Tell Me a Turtle Story

Wyatt and I read books every night. Usually about 5. Once the lights go off, we talk about our day for a while and sometimes, if he is still not sleepy, he asks me to tell a story.  Sometimes he wants stories about trucks, mail trucks or steamrollers, pickup trucks or school buses.  He names them and I make up a silly story.  The other night he asked for a turtle story.  I told him one that was based in reality from my own childhood with some added creative details.  He has asked for it several times since.  I guess my true to life stories are more believable then Morton the Mail Truck who got lost on his route.  Or Sam the pick-up truck that gets stuck in a pothole while delivering vegetables to children.

"When Aunt Kari and Momma were very little girls, we were riding our bikes on the back roads by the beach.  It had rained the night before and there were large puddles in the road that we half-heartedly tried to avoid.  At one puddle, we saw a little splashing.  We stopped our bikes and rushed to the nearest puddle to find the tiniest turtle you've ever seen splahing in the water.  He was just a baby and got lost on his way to the ocean."
"Where's his momma?" Wyatt always asks at this point which I kind of ignore because I don't know how to answer.  He doesn't have a momma, or he ran away, or she wasn't paying attention just doesn't seem appropriate.
"Kari and Momma thought the little turtle was so cute that we brought him home.  He couldn't stay in the middle of the road in a puddle that could dry up.  So, we took him to Gammy who found us a big box to put him in.  We made him a comfy home in the box with leaves and some water."
"And dirt. And grass. And sticks."
"Yup, and some celery so he wouldn't get hungry.  Kari and Momma took care of our turtle everyday.  We made sure he had fresh food and clean water.  And he grew.  He got bigger and bigger and bigger.  Until one day, he could barely fit in the box."
"The box broke!"
"He got so big that the box broke!  So, we told Gammy we needed to find a new home for our turtle.  She thought that maybe it was time to bring the turtle to the Fish Hatchery where he could have other turtle friends and a big pond to play in." (The first night this needed a lot of explaining.) "So, we drove to the Fish Hatchery to let our turtle live there.  And he is still there, with his friends, playing and getting bigger everyday."
"Can we visit your turtle, Momma?"
"Sure.  Maybe someday."

Someday finally came this week, Wyatt and I made a trip to the Fish Hatchery to see the turtles.  Every turtle he would squeal and ask "Is that your turtle, Momma?"  or "Is he Momma's turtle?"  I would tell him "No, that ones too little." or "No, that one has spots." Until we came upon the outdoor pond with some rather big turtles.  I picked one swimming in the water and started yelling "There he is!!!"  Wyatt got so excited.  It was contagious.  We fed Momma's turtle and watched him swim.  Another little boy came over and Wyatt proudly pointed saying "That's my Momma's turtle."  He didn't really care about the other fish or frogs after that.  He talked about it all the way home and then told the story to Gammy and Pa.  He asks for the turtle story every night and sometimes at nap time too.  But now it ends with our visit to the Fish Hatchery to find that Momma's turtle was happy and swimming with his friends.  He wants to go back already.

The true story is:  Bri and I did find a turtle in a puddle on a bike ride. I changed it to Kari because he sees her more.  It was a pretty big sucker and we brought it home for a little while, took some pictures and I think brought it back to the beach.  I never gave any animal to the Fish Hatchery.  Although when I told Kari, she said that she gave 2 turtles there.  So, I guess the combination of our two stories might work.  Wyatt is going to find out one day that his turtle story was just of my creation and be very upset.  I hope it's not as devestating as the Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny.