Lonny Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE
That night a hard rain came down on Wing Island and Lonny’s nest was washed away. When Mr. Blue came to see Lonny he found him busy trying to rebuild his nest. Lonny was angry about the rain and his nest getting washed away. For a while he just worked in silence while Mr. Blue helped him by gathering tall grass and adding it to the pile Lonny had already gathered. Halfway through his nest building Lonny began to cry.
“It’s not fair, Mr. Blue,” he cried out. “I can’t even have one night where something doesn’t go wrong for me. Why is this happening to me!”
“Ah, my friend, sometimes good things happen after bad things. Sometimes the bad things help us to find the good things,” Mr. Blue replied.
Lonny didn’t answer Mr. Blue. He just kept on working, trying hard to weave the tall grass together so it wouldn’t get washed away again. Mr. Blue watched him and thought about what Lonny had said the night before about the Turtle God. He wanted to ask Lonny about the Turtle God. He knew that the Turtle God was the only one who could help Lonny make it back to Turtle Island, but first he had to find out how to get the Turtle God’s attention. He thought that if they could find a special prayer or a special present that the Turtle God liked, then he would listen to them.
“Lonny, my friend, tell me about the Turtle God,” Mr. Blue said, after dropping a load of tall grass onto Lonny’s pile.
Lonny stopped working and looked down at the ground. He didn’t want to talk about the Turtle God. He knew that the Turtle God would not help him. He knew he had been a bad turtle. He didn’t know if he should tell Mr. Blue the truth about what he had done that made the Turtle God mad at him.
“Mr. Blue,’ Lonny asked, ‘will you still be my friend if I tell you about a bad thing I did?”
“I will always be your friend,” Mr. Blue answered. “Whatever you did before you came to this island will not make me leave you. You are not the same turtle you were before you came here. You are not the same turtle you were yesterday. Each day we have a new start. Each day we learn new things. We are never the same as we were yesterday.”
“I only went to the worship parties because I knew how important they were to the older turtles,” Lonny began. “They would notice if you didn’t come and then go looking for you until they found you. Everybody was expected to bring a present to the Turtle God. They would spend hours gathering the best seaweed, berries, spring grass and flowers just so they could put it all together in a big pile. Days later I would go back to where the worship party was held and find the pile sitting there, until the grass and seaweed dried out and everything just blew away. I told the older turtles about this and they said that it was okay. They said that the Turtle God had taken our gifts to a secret place where they grew and became more and more. When they became much more than what we had given, the Turtle God then gave them back to us. They said he always gave us back much more than we had given. They said that we didn’t give presents to the Turtle God because he needed them. They said we gave presents to the Turtle God because we needed him. They said that giving a special gift was also a way of thanking him for all the good things he did for us. He gave us food and shelter, friends to play with, and his protection.”
“What kind of protection?” Mr. Blue asked.
“The Turtle God was supposed to help us stay away from the big octopus who lived by our island. But he didn’t help me stay away from the big octopus and I know why. I decided that it was silly to spend all day gathering good food just to give it away to the Turtle God. So the next time we had a worship party I gathered the best berries I could find, as many as I could carry, and brought them to give. I walked past all the other turtles who had brought grass and seaweed and flowers, and added my berries to the pile they had made with their presents. All the other turtles agreed that my present was the best one. I acted like I was special because my present was the best one of them all. But that night, after the worship party was over, I snuck back to the pile when no one was looking, and ate the berries myself. I know it was a bad thing to do, Mr. Blue, and if I could just get back to Turtle Island I would never do anything like that again. I don’t know if there is any way for me to make the Turtle God hear my prayers here on this island. If I could get back to Turtle Island I could at least try to make up for what I did to the Turtle God, but how can I get back if the Turtle God won’t help me now?”
“Ah, my friend, that is a hard question. There is no way for me to know what the Turtle God will or will not do. All I can say for sure is that I am still your friend and I will always be your friend.”
Lonny finished rebuilding his nest and nibbled on some berries. He went for a swim in the cool water near the island while Mr. Blue sat on a big rock and watched. Mr. Blue was worried about Lonny. He knew that he loved the little turtle, no matter what he had done in the past. He just wondered if the Turtle God felt the same way.
