Turtles moved slowly, from one end of the
beach to the other. Their bodies were partly covered in white sand, as they
moved through the wet area, as it had been washed by the sea for centuries or
maybe more. It was a secluded beach, away from any urban settlement and
disconnected from the world. There were no paths that led to the beach, as it
bordered a large area filled with sharp stones that made it dangerous for
people or even vehicles to cross the area. Only crabs and birds could overcome
that obstacle.
As for the ocean, the sea was extremely
dangerous close to the shore. It seemed to be as peaceful as in other areas,
but it could be able to swallow any ships that came too close to the beach. And
as for swimmers, many had drowned trying to reach the precious strip of sand.
Many had tried to do so in order to get to the turtles and the large crab
colony that lived in the jagged rocks. They could become a great source of food
for so many people that had sometimes nothing to eat.
The region was composed of the same secluded
beaches and areas where people could go and try to hunt for food. They were
supposedly modern times but the government had no intention of sending food to
those people or to help them do something to stop depending ravaging the natural
areas they had close at hand. Actually, the whole area was a natural reserve,
but those people were considered indigenous to the area, so they had every
right to enter the reserve and grab whatever they wanted, including animals to
eat.
This right had been given because of their
alleged traditions, which were mostly made up by people that did not really
know the history of the area, and because of their small numbers and importance
for the international community, which was dedicated to protecting all the
native peoples of the world and the natural areas. So it was obviously a
problem when they had to protect both things in the same place. One of the two
was going to be in a disadvantage and, in this case, the natural reserve had
everything to loose.
It all became a lot worse when a horrible
series of storm hit the coastal areas. The huts and homes of the local
population were almost completely destroyed. Their access to drinkable water
became non-existent and the small amount of food they had access to was also
taken from them by the storm. So they grabbed the boats that hadn’t been
destroyed and sailed to grab every single animal they could on the protected
beaches. None of them doubted their actions for a second, as they captured
crabs, turtles, fish and even smaller animals that they normally never ate.
The government would take some time to get
there, that’s if they ever came to see what had happened after the storms. So
no one among those people was really worried about consequences. The problem
came when several of them tried to sail to the inaccessible beach. They all
sailed against the wind and the enraged ocean in order to plunder the richest
part of the whole reserve. It could be assumed that many animals had realized
that area was better for them; so many creatures had started calling it home.
Most of the boats were destroyed in a matter
of minutes. Not only the waves swallowed them whole, but whirlpools that formed
when the ocean was especially calm also killed some of the men. However, a
handful of them were able to cross the natural harshness of the ocean and
landed on the beach. They started destroying it almost instantly. The blood of
the turtles tainted the ocean in minutes and bags filled with crabs were
carried to the remaining boats and to a makeshift chariot made with the rests
of the shipwrecked boats.
When they ended their destruction, just a few
hours before sunset, only death remained on the beach. The remains of several
animals rested there, even some creatures had been left there whole, not even
taken partly by the men and women. They had been killed only because they were
there and not because those people were hungry. It was just their thirst for
destruction, which had led them to turn the most vibrant beach of the whole coats
into a devastated piece of land, deprived of any kind of life.
Leaving the beach was easier than entering
it. The invaders soon discovered that with their boats and with the chariot
that they had created. Soon, they arrived with the food to their homes and they
only left some of it to be kept in an underground storage area. The rest was
consumed in a few hours by men, women and children. They made large pots of
turtle soup and ate the crab raw. They also cooked the other animals caught,
including fish, monkeys, small mammals, insects and some other crustaceans
found in shallow water.
The people of the coast slept well that night.
There was no sign of remorse; no sign that they regretted destroying a place
they had claimed had been protected by their ancestors for ages. Some of them
were not really indigenous, having their true origins in the cities beyond the
reserve and the coast. They had come to that area to extract many of the
valuable minerals that were hidden beneath the hills and close to the ocean.
Eventually, after they hadn’t found much to make themselves rich with, they
started relationships with indigenous peoples and formed the communities later
protected in the coast.
More storms ravaged the area, killing many
animals but also a great part of the villagers that had destroyed the secluded
beach. They were a series of hurricanes, that pulled trees from the roots, send
rocks flying all over and destroyed every single thing that resembled a house
in that region. After a few months, when the storm season finally ended, the
government sent planes and boats to check on the area, as international
pressure to protect those areas was getting more and more powerful after the
storms arrived in the news.
The first images that the world saw were the
ones with the remaining villagers deprived of sweet water, places to sleep and
live and food. They claimed they hadn’t eaten in a long time and that they had
survived on coconuts and a few fish that came close to their coast. People all
over the country donated to them, money and food that were carried by special
places to their communities. The international community was proud to help to
and the images went all over the globe, showing how people were still compassionate.
However, the news cycles were rocked when a
scientist found out, using satellite imagery, that the most well preserved
beach of the reserve had been left completely lifeless. The carcasses of the
turtles were still there, kind of covered by the sands. Helicopters were sent
there when the images were made available and the government realized they had
been taken for a ride. Actually, every single person involved with “saving” the
communities close and inside the reserve had been completely lied to.
The reserve soon had to be stripped from its
status and the communities, or what was left of them, were left to mend for
themselves. The area soon enough died away, its people and its animals too. And
only storms were left to ravage the coasts mercilessly.
