Perspective from the Deep Blue

The sun set, casting a shimmering reflection of silver across the water. Gentle waves rolled across the sand and were playfully dragged back by the ocean, desperate to play again. Each sigh of enjoyment from the water rode across on the wind towards the tall palm trees which stood fifty feet from the surf, catching the sound with the soft, absorbing embrace of their hanging leaves. A great turtle, 4 feet long from head to tail, drags itself back towards the warm water, a small mound of freshly churned sand lying a few feet behind it. The surface covered over one hundred white eggs, each one a slimy, round possibility of perfection, and would be ready to hatch in two months.

With her work done, the turtle was keen to return to the soft, blue depths of the ocean, when a strange noise carried across the sand on the breeze made her turn her heavily layered eyes away from the water she was naturally drawn to. Pupils shrinking against the burning red sun, she looked up and saw a young woman running across the sand towards her, each stride stamping a temporary tattoo in the sand at the surf's edge. White dancing material, turned orange in the setting sun's light, billowed out around her as her simple dress blew in the breeze. The noise had come from her throat; a quiet, spliced wail, and streaks of glistening tears fell from her closed eyes. The turtle had stopped, the white foam door of the ocean just a foot ahead, and watched the young women move closer. As she ran she stumbled occasionally, her arms nimbly rocking back and forth to keep her balance, but she carried on with her eyes squeezed shut. The turtle watched as the women blindly ran towards her, but she did not move to escape an encounter. She knew the woman would not tread on her.

The stifled sobs grew louder and louder as she approached, until one foot landed in the sand right next to the turtle. Something had made the young woman stop, and her eyes instinctively opened. They were bleary from crying, and her pupils struggled to focus on the dark shape at her feet, as though trying to watch a boat from the bottom of the sea. The turtle lifted her head and looked straight back, wrinkled face pulled taught from the incline of her neck. They stared at each other across the insignificant space between, in which the sun set and connected all things present with an orange light that filled the emptiness completely. In this moment the woman's tears seemed to cease, and she focused on the eyes of the turtle clearly. Her head turned to follow the turtles tracks leading to the churned sand and pausing, she gazed at the freshly dug and covered hole. The warm breeze dried her eyes, gently evaporating the signs of her grief, and she smiled in understanding as she realised what the turtle had done. She turned her head back into the sun and the eyes of the turtle. They had not moved, and the turtle continued to stare unblinkingly back at the woman. She smiled again, though tears began to once more form in her eyes, and turned back across the view of the ocean to face the way she had come. As she turned the wind plucked the water from her face, and the turtle felt warm tears hit the top of its head. The woman began to walk back, the orange fading from her dress as the sun now sunk deeper into the sea. The turtle watched her go, although the she did not turn back until she was a dim peak, far away across the darkening beach where the sand turned into the land and disappeared. The silhouette stopped, turned, and paused for a moment before stepping amongst the trees and out of sight. After a moment, the turtle finally turned her head back to the ocean.

The sun had all but gone, and she knew that the ground would soon be getting cold and began to pull herself once more towards the water. As she moved she thought about the woman she had seen, going over the events in her mind. She would not forget them, she knew that. Great Sea Turtles live for a very long time, and do not forget things easily. She had, many times, met people like the girl before and had not forgotten. She knew this too, as her chin touched the warm water, and by the time the now dark ocean obscured the topmost part of her shell, she knew she would see the woman again.