Shawna the Turtle #PlanetOrPlastic

Shawna moved through the ocean depths. Sadness welled in her heart. The once busy waters were almost baron. Many of her friends and their families were now gone from this world.
Entire species had been erased. Replaced by long cylinder objects. Sometimes they were adorned with stripes, sometimes not. They came in so many different colors. Once many years ago when she was young, she had thought them pretty.
Now she knew they were horrible, vile things that had stolen many of her kind.
There were other objects floating through her home that had caused injury or sadly death to many of the creatures that once swam with her.
Many tides ago, Shawna remembered being saved by one of the sun creatures.
She had been swimming and spotted one of her favorite treats. As she began to swallow it, she had realized that the texture was wrong, it's flavor unappetizing. A sun creature swam past her, watching as she ate.
Suddenly she felt pressure on her shell as she was being lifted out of the water. Shawna remembered being placed on the big thing the sun creatures used to cross the ocean on.
As her surroundings sunk in, the creature pulled the tasteless jellyfish out of her mouth. Only then did Shawna see that it was not a jellyfish.
It crinkled and was a whiteish color, it lay flat and unmoving. There was no life in it.
Horror dawned as Shawna realized what she had almost consumed. One of those things that did not belong in her home.
The sun creature then placed Shawna back into the ocean with a smiling face, its long arm moving from side to side.
The memory of that long ago moment drifted through Shawna's mind, as her body drifted through the ocean.
She was weak in her old age, finding food was difficult, all that surrounded her were things that weren't born in the ocean but seemed to be staying and multiplying.
The lifeless objects were many, and her friends were few.
Almost everyone was gone now, her own children were no more.
Sadness engulfed her once more, as she looked around her once magnificent home.
Its dark depths had once been so vibrant, the life of the sea so radiant and colorful.
That was no more.
Shawna swam on seeking company, seeking food.
A quest she knew was almost impossible.

Let's all ban together and stop this from happening. Plastic is a real problem in the world. Using reusable bags and straws should become the norm as we phase out single-use plastics. This story was fictional and it is my sincerest wish to keep it that way.

0yasha0