The Turtle
The Jones family had been in Bora Bora for two days. It was, to say the least, amazing. They were staying in a bungalow at the end of a pier. On either side of their hut was fresh, cool, clean sea water that perfectly reflected the all day blue sky above them, and they had two canoes for exploring their beautiful surroundings. It was the closest thing to paradise Mr and Mrs Jones had ever seen, or even dreamt of seeing. To their eight year old daughter, Rachael, it was just another cool holiday. Her one year old brother, Derek… didn’t have much of an opinion on it.
At around 5 o’clock that day, Rachael was out in a canoe with her father when a dark shape appeared in the water below them. For a moment Rachael (who saw it first) was frightened, but she soon saw that it was a green sea turtle and her fear instantly turning to delight. It looked huge to Rachael, being at least a metre long. It wasn’t moving fast though so she asked her father if they could follow it for a while. He liked the idea so they did.
The turtle was apparently friendly – it was fast enough that it easily could have swum away from them, but instead it stayed close to them whilst moving in one direction for about half a mile. As they got near to an island with two small mountains on them – probably hills, technically, but they looked as rocky as mountains – the turtle dove down deeper into the water… and disappeared. Where had it gone? They were close to the island shore now, so how deep could the water be? But the turtle did not reappear. Rachael was disappointed but glad she had got to watch the beautiful turtle for as long as she had. They returned to their bungalow.
The next day Rachael and her father were out in the canoe again, but were exploring a different area than they had the previous day. But again, at around 5 o’clock they saw a green sea turtle passing below them. Again, they decided to follow it. Again, it led them close to the island with the mountain hill, then dove down and disappeared. This time though Rachael felt more frustrated than grateful – why was the turtle leading them here, only to disappear? Did it mean for them to follow it? How could they? Well, Rachael’s father had an idea about that…
The next day Rachael and her father went back out in their canoe – but this time they took some rented out diving equipment with them. They had both learned how to scuba dive on their previous holiday, so Mr Jones felt confident they could use this gear together safely.
Again, at around 5pm the turtle found them. Again it led them to the same place. But this time when it dove down, Rachael and her father dove down with it. Near the sea floor the turtle approached the base of the mountain hill – then disappeared inside it. For a moment Rachael was confused, but her father noticed that the turtle had entered a small underwater cave. Luckily the entrance was just wide enough for them to follow. They swam along a long tunnel that angled upwards, then emerged into a large cavern that was above sea level. What they immediately saw in that cavern that would change their lives… forever.
What do they see?
How does what they see change the course of their lives?
Was there something special about the turtle that led them to the cavern?