The Magic Turtle

Once upon a time there was a turtle who lived in a land of mortal enemies. He was the only turtle who lived there. He could not ever remember seeing another turtle. The only reason he survived, was his magic shell. It created an illusion so real his enemies believed he was one of them.

The most frightening aspect of the situation was that at times of high stress, or strong emotion the illusion would waver for an instant, and if any of his enemies happened to notice ( none had as yet) there would be awkward questions, to say the least. He felt his only recourse was to stay as uninvolved as possible.

There was the possibility of escape, but he scarcely thought of it. This, after all, was known, while what lay outside the realm of his nemesis' territory was not.

Though no one had noticed the wavering of his illusion per say, they sensed something different about him and he was never treated as an equal. Always in a subservient role of some sort, patronized, and covertly watched. Pretending not to notice and being forever hopeful that the situation would improve was the only way he knew to survive.

After many years of this came a particularly bad year. He didn't know quite what had caused the change, but things were fast becoming intolerable. And now, looking at it clearly, he realized that was saying quite a lot! Something had to change. Anything would be better than this.

And so, gathering his courage, he stole away one night. Quietly, after everyone had gone to sleep, in the very deepest part of the night, he crept silently out of town. And then out of the territory altogether. When the sky started to brighten with the coming dawn, he crept off the road and went to sleep under a rotting log. He traveled this way for several days. Always moving slowly at night, and sleeping, hidden, by day.

One morning after having fallen asleep in a pile of leaf mould near a stream, he woke to the sound of voices and laughter. And music. Music and laughter were things not heard often where he came from.

Curious, and trusting in his magic shell to scare off any potential threats, he moved quietly toward the sounds. Eventually he came to a clearing in the wood that bordered the stream. He couldn't believe his eyes.

The clearing was roughly circular, with a depression in the middle, like a bowl. In the center were what appeared to be short logs, standing on end. Next to these, and filling the large clearing, were...Turtles! Oh, they all looked different each from the other, but they were definitely turtles. And the music was coming from the center of the clearing where some of the turtles beat on the logs, while others blew on what seemed to be reeds. All the others were dancing.

Quickly realizing that he had found what must be home (he was no dummy) the magic turtle shed his illusion and stepped out to be welcomed by his new friends to their celebration.

And he lived happily ever after.
The End
Sort of ...

See, the only fly in the ointment, was that after all those years of living behind a mask, inside himself, hiding who he was... Well, he sometimes accidentally hid behind the illusion when things got too real, and it would tend make the neighbors run screaming... Other than that, he lived happily ever after.

The End

For real this time