Turtle Trauma

We have a new pet....Tina the Turtle. Our daughter Clara seems to attract stray animals. She wants to be a vet when she grows up. Tina the Turtle was found by Clara at the baseball field.

While I'm not a big fan of turtles, I must admit that Tina is growing on me. She's little and has a cool orange stripe down the sides of her neck. And, she runs really fast. Tina has been living in a picture box while we figure out what type of habitat she needs to survive (I tried to say she would be happier outside, but no one is buying that!!!).

Yesterday when Clara came home from school, she came running into the room frantic that her turtle box was tipped over and Tina was missing. (Did I mention we have a cat?) So a search and rescue mission was mounted. We looked for Tiny Tina over an hour in Clara's room. It seemed a turtle was roaming freely through my house much to my dismay.

We were about to head into another part of the house when I moved a small shag rug that was folded in the floor of Clara's room. When I picked it up, I was excited to see Tiny Tina. But then upon further inspection I noticed what seemed to be a strangely twisted turtle neck and a very still Tina. So, I explained to Clara that the turtle seemed to be dead and she needed to leave the room. The death of the turtle sent my sweet tender-hearted Clara into an emotional crisis. It really tore my heart apart to see her so sad.

I comforted her and asked if she wanted to see Tina (why do we name these animals) or if she just wanted me to put him in a box and wait for dad to come home. She opted out of seeing twisted-neck tiny Tina. Off I went with a heavy heart to pick up a dead turtle. You must know that I have never in my life picked up a turtle.

Imagine my dismay when I went into the room to see tiny Tina trucking around the room. Alas the seemingly broken-necked turtle was alive and kicking. There was much rejoicing!!!