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❝ Monologues · 38 lines · B2

We saw the sea turtles crawl out of the sea...

The turtles' run to the sea · Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

We saw the sea turtles crawl out of the sea...

Line 1 of 38

...for their annual egg-laying.

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1We saw the sea turtles crawl out of the sea...
In the sceneViolet describes how the female turtles creep out of the sea onto the hot sand to lay their eggs.
Everyday exampleThe cat crawled out of the box and stretched.
2...for their annual egg-laying.
3 Once a year , the female of the sea turtles...
4...crawls out of the sea onto the blazing sand beach...
5...of a volcanic island to dig a pit in the sand...
6...and deposit her eggs there.
7It's a long and dreadful thing, the depositing of the eggs in the sand.
8And when it's finished...
9...the exhausted female turtle crawls back to the sea half-dead .
10She never sees her offspring.
11But we did.
12Sebastian knew exactly when the sea turtle eggs would be hatched.
13- We returned in time for it. - You went back?
14In time to witness the hatching and their desperate flight to the sea.
15The narrow beach, the color of caviar, was all in motion .
16The sky was in motion, full of flesh-eating birds.
17And the noise of the birds...
18...their savage cries as they circled...
19...over the beach of the Encantadas...
20...while the new sea turtles scrambled out...
21...and started their race to the sea.
22- Race to the sea? - To escape the flesh-eating birds...
23...that made the sky almost black.
24And I said, "Sebastian, no. No, it's not like that."
25But he made me look . He made me see that terrible sight.
26- What was not like that? - Life.
27I said, "No.
28No! That's not true!"
29But he said it is.
30He said, "Look, Violet. Look, there on the shore."
31And I looked and saw the sand all alive, all alive...
32...as the new-hatched sea turtles dashed to the sea...
33...while the birds hovered and swooped to attack...
34...and hovered and swooped to attack.
35They were diving down on the sea turtles...
36...turning them over to expose their soft undersides...
37...tearing their undersides open...
38...and rending and eating their flesh.

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Piled-up verbs and zero self-pity make the slaughter feel like a nature documentary.

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