The Red Turtle Page #2

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Day breaks over the island.

On the sand, a crab catches sight of a baby turtle which died just before it

reached the water's edge. The crab brings it back to its hole.

The man is further away, finishing building his raft.

All that's left now is to launch it.

But the raft is too far from the shore. The man pushes and pulls, to no avail.

In the end, he lays out a series of bamboos perpendicular to the raft to roll it

over them.

Crabs scuttle among the bamboos.

The man is sitting high up on the beach.

He eats some fruit from the breadfruit tree.

A colony of crabs goes over to him, eager for food.

The man holds out a piece of fruit to the first crab which comes begging.

The crab grabs it and scurries off, the other crabs in tow.

The man watches them disappear over the top of the hill, then go past him,

coming the other way.

Later.

As the crabs look on, the man gets ready to leave.

He pushes the raft to the coral reef, then hauls himself onboard.

He is still very near the island when he is alerted by a noise.

The man looks up. Just then, something hits the flimsy boat. It seems to

come from under the water.

The man looks over the side. But already a second blow, much harder than

the first, shatters the raft. The man falls into the water. He dives, looks

around, but can't see anything.

He comes back up to the surface and goes back to the island.

Four crabs have come out of their holes and are looking at the sea, no doubt

at the returning man.

Suddenly, they scuttle back to their holes. But there are only three holes for

four crabs.

The first three to arrive take possession of the three holes.

The fourth runs flat out from one occupied hole to another.

In the end, it dives into the sand, just before the man's foot lands on it.

The man exits the frame; the four crabs reappear.

The man goes back to the top of the beach.

He yells out, furious at the unknown force which stopped him leaving.

Then he disappears again into the bamboos, determined to go back to work

without delay.

He is picking up a bamboo when he hears something on the beach. Or rather

he is alerted by a sudden absence of sound. As if nature had suddenly fallen

silent.

He hurries over there, but he can't see anything disturbing the usual calm of

the place. The crabs are looking at the sea. The man goes over to the shore.

Could there be a slight movement in the water?

The man has gone back to work.

He puts a number of bamboos on the beach to build another raft.

The building work progresses well.

He soon goes back to the water, goes past the coral reef again, and heads

out to the open sea. This time, he should make it.

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