CHILDREN'S QUASI, Pt. 2

 5  GRINNING WALTER

  June thought highly of the Montys, turtles who raised orphan turtles and taught them to swim, dive, and all the things that parent turtles usually teach hatchlings. She used to think turtles did all those things naturally, until she saw the Montys training them. Many adult turtles in the park today owe much to the Montys.

  One of these turtles was Walter. When he walked the creek to the Montys’ place in the mornings, he checked between the grasses for bugs to eat, and of course, he greeted June when she came to the park. Walter was a real laid-back sort of fellow.

  But one morning, Walter was really speeding along!

  “What’s the big hurry?” June asked.

  “The rabbit’s after me!” Walter answered.

  “Rabbit? What rabbit? Where? Wha…”

  “Haven’t you heard of the Tortoise and the Hare?” Walter asked.

  “Of COURSE I’ve heard of the Tortoise…”

  “WALTER!”

  But by this time, he was grinning and running away.

6 BROKEN DOWN OLD QUASI

  Walter and Quasi were friends. Walter and the Montys had helped Quasi learn to swim again even after a terrible accident made her shell the shape it was.

  One day, when Quasi saw June come to Lower Bridge, she thought she’d go see her and started to swim from her home on the other side of Main Bridge. But just then, the pretty blue Kawasemi flew over her head to the other side of the park.

  “Oh,” Quasi thought, “for sure June will want see the bright bird, not be with a broken-down old turtle like me.”

 With a sigh, she turned around and came home.

  But the next day, when the same bird came again, June wasn’t showing it any interest but stood on the bridge, looking down at the water, hunting for Quasi.

  Quasi heard her saying to the other turtles, “You know who I want to see? Yeah, where is Quasi? Quasi?”

  “She wants to see me, not the pretty blue bird?” Quasi was surprised, but terribly happy.

  And she swam out from under the lily pads.

“You know who I really want to see? Quasi!”

7  GOODBYE MONTY

  “Quasi, please come home,” June said; “I brought something for you, but I can’t give it to you here.”

  “Why then was June giving it to the others?” Quasi saw them getting fed.

 What she didn’t realize was that she was swimming right in front of a sign that said NO FEEDING and the others were swimming at the feeding landing near where Quasi lived.

  “If you’ll come back,” June said, “I can give you some too.” But Quasi didn’t understand.

  “Well, if June won’t give me any, I can just eat the small fish in the pond. They’re probably better for me anyway,” Quasi thought.

  June wanted Quasi to come home, not really to give her food, but because she wanted to tell her something about Monty. It looked like he got killed in a lawnmowing accident.

  June knew that Quasi, Walter, and a lot of orphan turtles owed a lot to the Montys so would want to know as soon as possible. They needed to say thank you to Mrs. Monty and see that she was taken care of, now that she was by herself.

Turtles and Carp at the Feeding Landing

--COMMERCIAL--

(I know this isn’t television, but…)

Quasi’s favorite trick:

She pretended to swim to me…got started; then dove and switched with a friend underwater (see her?); so when the turtle came to the top of the water, it wasn’t Quasi!

You’re not going to keep fooling me, Quasi!

8 I FORGET

  Coffee the crow, watching from the telephone wire, saw June walking towards the park. She waved to him.

  “Hi, crow,” she said, smiling. “I can’t see who you are, but Hi anyway!”

  A person at the entrance asked, “Do you always do that?”

  “Do what?” June asked.

  “Uh--nothing.” She was thinking, “talk to crows” but didn’t say it. They chatted on the path until Duck Pond, when June said,

  “This is where I meet a friend everyday.”

  But the other person looked around and couldn’t see anybody else.

“Oh—carp friend.” June added.

  “Of course,” she said; “Have a nice time.”

  “I forgot people don’t talk like that,” June told Serra Fin. Most humans don’t speak of animals as friends to meet and talk with.”

  “Some things you don’t need to remember,” Serra Fin seemed to say. “When you came to the park, you thought crows were scary, carp were impersonal, and turtles were boring.”

  “I did? I forget.”

When you came to the park, you thought turtles were boring!