Jasper's Secret

It was a warm, sunshine-filled June day for Jasper as he hopped on his bicycle and rode around his friendly neighborhood. He enjoyed the sunshine and wondered if his friend Harry would want to ride bikes with him. Suddenly, he noticed something tiny slowly crawling across the road. Curious, he screeched on the breaks and ran over to see it. Immediately, he was gleeful upon his discovery.

It was a yellow-striped turtle that was about the size of his fist. It had short, stubby legs and a long, stretched neck that immediately shrunk into its shell when it noticed Jasper. Out of simple curiosity, he poked its hard shell and eventually picked it up. 

“Hey, little guy. Where’d you come from?” he asked the turtle. But his head was still shrunken into his shell. Jasper could tell that he was scared, and apologized to the poor animal.

“This is so cool! I have to tell Harry about this!” he said before carefully placing the turtle in his jacket pocket and proceeded to ride over to his friend’s house. Upon his arrival, Jasper showed Harry his new friend in his backyard. Jasper put him down onto the tall, warm grass and let him crawl around in it.

“Where did you find it?” Harry asked, astonished.

“Just out on the road. Isn’t he cool?”

“So cool. I wish I had found it. Are you gonna keep him?” he asked curiously. Harry contemplated the idea. He desperately wanted to, but he had no clue where he would sleep and what turtles actually ate. The only thing he knew was that he could never tell his parents because they would never allow him to keep it. 

“I don’t know if I can. My parents wouldn’t like it…” he replied sadly.

“Aw, man. Well, maybe you can keep him for just one day and then let him go,” Harry suggested. Immediately, Jasper perked up.

“That’s a great idea! I’ll just keep him for the day. And then I can let him go back into the wild to be with his friends,” Jasper said cheerfully.

Afterwards, Harry said: “You gotta give him a name.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I think he should have a funny name. How about… Shelly?”

“Eh, I don’t know. That’s too boring. How about…Mario? Cause of the turtles in Mario.”

“Hmm, maybe,” he said while thinking. “Oh, I’ve got it! Let’s name him Zoom!”

**

That day, Jasper returned home with his new friend. Of course, he made sure to keep Zoom in his pocket until he reached his room. Then, he took him out and let him slowly roam on his bed and on the floor. After a few minutes, he heard a knock on his door and immediately panicked. 

“Hold on a second! I’m getting dressed!” he called out nervously. Then, he picked up Zoom and carefully placed him in his sock drawer. Then, his mother came into the room and greeted him.

“Hey, honey. How was your bike ride?” she asked with a kind smile.

“It was good. I went to see Harry.”

“Oh, that’s nice. What did you guys do?”

“Uhm, we just hung out and played outside…”

“That sounds like fun. I’m glad you had a good time. Well, I’m going to the grocery store. Do you wanna come?” she asked.

“No thanks. I’m just gonna stay here.”

“Oh, okay. Well, do you want anything from the store?” He nodded his head and proceeded to tell her a few snacks he wanted. Then, she stood up and went towards the door.

“Wait, Mom. Uhm… I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, honey. What is it?”

“Do you know what turtles eat?” he asked.

She laughed. “Uhm, I’m not sure. I think they eat bugs, mostly.”

After his mother left the room, Jasper opened his sock drawer and let Zoom out onto his bed.

“Sorry, buddy. I had to. I didn’t want my mom to see you,” he whispered. Zoom just stood there on the bed with his head slightly poking out.

“Maybe we should get you some food,” Jasper concluded. So, he marched to the kitchen, grabbed a small container, and went outside to look for some bugs. Luckily, he was able to find a couple worms in the ground as well as one dead dragonfly which laid in his driveway. After, he returned to his room and tried to feed the worms to his new pet, but he was hesitant.

“Hmm… maybe you’re not hungry right now. That’s okay,” he said glumly.

**

The next day, Jasper couldn’t bring himself to return Zoom to the wild. Instead, he played with his new friend in his room, showing him his collection of toys and games, and he even created an outfit for his friend by cutting a hole in one of his socks and fitted it around his shell. Eventually, his mother came into his room (after he hid Zoom away, of course) and greeted him:

“Hey, bud. You should go outside today. It’s a really nice day out.”

“I don’t really want to,” he said quietly.

“Why not?” she asked with a frown.

“I just don’t feel like it.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked slowly. Immediately, Jasper felt nervous. He didn’t want to lie to his mother, but he didn’t know what else to do. 

“No, I’m okay. Just tired.”

