Turtle's New Friend

On a certain pond, in a certain backyard, sat a turtle sunning himself on a log. It was not a very big turtle, which is fine because it was not a very big log. In fact, it was not a very big pond nor a very big back yard. Despite it not being very big, it was a beautiful place, and the turtle was very happy living there. The pond wasn’t very deep, and there were always worms and bugs falling into the water for the turtle to eat. There were lots of flat stones that soaked up the heat of the sun for the turtle to bask on. There were pretty flowers including several large roses that overhung the edge of the pond that the turtle could hide under if there was danger. There was even a small waterfall that splashed and wandered through a stream always keeping the water nice and clean.

On this particular day, the turtle was basking in the sun on the log, he saw the humans who lived in the house come out to the yard carrying something small. This wasn’t necessarily something to get excited about as the humans normally came out and sat around the pond. They would often bring what they called dinner to the table and chairs by the pond to eat. If the turtle sat real still on one of the rocks or the log and watched, the humans would often throw bits and pieces of what they were eating into the pond and the turtle would slide off his basking spot to eat some up. Occasionally one of the humans would pick the turtle up and look him over before putting him back in the water, but they never did him any harm. 

On this day though, the humans didn’t carry plates of food, but rather something that wriggled in one of the human’s arms. The human bent down and while speaking gibberish (all humans spoke gibberish according to turtles because turtles couldn’t understand anything they said), sat the wiggly thing on the ground. It wasn’t very big, which was good because it wasn’t a very big yard or pond. It had fur all over its body, not shiny scales like a turtle. I was also black with brown and a white face. The turtle was green with yellow and red splashes. 

The little furry thing continued to wiggle even as it made it’s way over to the edge of the pond. The wiggly thing proceeded to put his nose right against the tip of the turtle’s nose. The turtle was too startled to slide off the log into the water or even to pull his head into his shell, so instead, he asked, “who are you?”

The fuzzy thing cocked his head a little to the side and looking directly at the turtle said, “I am a puppy. They call me Good Boy, Who’s A Sweetie, but most often No-No. Who are you?”

The turtle tried cocking his head the same way the puppy did, but his head didn’t go that direction. He answered, “I am a turtle and no one calls me anything but turtle.”

The puppy looked excited by that. “You need a name,” and off he ran to the humans making little yippy sounds. He ran in little circles around the yard yipping and wiggling the whole time. The turtle had never seen anything with so much energy before. When the puppy came back over to the pond, he told the turtle, “ I told my people that I met a friend and that you need a name. They kept saying silly puppy, so I think that is your name. I will call my first friend Silly Puppy.”

Well, the turtle wasn’t sure he liked that name or really what it meant. It didn’t sound very wet or turtley. Then the turtle realized what else the puppy said. “You think I am your friend?” the turtle asked the puppy.

“Why yes, of course. You don’t smell like danger and you didn’t run away as all the other backyard creatures do. So, I think you are my friend.” answered the puppy. 

The turtle wasn’t sure if they were really friends. Turtles were after all solitary creatures, but it couldn’t hurt to have a four-legged companion.  Throughout the rest of that spring and on through summer both the turtle and the puppy grew. The turtle didn’t grow a whole lot, which is good because he lived in a small pond, and growing too big too quickly wouldn’t leave him much room. The puppy, on the other hand, grew a lot. He grew and then grew some more and when it seemed he wouldn’t be able to grow any more than that, he grew some more. The little puppy turned into a big puppy and told the turtle that the people now called him a dog. 

The turtle did consider the puppy to be his friend. He was fun to watch and would drop pieces of food by the pond so the turtle could get it easier. They had long conversations about the happenings in the backyard. They talked about the different birds and how many eggs were in different nests. They talked about the pretty fish in the pond and the turtle even tried to show the puppy how to swim but the humans didn’t like that, so they stayed on shore after that. The turtle introduced the puppy to the frogs and toads in the back yard and would listen to their stories. The toads, in particular, liked to tell stories, but the turtle was pretty sure they were more like tall tales. Warts and princesses kissing and gnomes all seemed like too much to believe.

But as the puppy grew and grew and became a dog, the turtle became more and more leary about having him as a friend. The puppy drooled more than before. His bark was deep and rather scary. What really made the turtle leary of the dog were those teeth. The puppy had cute little sharp teeth in a cute little mouth. The puppy could barely get his mouth around the ball that the humans threw for it, but the dog on the other hand. The turtle had seen the dog tear up one of those balls. The puppy had tried to pick up the turtle once in its mouth and the turtle squirmed because it tickled so much, but if the dog ever tried to pick him up, the turtle was sure the dog could bite him in half.

And then it happened one night. The moon was full and in the little yard, out on the little pond, sat the turtle on a little log. The turtle saw something slinking across the yard on all fours. It had a hunched back and a bushy tail. It sniffed around the table and chairs scratching at the ground and then climbing up onto the table. It put its hand into the candle and pulled some out, sniffed then knocked the candle over and onto the ground. It climbed back down to the ground and started making it’s way over to the pond.

The turtle hadn’t seen one of these creatures before but the toads had told stories of them.  The toads called them raccoons and spoke of how the raccoons ate creatures from the pond. The turtle thought they were just telling tall tales, but after seeing the beady eyes of the creature walking towards the pond he knew different.  The raccoon came right towards him and the turtle was so afraid he did not slide off the log into the water, or even pull his head into his shell. The raccoon walked right up to the turtle and sitting on its haunches, picked up the turtle with both hands. Well, that woke the turtle out of his stupor and the turtle yelled.

Now, people don’t think that turtles can yell, but let me assure you, that when they do, you will never forget such a sound. That yell went through the yard and through the walls of the house right to the dog’s ears. Before the turtle was done with his first yell, he heard scratching on the door that leads to the little yard. Then he heard gibberish being spoken by the humans and the next thing he knew the dog was in the yard barking his big scary dog back. The raccoon dropped the turtle into the pond and scrambled over the rocks. The dog grabbed for the raccoon's tail, just catching the tip of it and pulling out some hair before the raccoon scampered over the fence.

The humans came over to the dog rubbing his fur and speaking more gibberish before walking back towards the house. The dog went over to the edge of the pond looking for the turtle. “I think I have a new name. The people are calling me Smart Dog.”

The turtle popped his head out of the water looking at the turtle. “That is a good name to have. And I have a friend for life, Smart Dog.”

The dog looked at the turtle, cocked his head, and said, “I already knew that from the moment we first met.”