Written by Nicole Jones Illustrated by Maddie Daniel

Dedicated to the victims of bullying around the world

Way down in the depths of the deep blue sea, there lived a sea turtle family. A sea turtle family of six

lived in a wondrous cave hidden away from predators. One of the children was not like the

others. While Tommy, Sally, and Penny had beautiful green and brown shells that sparkled in

the sunlight, Al’s shell was white and dirty looking. What Al did not know was that he was a special sea turtle; he was a rare breed known as an Albino Sea

Turtle.

 

 

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But Al was jealous of his siblings’ appearances, for he saw himself as ugly and unwanted. He was taunted by his siblings behind his parents’ loving eyes. His mom and dad told him he was beautiful, but his siblings called him a disgrace.

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So one day, Al ran away from the beautiful cave and his sleeping family. He packed up a bag of seaweed and swam as fast as he could out into the ocean. Al was tired of being picked on because he was different; all he wanted was someone he could talk to who would understand what he was going through.

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Suddenly, Al was swept up in a current and pushed through its rough waters. Unable to break free, Al struggled feeling helpless and alone. As the miles grew between him and his home, Al knew he had to break free if he ever wanted to find his way home again.

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So he pushed and he shoved and then….

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Whoosh! Al was thrown from the current in to a place in the ocean he had never seen before. There was nothing around for miles except this large open cave guarded by two turtles.

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Nervously, Al swam up to the guards and asked where he was. “The Coral Kingdom of course!” the turtles answered. Gesturing for Al to follow them, the guards led the way into the mysterious kingdom.

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There were towers of golden coral and rivers of pink sand. The seaweed was bright green and the sunlight streamed in from above, lighting up the reef like magic. It was beautiful.

 

Al swam into the glorious kingdom to see something quite shocking. There resting on a throne of blue starfish sat a turtle just like Al. His name was King Wally, and he was an Albino Sea Turtle, too. Swimming up to the king, Al asked him what he was doing there, and King Wally told him his story.

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The king told Al about how he was bullied and picked on pushed around by the other turtles as a kid. Al was in awe that this glorious King had a childhood just like his. King Wally told Al that he felt bad for the kids that were mean to him, and how he should not let them bring him down and crush his dreams.  

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So Al became determined to not let his siblings bring him down and to stand up for himself. The king of the Treasured Kingdom was just what Al had been hoping for.  

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After saying goodbye to the king, Al decided it was time to go home to his family. He knew they must have been missing him very much.

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And Al was right! When he arrived back at his cave, he saw his family sick with worry. Al smiled and swam up to greet them.

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After a long journey to the Treasured Kingdom and home, Al was finally back home with his family where he belonged. And from then on out, Al did not let his family tease him on the color of his shell because he knew that beauty was found within. Al and his family of sea turtles lived happily in the cave for years to come.

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