Chapter 3
Fred watched George suspiciously. Underneath that calm brown and dark green turtle shell, he was sure that he saw a glint of pernicious intelligence. Then it was hidden again under the slow, deliberate speech and careful movements. George’s body was still, his eyes were closed and his neck, tail and legs were stretched out as far outside his shell as they could stretch. The delicious feeling of the warm morning sun on their night-chilled bodies was one thing Fred and George could agree on.
Slithering his striped green body across the shale, he took an inspection tour around George’s still form. His forked tongue tested the smell of the air. Nothing.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.” the long sound of contentment from George was so low, that another person might thing it was a snore. Fred shook his head in annoyance.
“Come on, George, wake up! Time to move!” Fred insisted.
George did not move.
“There are things to do! Don’t you want to see your friends Bob and Chuck?”
A slight tremor. Slowly, George’s left rear leg began to slide in towards his shell. Then the right. Then the front legs bent in and George’s shell lifted off the ground.
“That’s it!” Fred encouraged him. “Bob and Chuck are heading towards the lettuce patch. They might get there before you. Early turtle gets the treat.”
George’s head slowly, ponderously swiveled until his eyes could clearly see Fred’s long body and his head raised slightly off the ground.
“What...did you...say, Fred?” George asked.
“Oh my goodness!” Fred almost slapped his forehead with his tail in frustration. “How can you be so calm? Every minute you waste here means a mouthful of missed munched lettuce!”
Eventually Fred was able to cajole George into motion along the narrow dirt path that lined the river bank. Racing on ahead, Fred monitored the progress of the two other turtles, Bob and Chuck and then raced back to report to George.
“They are only a few yards from the lettuce! You must hurry.” Fred matched George’s ponderous pace down the path, ever encouraging him to greater speed. But little changed and finally, after a status check, Fred decided that desperate measures were required.
In the seconds between the movement of George’s front leg and the time when his rear leg moved forward, Fred slithered under George’s shell, braced himself against the rocks that lined the path and lifted UP.
“Oofff!” Fred exclaimed.
“Whaa?” George wondered as he noticed two legs wiggling off the ground.
Fred pushed, bit by bit, until George’s body was a right angles with the ground. With one final heave, George tipped over onto his back with such force that he continued to roll over and over, down the river bank into the water. George quickly righted himself, his head poking above the water and with precise paddling, aimed himself downstream.
“Yes, yes! That’s right, George. They are just at the patch now. If you hurry, there will be some left for you.”
Minutes later, George heaved his shiny body out of the water onto the muddy shore. Nearby, two other turtles of similar size and coloration paused their lettuce munching and raised their heads in greeting.
“Morning, George.”
“Morning, Bob. Morning, Chuck.”
Fred moved over to where the two were sitting in order to estimate the remaining size of patch. Using his long, flexible body, he lay down in such a fashion as to mark off approximately one-third of the lettuce.
“Ummph.” (Fred’s mouth was full of the green grass and other plants) “Ah..George, I’ve marked off your fair portion. Hurry. They might step on me and I would be squooshed. But I’ll do it, for you, George.” He paused. There was no response. “George?” Still no response. “George?”
Exasperated, he finally lifted his head up until he could see over the greenery that lined the river shore. Nothing. He could not see George. Finally, he gathered himself and with a glare that he hoped would warn off the other two turtles, he lifted his head higher. “George!”
There was George, less than ten feet away. He wasn’t moving.
“George!” Fred was alarmed and rushed over to his friend. “George! Are you all right? I had to leave the lettuce, but I think they won’t eat it until you get there.”
Then he heard it: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.” George was snoring in a patch of sunlight.
“Arrgh!” Fred rolled his eyes to the sky. “George, George. You’ll never get anywhere in this world.”
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