Fun with Turtles

Just what the title says

I knew a turtle once. His name was Fred and he lived in the neighbors back yard. I was told when I was a kid that if a turtle bit you during the day it would not let go until the sun went down. Do you know if this is true? So I never got too close to Fred before the late afternoon. That way he would not hold on so long and there would be less pain. Don't you think that was a pretty good plan? I liked Fred but he really didn't do much. I mean, he really didn't know too many tricks, right? I don't think Fred knew any tricks at all. Why would anyone want a pet that didn't do any tricks? My dog knew some tricks. Mainly he knew how to chase me around the yard real fast, but not Fred. Fred didn't chase anything. He just stood there with his head halfway in and halfway out and ate lettuce. His mouth was all green around his beak or whatever you call a turtles mouth. I think this was from the grass and not the lettuce. Sometimes Fred ate grass. Fred didn't seem mean but his beak or whatever you call it looked sharp and sometimes he would grab when you held out a piece of lettuce. It didn't seem worth it to take any chances so you see why I waited till late afternoon to pick Fred up. Sometimes he would dig under our fence. Then I would have to carry him next door and say, "Fred was over in our yard." He wasn't that heavy and if you grabbed him by the shell he wouldn't wiggle away.

 

I knew other turtles too but they weren't the same kind as Fred. They were a lot smaller and they were all green except for their front which was yellow. You had to be real careful and pick them up in the middle with your finger and thumb. I won that turtle at the school carnival and then we had to go to the pet store and buy it a swimming pool. Mommy didn't want to have to do that but we had to go to the store for the turtle. His swimming pool was clear plastic and it had a green plastic palm tree on top of a thing where the turtle could walk up and get out of the water for a while if he wanted to. If he didn't want to do that, he could just swim around. It seemed like he would have so much fun after having to live in a chinese take out carton all day. We also had to buy some special food for when he was hungry. Everything was fine and we did everything the man at the store told us, but Greeny, because that's what my sister and I called him, drowned in his own swimming pool after only two days. My sister was more upset than me. I knew he was sick for a while. I also knew my dad would have to buy my sister another turtle. That one just lasted five days but my sister didn't cry that time. 

Reviews

[RainQueen]

Wow. This is kind of brilliant. You are writing in a child's voice, and we get to see fred as if that excited child is standing before us, turtle held carefully from the middle.

By using this child's voice, we get to see Fred as you did, and we also get to see that peculiar stoicism children have..."I knew he was sick for a while. I also knew my dad would have to buy my sister another turtle. That one just lasted five days but my sister didn't cry that time." Matter-of-fact knowledge of life and death in a child, seen through his eyes.

You and Faulkner...Masters of voice. Bravo.

[M. Jewell]

The sentences are kind of choppy. It could be an excellent peice if you worked on it,

[Keve]

Aren't they freakin' devious man? I am doing a reread of this and above there is an ad for buying turtles online. It's www.turtleshack.com. How could they possibly have known?

Wanna buy a turtle?