“Okay, well, if you want to talk about anything, I’m here. I love you, honey.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

For the rest of the day, Jasper came to a conclusion which was that Zoom needed a place to sleep. So, he retrieved a large plastic container from the kitchen. Then, he got another brilliant idea and marched outside to his backyard and collected a small pile of dirt to place inside the container. He even managed to dig up some earthworms and beetles from the ground which he also put in the box. Feeling proud, he went back into his room and plopped Zoom inside the container. Jasper waited in anticipation to see him move, but he just laid still in there. Jasper sighed.

“I’m sorry, buddy. I wish I could get you a bigger home.”

But after a while, Jasper saw him move around a bit and munch on some of the bugs which made him very ecstatic. He spent the rest of the day taking care of Zoom. At the end of the day, Jasper read him a bedtime story, said goodnight, and placed his plastic home under his bed.

**

The next morning, his mother woke him up and asked him if he wanted to go on a walk with her. Jasper stared at the floor and shook his head no.

“Jasper, this is ridiculous. Why don’t you want to go outside?” she asked in a worried tone of voice.

“I don’t know…” he said guiltily. Then, she asked him if something “happened,” to which he shook his head.

“Sweetie, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, then I can’t help you,” she said plainly. Jasper sat on his bed silently. His mother sighed, and her gaze shifted over to his dresser which had the small container he used to gather dirt and bugs with. Jasper immediately regretted his decision to leave it out in the open.

“Honey, are those bugs? Are you collecting bugs?” she asked in a puzzled tone of voice. 

“Uhm, yeah. I thought it would be cool…” he said faintly. His mother frowned.

“Jasper, you need to get rid of this. It’s gross. I don’t want you bringing in bugs anymore, okay?”

“Okay. Sorry, Mom.” 

**

Days later, Jasper woke up and noticed his door was open slightly ajar, and he began to panic. He didn’t remember leaving the door open last night. Then, he checked under his bed to see that his pet’s plastic home was missing, and so was his pet. His eyes widened and he bolted out of his room into the living room. 

“Jasper, is that you? Can you come into the kitchen, please?” his mother called out. He hesitated for a moment, feeling tears well up in his eyes. Then, he slowly walked into the kitchen and saw his mother sitting at the table with the plastic container which held Zoom inside. 

“Jasper, do you know anything about this?” she asked suggestively. He shrugged slightly but remained still. 

“Honey, I found this in your room this morning. Can you tell me where you found it?”

“I don’t know…” Jasper said, bowing his head towards the floor. 

“It’s okay. I’m not mad. You can tell me.” Her gaze upon him was full of genuine concern. 

“I… I found him outside. I was only going to keep him for a day, but I didn’t want to bring him back…” he trailed off. She sighed deeply and briefly stared at the striped animal. 

“Jas, I’m sorry. You know you can’t keep him,” she said sadly. 

“But why not?” he asked desperately. 

“Because you could get salmonella from him. And we’d have to get him a tank and buy him special food. It’s just a lot of work...”

“What’s salmonella?” he sniffled. 

“It’s a sickness. You can get it from just touching him,” she explained.

“But I can just wash my hands! Just please let me keep him! He’s my friend!” he exclaimed.

“Sweetie, he belongs out in the wild. Maybe when you’re older, we can buy you a turtle, but not right now,” she said firmly. 

“Mom, that’s not fair!” Jasper yelled.

“I know it’s not. I’m going to bring him outside, okay? He can’t stay in this plastic box anymore. He needs to roam around and be free,” she said before picking up the container and going towards the door. Then, Jasper followed her outside, pleading for her to give him the box.

“Why don’t we drive him out to the lake and let him go?” she asked. Jasper refused, but his mother went over to her car anyway. Eventually, Jasper got into the backseat and his mother let him hold onto the turtle while she drove. Meanwhile, Jasper whispered to his pet for a few minutes before they both arrived at their neighborhood lake. There, his mother got out of the car and Jasper held onto the plastic container tightly, then refused to leave the car. His mother tried to talk to him, but eventually pulled him out of the car. 

His mother dragged him over to the shore where she told him that he had to say his goodbyes. As much as he didn’t want to, Jasper reluctantly released him from the container. Zoom laid still and his head shrunk again which let the boy know that he was scared. In that moment, Jasper thought about his grandpa and how sad his mother had been when he passed away. He imagined that there must have been a huge hole in her heart like he had felt in this moment. 

“Hey, buddy. I know you’re scared. I’m scared, too. I really wish I could keep you, but maybe you do belong out here…” he confessed. “I’m going to miss you.” Though he knew the turtle couldn’t understand him, he imagined that Zoom was saying goodbye to him, too. 

It wasn’t long before Jasper stood up and his mother walked him over to the car. 

“I’m proud of you, Jasper,” she said while rubbing his back and Jasper felt the significant weight of those four words. He thought to himself: at least I have my Mom.