The Most Precious Treasure in the World

Everyone sat on the cool sand around the little palm-frond fence, perfectly silent. All they could hear was the sound of the waves, their own breathing and the beating of their hearts.

An hour went by. Then another. The little girl began to yawn and fell asleep in her granny's lap.

Then, suddenly, the sand moved.

At first it was a single grain of sand. Then another. Then the whole top of the nest began to tremble and sink a little, as if something underneath were breathing.

Noor squeezed Adam's hand tightly.

A tiny head poked out of the sand — a grey head the size of an olive, with two shiny black eyes. Then a little flipper. Then a whole turtle, the size of a child's palm, shaking the sand off its back.

Then a second turtle came out. And a third. And a tenth. Within minutes, the whole nest was bubbling with baby turtles, clambering over one another and spilling out onto the beach — dozens and dozens of them.

"Oh, how wonderful..." whispered the granny.