Tony the Turtle

Tony, the box turtle, was a happy little turtle. He lived in a pond with his family of turtles, swimming, eating, playing, and keeping on his tummy. Turtles have been known to get into trouble lying on their backs, because their little arms and legs have a hard time turning their shell over. But this was not to happen in this story. This story is about Tony the little box turtle and how he learned to like being himself.

One day Tony was eating some lovely fruit that had fallen at the edge of the pond. As he was munching, he saw a family of rabbits move into the field nearby. One of the young bunnies zipped over to the water’s edge and took a drink.

“Hi!” said the rabbit.

Tony stopped his chewing to say hello, when poof! The rabbit was gone. Tony wanted to talk with the rabbit, but he was too quick. So, being the kind neighbor he was, Tony crawled over to the rabbit’s home to say hello. By the time Tony had arrived, it was dark. He was in no hurry, so Tony went to sleep under the stars. When the sun came up, Tony ate some grass and went on his way to where the rabbits lived.

Tony saw the same bunny sitting near the hole of his house called a warren. He crawled closer to the rabbit and said, “Hello, I am Tony.”

“Hi, I’m Jack,” said the rabbit, and poof! He was gone again; this time down the hole.

Tony thought that he really must be in a hurry to be leaving so quickly. Then without warning, several bunny heads popped out of the hole.

“Hello!” they all said at once.

“I’m Jill, I’m Jane, I’m John, I’m Joe, and I’m Jack.” They all popped out of their hole and gathered around Tony.

“Hello Jill…Jane…John…Joe…and Jack. I am Tony.”

“You talk awful slow,” said Jack.

“Can’t you run fast? asked Joe.

“Let’s race to the big rock,” suggested John.

“Okay,” said Tony.

The bunnies all ran to the rock and back within a minute, while Tony had barely gone one inch.

“You are slow,” said Jane.

“You must exercise. Then you can run fast,” said Jill. “Come back when you can run.”

“Okay,” said Tony.

Tony went back to the pond and told his mother he must be fast.

His mother smiled. “But that is not our way, Tony.”

“Maybe not for you, Mother. I want to be fast…and I will.”

So Tony started to exercise. He did push-ups, he ran around the pond over and over, he swam till his little arms and legs ached, he even did pull-ups on a twig. He exercised so much that none of the other box turtles could keep up with him. Finally, Tony knew he was ready and went back to the rabbits. So he plodded quickly back to the home of the rabbits.

When he raced the rabbits, he still came in last. Even the slowest rabbits with their eyes closed could run faster. It was disappointing for Tony, so he went back home. He crawled over to his mother and cried.

“It is alright. You are the fastest turtle in the land.”

“But I want to be as fast as a rabbit.”

“I do not think you will ever be that fast. But I love you. And you will see how good it is to be a turtle one day.”

Tony was sad. But as the days went on, Jill, Jane, John, Joe, and Jack not only moved and talked fast, but they got older fast too. In four years they were old, but Tony was still young and strong.

He went back to his mother and said. “You know, Mother. It seems that we box turtles live a long time.

She smiled at him. “Of course, Tony. That is our way. We may not run fast as rabbits, but we live a long, long time.”

“I think I like being me. And I can still run fast in my dreams.”

“You sure can, Tony,” said his mother.

And sure enough; Tony the little turtle had many years to think, and became one of the wisest creatures in the land. Tony lived to be a hundred years old and was known to say wise things: like “a hard shell is a safe place,” and “a pond full of turtles is a happy pond.”