In the late summer, in the middle of the night, Tiny, a Loggerhead sea turtle, was the last to hatch from her nest. 

She poked her little head up out of the sand and looked across the beach towards the ocean. 

She knew it would be a long journey but her instincts told her she would have all of her needs once she reached the water. 

So, Tiny began to use her little flippers to crawl across the sand. 

It was hard work.

All of a sudden, Tiny began to slide down into a hole. 

The hole wasn’t anything like her nest. 

The sides were so steep that no matter how hard Tiny tried she just couldn’t climb out. 

Tiny started to get very tired and hungry and thirsty.

There wasn’t anywhere in the hole for her to sleep and there definitely wasn’t any food or water.

This made Tiny very sad.

When the sun started to rise over the ocean, a little old man began his morning walk on the beach. 

As he walked, he knocked down sand castles and began filling in the holes left by beach-goers the day before. 

He found Tiny lying at the bottom of one of the big holes. 

She was so tired and hungry and thirsty.

The little old man wasn’t sure what to do but he just knew he couldn’t leave Tiny there by herself.

So, he decided to take the baby sea turtle home.

Tiny was so excited when the little old man picked her up out of the hole. 

Finally! She was going to make it to the ocean where she would have all of her needs. 

But the little old man did not take Tiny to the ocean. 

Instead, he put her in a bucket and drove her to his house. 

This made Tiny very sad.

When he finally arrived home, the little old man took Tiny out of the bucket and put her in a fish tank. 

Even though Tiny knew it wasn’t the ocean, she was thankful to finally be in the water. 

After taking a drink, Tiny began to look around. 

There were walls made of glass, plants made of plastic, and nothing for her to eat. 

At least there was plenty of space to swim, she thought.

As Tiny was swimming, her tummy began to grumble. 

She was very hungry.

Finally, the little old man brought Tiny something to eat. 

The food was small, crunchy, and kind of smelled funny. 

It wasn’t anything she pictured food would be like.

This made Tiny very sad.

As the days went by, Tiny got into a routine. 

Her little tank was beginning to feel like home. 

She spent her time swimming, eating stinky food, and sleeping on a bed of plastic plants. 

And, eventually, Tiny began to grow. 

She grew and she grew and she grew. 

But her home did not.

Tiny was getting so big that she was running out of space to swim. 

When the little old man saw this, he realized he had made a huge mistake. 

He could not provide Tiny with all of her needs. 

The little old man decided he should find her a new home.

This made Tiny very sad.