Rotary Eclub- Butterfly StoryBook Participant
Age: 10 years old
Edna M. Moyle Primary School
Cayman Islands
THE LOST TURTLE
Jayden Dilbert
One sunny day, a girl named Charity was going on a hike. She was very tall, with brown eyes, and skin as smooth as silk. She was standing in a large field not far from the beach. She looked all around her, feeling peaceful as she listened to the sound of the waves in the distance.
Suddenly, across the field, she saw light coming out of the ground! She slowly walked towards it. As she got closer, she saw a silver and shiny well with writing on it. She stood by it; then the well spoke, “Here, take this seaweed and put it inside of the bucket and spin the wheel until it stops.” So, Charity did as she was told. Then she felt the bucket moving.
In a flash, she pulled up the bucket. When she looked inside, she saw a baby turtle. Looking closer, she noticed that the baby turtle was hurt. It had a deep cut on its neck. She was so surprised, but felt she had to do something; so she pulled the rope to bring the bucket out of the well. She reached into the bucket and took the turtle out. She hurried back home, hoping the tiny turtle would not die along the way.
When she arrived home, she took the turtle inside the house to show her family. Her mom looked at the turtle and said, “Oh my! Poor little turtle. Let me get some supplies to clean this cut.” So Charity’s mom went and got some cotton and a bandage. She cleaned the cut on the turtle’s neck and gently wrapped the bandage around it. The little turtle looked so happy.
Afterwards, the family all came together to eat dinner. Charity’s brothers, Leyton and Peyton, were holding the turtle. They took it and put it into an old fish tank that they had in their bedroom. They made sure the turtle looked comfortable and then went to eat dinner.
“What should we name him?” asked Peyton during dinner.
“Hmmm, I know! Sammy!” replied Leyton.
“Oh, I like that! It is perfect!” exclaimed Charity’s mom. From that day onwards, Sammy became part of the family.
Years later, there came a terrible storm. Everywhere was flooded, and Charity’s home was destroyed. The fish tank where Sammy lived was washed away by the storm and Sammy along with it.
Sammy was taken by a strong current and brought out into the open ocean. He got scraped by a razor-sharp rock and started to bleed. The blood drifted through the water and, suddenly, two hungry sharks appeared in the distance.
“Please don’t eat me!” Sammy whimpered.
“But we haven’t eaten in days and you are the perfect meal for us,” replied one of the sharks.
“Please, just help me get back to my family. I am no ordinary sea turtle. I live on land, and if you help me, I will make sure that my family finds food for you,” Sammy said desperately.
“Yeah, right!” said the other shark laughing. “Nice try, little turtle, but you are going to be our dinner. Come here!” The sharks started chasing poor Sammy who was trying his best to outrun them.
Just at that moment, Sammy heard a boat. He looked up, and before he could figure out what was happening, he was snatched up into a large net! Sammy was terrified and knew this was going to be the end of him. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, “Oh Sammy! There you are! We were so worried about you!” Charity grabbed Sammy from the net and hugged him tight.
Sammy looked at Charity and said, “Actually, do we have some food we can give them?”
Charity looked at Sammy in shock. “You want to help them?”
“Yes,” said Sammy, “I feel bad for them. They haven’t eaten in days. Just give them what scraps we have.”
So, Charity threw some bread and fish into the water. The sharks gobbled them up and then turned towards the boat. “Thank you, Sammy, for your kindness. No one has ever done that before. We hope you can forgive us for wanting to eat you.”
“Of course,” said Sammy. “If you ever need more food, just come back to this spot and there will always be food waiting.”
The sharks replied, “Thank you so much. How can we repay you?”
Sammy smiled and said, “You already did. You didn’t eat me.”
With that, they all swam away and lived happily ever after.
That’s me!!