The turtle
A spontaneous story by Exxos
Once upon a time, there was a turtle. The turtle was possessed of a good heart and a bright mind, but a poor constitution and timid soul.
He went to his mother and cried, "Oh mother, the world is so scary, but I want so much to be a part of it."
His mother told him the world had no place for those such as he and scolded him harshly. So he slunk away and retracted into the comfort and security of his shell...
The next day he went to his friends, the fox and the rat, "Oh friends, the world is harsh, but I so want to be a part of it."
His friends told him to quit his bellyaching but provided no counsel. So he slunk away and retracted into the comfort and security of his shell...
The day after, he went to the Owl, for the owl was a wise and noble beast who would tell him how to live in the world, "Oh great owl, the world is cruel, but I so want to be part of it."
The owl turned its head to one side and back, "The world is many things, young turtle. Cruel is but one of them. What do you love most?"
"I love the little world I make for myself within my shell, oh great owl," the turtle replied, "For it is safe and as I wish it to be."
"Then go back to your world," the owl replied and turned his attention away.
So the turtle slunk away and retracted into the comfort and security of his shell...
Time passed as time has a tendency to do. The days turned to weeks, the weeks to months, the months to years as the turtle stayed in his private world where the pain and torment of the actual world could not touch him.
But one day, the turtle thought to himself, "I should go out and see the real world again. Maybe it is not scary or harsh or cruel anymore."
So the turtle emerged from his shell, his actions stiffened and wobbly as he was a very old turtle now. As he ventured out into the world, he found that things truly had changed. The world was not only scarier, harsher, and crueler, but he found that in his escaping into his shell, the world had passed him by. His family and friends had long since passed away and now he was utterly alone.
He went to the owl's roost and called out, "Oh great owl! Everyone is gone! My world is gone!"
"But did you enjoy your dream? Was it all you wished for?" Came the gravelly tone of the ancient bird.
"No..." The turtle cried, "Because it was not the world I wanted to live in, but the world I ran to."
"Instead of becoming strong to face the world you wanted, you chose the weakness of the world you could create and control," the owl chided, "Now you have lost the world outside your dream and the world within your dream can never be full again. But alas, you decided to wake up, you could have stayed content, but you ruined that for yourself too."
"But, I don't want this," the turtle pleaded, "I do not want what this path has wrought."
"Such is the price of dreams," the Owl said as he took to wing and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
The turtle spent the rest of his days searching and trying, but he had spent so much of his life in a fantasy world of his own that he could not find where he belonged nor live a life in the world that had come after the world he so carelessly abandoned. His dreams were jaded and fleeting - when he had any at all. He lived out his remaining days scared and alone, until finally Death came for him.
"Oh Death!" The aged turtle cried, "This world is so empty, is the next a full place where I can see those I lost?"
Death looked over the aged turtle and kneeled beside him, "I am afraid that since you left this world, you can not join that world. They are connected you see. You will simply cease as the world you chose never truly was."
With that, Death ended the turtle's existence of nothingness as nothingness and left.
