still got stuff to do.”