The sun’s rays' warmth absorbed my red scales as I lay on a warm rock.
This is my favorite activity; the trick is you need to flatten your ribs and lay perpendicular to the sun to get the most warmth possible. You should also lay toward the middle of your own territory for the least amount of distraction. I was basking closer to the duck territory because that was where the best sun rays were.
There were no shadows, just the sun’s warmth beating down on my back. I heard the tiny ripples of the water colliding with the smooth rocks lining the lake's edge. I was annoyed by the loud quacking of fighting ducks floating on the edge of the turtle territory. You can never get a peaceful silence around the dumb birds.
A map of the different territories
“Hey! What’s that turtle doing outside of my territory?” said a duck with a huge bill.
“Bill, it’s allowed to be outside your territory,” replied his friend.
“NO! It’s not,” yelled Bill.
“Ohh ducksss, good for nothing,” I quietly said.
Even with the ducks, it was still a beautiful day. I’ve spent many days like this, just basking in the warmth.
A little while later, I was admiring a big minnow as it swam with its friends. As I got ready for the day's first meal, the fish swam away.
I’m too good at slithering between the cracks of the rocks to have scarred it.
“I was ssso excited for that meal,” I disappointedly hissed to myself.
Suddenly, I heard muffled voices coming from the surface. Four shadows appeared and crept ever closer. They were tall and skinny, as if they were made out of sticks. I slithered under a rock hoping not to be seen by the monster.
All of a sudden, the thing bent down, and I saw what looked like a tail with five smaller tails at the end pointing straight at me. That was all I needed to dive towards the deep-end.
“Can’t you jussst ssstay away from the me? Now I have to find another meal. I’m going to be ssso cranky this afternoon!” I said under my breath, as I swam out into the deep-end.
As I approached the surface for air, a huge hawk appeared and dove down to grab me.
“Go away hawk! I’ve already had a bad morning!” I yelled.
I arched my neck to look more threatening but froze in fear. I dove under the water and sank towards the sand as I pondered my situation. If I go toward the rocks, I face the danger of the stick monsters, but if I stay in the deep-end, I face the hawk.
“I can’t decide,” I said.
“Help, sssomeone help!” I cried, but no-one came to my aid.
After a second of hesitation, I decided to stay in the deep end and try to work my way over to a safer spot. I went up for air, and the hawk swooped down at me again. I slithered to the left, then went under the water and swam as far as I could towards a safe spot that I’d found near the rocks.
“This has to work, or I’m ssscrewed!” I said to myself.
I was getting closer to the rocks, and I started feeling better about myself. I went up for air and swam left again. This time the hawk was ready and also went left. The hawk’s claws came very close to my head.
“No, no, no!” I shouted.
I hesitated for a second due to fear; that was all the bird needed to grab me. I felt a burst of cold air as I was lifted into the blue sky. I could feel the sharp claws threatening to poke through my tough scales.
I listened to my instincts, and flailed around wildly, trying to get loose.
“Let go of me, you ssstuped bird!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I’ve got one chance. If I bite him in the perfect spot, he’ll drop me. I looked for the main vein of the leg. Suddenly, I found it and knew this was the right time. I bit into the bony leg of the hawk as hard as I could. I struggled free and dropped into the water.
It felt like I’d fallen on a thin layer of rock that broke beneath my body. My whole underside felt like it’d been slammed. Luckily, it only took a few seconds to recover.
“This is no time to celebrate; I still have to get to shore,” I said to myself.
“Aaaaaaaa! A snake! Run!” screamed a terrified duck.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of feathers flapping wildly and I saw Bill, the duck with a large bill, floating to one side, staring at nothing.
“Don’t distract me; I got to get this turtle,” replied a very focused Bill.
“Ohh no, I’m in the stupid bird territory,” I hissed.
I swam faster than I thought possible to the safety of my territory by the unguarded rocks. After a few minutes of ensuring it was safe, all the exhaustion of this morning’s events hit me.
“I’m ssso, tired,” I hissed under my breath.
I just lay there for a long time. Even the ducks, still quacking about turtles, couldn’t annoy me now. I just calmly listened. It was the first time I could hear everything around me. Is that a new baby bird chirping for the first time? What a beautiful song it has.
My thoughts turn back to me. Even though I was tired, I was still in great health considering what happened this morning, I thought.
“Shoo turtle, get away from your territory!” said Bill.
This continued for a long time…
An image of Red generated by Midjourney
When my energy returned, I started looking for food. I saw a huge Eastern Mosquito fish pass by, so I took the opportunity and lunged for it.
“No not…” was all the fish said before it became my snack.
This snack filled me with energy. From there, I started basking with my ribs flat, and trying to process the morning’s events.
A few days later, I was chilling on a rock when I did my now-usual search for predators. I saw the four stick monsters approaching.
“Look! It’s Red, the snake,” said one of them.
I slowly swam into a deeper part of the lake to not draw attention to myself. I held my breath as the monsters passed by and hoped I wouldn’t be noticed. How did that thing know my name? I wondered.
“No snakes here, just rocks and minnows,” I quietly hissed.
After they’d passed by with no notice of me, I swam back.
Now, I was ready for anything the world threw at me!
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