Turtle

Motionless. Totally silent. Lonely. Laying in a dark corner. Face and legs within her shell. Nothing to look up to. Almost dead.

I pick her up in my hands. Her face wrinkled, eyes almost shut. She looks old, sad, and depressed. Wonder why she's wasting her life in that corner. What's the meaning of your life? What are you up to? You're not even moving around. Hardly eating. Escaping the world? hiding in your own shell.

She starts reaching out with her long neck, moves her legs and tail. Why? Why do you feel safe in my hands? Almost swimming in the air. Maybe she's in the wrong environment. I submerge her in some water. She lays there for a while, then stands up, raises her shell. Looks like a little dinosaur. Didn't seem she had it in her. Seemed so helpless. She starts moving around, gets out of the water. She's fast. Just never showed it. Wasn't interested to move. Wasn't motivated to move. Had no point in moving. Developed that thick shell which protected her. Now, she's moving around, revitalized, discovering her new environment, sneaking around the edges of the table, careful not to fall over. She discovers the new area she's now a part of. Realized the change in her life.

She found a dark little corner. Moved to it. Retracted her head and legs. Laid back, silent and motionless again. Ready to spend the rest of her life there.