A few weeks later Lonny was again rebuilding his nest after a hard rain on Wing Island. This time he felt no anger over his loss, he knew he had plenty of time to work on it. He was now used to being the only turtle on the island. He also had learned that birds were not the only inhabitants. There were other animals that were not friendly like the birds were. Mr. Blue told him they were called snakes, and they roamed the island under the grass and bushes. They could also crawl up trees and often attacked the birds or the bird’s nests. Whenever a bird spotted a snake they would shriek loudly to alert their friends that an enemy was nearby. The snakes were very sneaky though. Sometimes they would climb up into a tree and hide, being very still so no one would know they were there, and wait for a bird to land near them. Then they would attack quickly. Lonny felt bad inside every time he heard that one of the birds had been attacked. Whenever Mr. Blue heard the telltale squawking of a bird being attacked, he would fly as fast as he could to help his friend escape. Lonny asked him why he did that when snakes were so dangerous and mean.
. “The Bird God didn’t give me wings so I could fly away from trouble,” Mr. Blue told Lonny.
Mr. Blue visited Lonny every day. They would talk about what they had done that day or about their friends. Lonny liked to hear about the baby birds who were just learning to fly. Even though Lonny had no wings or feathers the birds treated him as if he were part of their family. Once in a while Mr. Blue would try to talk about the Turtle God. When he did, Lonny would look away. He knew Mr. Blue was still looking for a way to reach the Turtle God. He knew that his friend often talked with birds who flew from island to island trying to find out about the Turtle God so he could get him to help Lonny get home. But Lonny no longer cared about that. He had given up believing that he would ever return to Turtle Island. This was his home now. He had his friends and his nest and plenty of food to eat. He didn’t want to keep wishing for something that would never happen. Sometimes Lonny got mad at Mr. Blue, and yelled at him to stop talking about the Turtle God. He would ask him why it mattered so much, when this was a fine island full of good things. Mr. Blue never answered him. He was Lonny’s best friend. He never stopped believing that Lonny could make it back to Turtle Island, even if Lonny did. He often tried on his own to reach the Turtle God, doing anything the visiting birds told him might work. He had gathered grass and flowers to present to the Turtle God. He had flown up to the tallest branch on the tallest tree and flapped his wings until he got so tired he couldn’t even fly home. He had made up a special song that was all about how wonderful the Turtle God was and he sang it every morning hoping the Turtle God would hear. Nothing had worked, but he kept on trying.
After he had been on Wing Island for a whole year, the birds came and had another party for Lonny. They all came and sang and brought gifts to him, welcoming him all over again. They all admired his nest. All the other nests he built had been washed away but this one had endured at least a dozen hard rains. Lonny was proud of his strong nest.
Mr. Blue was quiet during the party. He watched as Lonny joined in the singing, his deep voice mixing with the voices of the birds who were his friends. He waited until all the other birds had gotten tired and flew to their own places. Then he went to talk to Lonny.
“I think you should leave all the gifts the birds gave you for the Turtle God,” he told Lonny. “You have to try to get his attention. I tried the best I could, but I guess because I’m not a turtle, he won’t listen to me.”
Lonny turned his face away from Mr. Blue. “Please, Lonny,” Mr. Blue said. “Just try. I know you can never be as happy here as you would be back on Turtle Island. You’re a turtle, Lonny. You belong on Turtle Island. I know that and you know that.”
Mr. Blue flew away so Lonny wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. He knew it was now up to Lonny to decide what he would do.
Lonny sat alone thinking about what Mr. Blue had said. He looked over at his pile of special presents and thought that his friend might be right. Maybe there was some way he could get back to Turtle Island. He thought about how he missed his real home. For a long time he tried to tell himself that he didn’t really miss it. He tried to tell himself that he was happy here and would always be. In his heart he knew that he did miss Turtle Island. He loved all his bird friends here, but he wanted friends who could swim in the sea like he did. He thought about how many of the birds were able to fly easily from island to island. Up in the air, they didn’t have to worry about the octopus. They could fly far above the water carrying news from island to island. He knew from what they told him that his friends on Turtle Island still remembered him. They often sent messages through the birds to let him know how much they cared about him. He knew he had to find a way to get back to Turtle Island. Walking over to his pile of presents he knew what he had to do. Quickly gathering them up he took them to a small clearing behind his nest. He laid them down gently and then looked up at the dark sky. A few minutes later he went back to his nest. He knew he had done the best he could. He believed with all his heart that the Turtle God had heard his prayer. He believed with all his heart that he would soon be home.