Ever wondered what happened to that kid who lost four turtles to the New York sewers? Well, this is his story.
First attempt for an OC. Don't expect something huge or anything.
……
He was twelve back then, but this was always one of his strongest memories throughout his life.
He remembered looking at the seedy looking overweight man standing behind a counter, reeking with beer and cigarettes as he handed three months worth of his allowance to the man's greasy palm. And without a word, the man gave him that glass aquarium with the four turtles that he spent all week looking at longingly.
Around him, he could see the rest of the animals, looking sickly and underfed and lonely from their respective cages. He figured it's to be expected, given that this pet store was located in the bad part of the city where no normal respectable person would even stroll into.
His parents never liked pets. They made it a point that he shouldn't bring any animal into their household despite that they were wet, wounded and dying in the road. But he persevered, he would smuggle an abandoned kitten into his room early in the morning before his family were up and took care of it until it's strong enough to move on its own. He would then release the feline to the rooftops and at evenings he would save milk for the cat. The cat visits him almost everyday, and then as it grew older, these visits became random, until finally the animal never came back. The cat was one of the lucky ones, though, more often than not he would shed silent tears to a dog that died, too young and weak to recover from its sickness or a pigeon, whom he was forced to throw away when his mother discovered the box that he hid under the bed.
Then one day he saw them… four baby reptiles displayed by the window in a questionable looking store, so defenseless and frail. He remembered his mother warning him not to go near the place, rumors of illegal business behind the building.
One of those rumors was that the owner of the pet shop usually sold the animals to be used as meat, when he suddenly made up his mind to find a way to rescue them.
It was an impulsive act. But he knew he had to do something.
He didn't know why he chose turtles… but he supposed he got the idea he read from a book. Turtles aren't noisy creatures, and are easy to feed and take care of.
Turtles are cool! His mind assured him, steeling himself for the inevitable confrontation with his parents if and when they found out about this. They'll make great household pets.
Still his heart was heavy as he left that store, the turtles in the safety of their bowl under his arm, leaving the other animals behind.
He wished he could have done more.
……
It was then he realized with a sinking feeling that his good fortune came to a crashing halt: he was unlucky enough to run into Marco, the resident bully from his public school. Seeing that he had no money and that he was only holding an aquarium of baby turtles, Marco decided to have fun to steal them instead.
Normally, he wouldn't even put up a fight against the huge boy. But he somehow had a ridiculous notion that he had the strength to protect them.
So it was a shock for him to see his aquarium flying from his arms, shattering into a million pieces as it touched the ground, the four reptiles falling into a drain leading to the sewers. It happened so fast that he couldn't process his thoughts afterwards.
He found himself screaming in rage, pushing against Marco, and attempting to punch him. But in the end he found himself sprawled on the ground with a bleeding lip, breathing heavily, with the bully saying angrily, "Get a grip, they're just dumb turtles!" as he left.
He was crying as he went home that evening. And despite his parents demanding to know what happened, he couldn't tell them about the events of that day. He couldn't admit he just spend money on pets he lost from his carelessness.
But more importantly, he realized he can't get them back anymore even if he did tell them, lost in the sewers, most likely ending up as rat food. What he only intended was to save them from a terrible fate, he ended up giving a hand to their destruction.
And this realization hurt him, more than his bleeding lip
……
He didn't know why he suddenly remembered this memory as he lifted his sleeping four year old girl into his arms, nodding in thanks to his ten year old neighbor who invited his daughter to attend the birthday party.
Maybe it had something to do that the party's mascot was a giant turtle.
"Cowabunga Carl," he said, watching the teenager putting away various party objects into his bag. His neighbors and their kids were raving about him for months now. It was strange to finally see him in person, "That's an interesting costume."
The kid shrugged, his voice muffled under his giant mask, "Well, the mouse and the bunny are already taken, dude."
He laughed despite himself, "Yeah, I guess that's a good point." He stared at the mascot, lost in thought, smiling to himself, saying fondly. "And turtles are cool."
Cowabunga Carl merely tilted his head, but waved good-naturedly back at him as he and his daughter left the apartment, into the fading sunset.