In a hurry, I tripped, landing in the soft, wet sand and wondering what it was that was different than yesterday. A crowd of people were surrounding something I couldn’t see, packed so tightly I didn’t think I could slip a piece of paper between each of them. They were all pushing up to the front, trying to get a better view of whatever was important enough to crowd around. Curious, I ran over to the crowd as fast as I could, sand flying in my face and my hair soaring in the breeze. Breathing heavy, I squeezed through the crowd to see what all the commotion was about, scraping my feet on a pile of sharp shells in the process. What I saw amazed me, for this was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Two people from the “Save The Sea Turtles Conservancy” had on wet gloves, and with every drip, a dent in the sand formed. Watching the water drip from her hand, splashing on the beach floor like a melted candle was what led my eyes to the real excitement. On the ground was a hole, filled to the top with broken little white eggshells that glimmered in the sunlight like shattered glass. However, not all the eggs had hatched. There were about six eggs lying next to the broken shells that were still whole, ones that shined like new pearls, perched on top of piles of sand like royalty upon a throne. I knew that these were the eggs of sea turtles, and that some had hatched very recently. As I continued to look around, I saw the people from the sea turtle protection center carry down a large silver bucket and place it about fifteen yards away from the ocean.


The volunteers began to draw a line that the rest of crowd and I were forbidden to step over. Knowing what was in that silver bucket, I dug my toes into the soft sand, anxiously waiting. The strong breeze felt like knives on my cheeks as I waited for the sea turtle protectors to finish talking, which seemed like it had been going on for hours, even though I know it had only been a couple of minutes. I tried to focus on the little things, like the sound of the moaning seagulls in the background begging for food, or the taste of the salty ocean air in my mouth. By now, I had dug my feet so far into the sand I could feel the sand starting to get cold and wet, almost like there was a miniature Antarctica buried beneath the beach. After what seemed like a million years, the sea turtle protectors tipped over the bucket, and a bunch of tiny figures came crawling out, like a colony of ants fleeing their home all at the same time. The baby sea turtles were beautiful, and only a little bit bigger than a quarter. All of them seemed to be racing to get to the finish line, which in this case was the ocean. As the baby turtles hustled to get to the water, they left a trail of tiny imprints in the sand, like the tracks left in the snow by small boots. With every step they took, they were one step closer to their final destination, where the real adventures would begin. The turtles struggled at first, and were knocked over like bowling pins by the endless waves. But once they made it past that first obstacle, the rest came naturally. They seemed to float over the waves, getting better as they swam further, like a balloon getting higher into the sky every second. They were born for the ocean, and their many adventures had only just begun.



Those turtles had a long journey ahead of them, but somehow I knew that they would be just fine, with a little effort and persistence. It just takes a little effort from anything to change the world. I kept my eyes on them until they were just specks of dust in the distance. I watched them start their lives and begin their roller coaster of adventures. I didn’t turn away until they seemed to vanish. I didn’t want to miss a second of this amazing sight. As I watched them swim away, I could have sworn that one looked back at me, as if it was trying to tell me something, in its own little way.