Hey there,I just wanted to say that I don't own TMNT but,If I did,Oh Boy,there would be some interest...
::Turns on Mikey::
"Would you quit that!!!!!!!!!"
:: Mikey can be seen in the background giggling ::
Once upon a time, there was a girl, about eight years old. She believed in a story of four ninja brothers, of a non-human
nature, who lived in the sewers of New York city with their Sensei and father figure. These four protected the city under
the cover of night and shadow. Over the years, as the girl grew, so did her passion to become like them and, to someday,
come face to face with those she admired most. Though, she never expected that it would all add up to this...
I moved to New York with my family approximately three years ago; my mother,step father,brother,sister and niece. The
city was everything I expected it to be; loud, fast, crowded, and relentless. My family took the move well and it wasn't long
before we felt like residential New Yorkers. I had always been drawn here, ever since I was a small child, though my
brother was the lucky one in having the opportunity to visit the city during a school trip,back when we still lived in Ohio.
New York always seemed to feel like home whenever I thought about it, and now here I was. I got my job within the first
month, working at a small, Mom & Pop shop nearby. The place only gets enough business to stay open but, a job is a job
and the pay is decent enough to live off of. A few more months flew by before I could blink and things were going pretty
smoothly, than one day HE stepped into the shop. I never saw his face, it was covered by a brown hooded cloak. My boss,
the owner of the shop, seemed to know him pretty well though.
"Ah,Sensei Hamato, the herbs you have requested have arrived right on time."
The store owner spoke to the cloaked person, respectfully bowing his head, as they do in the old Japanese style. The person
returned the gesture as I watched them from the back room door. I hurried back into the storage room as I saw the store
owner head in my direction. As he walked into the room he adressed me.
"Please retrieve the shipment that arrived this morning."
Nodding, I walked to the very back and retrieved the few small boxes that had arrived earlier. As he took the boxes from
me,I noticed the name written on the shipping tag.
"Splinter Hamato "
I mouthed silently, as the box moved from my hand to the owners and out the door.I stepped to the edge of the storage
room door and once again watched the two of them. The store owner offered up the boxes, again bowing his head to the
stranger, the stranger bowing in response and taking them, handing the store owner what looked like a few bills, than he
was out the door and it was back to business as usual. At the end of the day I went to the store owner, reguarding the
stranger that had come into the shop.
"He is one of our most valued customers."
Was the only response I got. Figuring it was all I was going to get, I headed home for the night. Along the way,another
question crossed my mind;
" Has the store owner ever seen his face?"
I wondered, coming up on the apartment building my family and I shared. I was the only one, besides my brother, who
actually seemed to spend any time there. My mother had found herself a decent job at some technology company on the
other side of town, my sister was usually off, with my niece in toe of course, galavanting with some guy that she had met a
few days after we arrived, and my step dad had found himself an architectural position not too far away. So, most nights it
was just him and I to ponder on the days events. Opening the door, I saw him sitting there in front of the television playing
one of his many video games.
" Hey Jake, what's up?"
I acknowledged, getting the usual half wave in response. So, I reclosed the door and went about my ususal routine which,
was nothing more than walking into my room and tossing my bag on the bed before closing the bedroom door and turning
on my stereo. With Jake on the game there was no chance of "pondering the days events" since he was glued to the thing
whenever he played. So, I was left to "ponder" all on my own and ponder I did, mostly about the stranger from the shop.
For some reason,there was an air of familiarity about him that I just couldn't place, or shake for that matter. I thought
about the name on the shipping tag and ran it over in my head, as well as say it out loud several times.
"Splinter Hamato"
Pacing around my room, I eventually flopped down on my bed, kicking my bag to the floor. I stared at random things in my
room and then my eyes settled on something sitting on top of my stereo. It was a small snow globe with a backdrop of the
New York sky line. I stared at it for a few seconds more before hopping off the bed,walking over and picking it up. I turned
it over in my hands once or twice, admiring the small statue of liberty and the twin towers, that didn't exist presently.
Giving it a quick shake,I watched the glitter swirl about the tiny city scape and sighed, than placed it back on top of my
stereo. Deciding to switch from the radio to my CD, I let the music put me into a rem state as I laid down with my hands
behind my head. A few songs came and went, and I sang along blissfully to some of the words.It wasn't until I heard I
certain verse of the song "Turtle Power" that I sat straight up. Getting up from the bed once again, I hurried over to the
stereo and hit the "back" button searching for the verse. Letting the verse play over, I got the answer I had been waiting for.
" They were once normal but, now they're mutants. Splinter's the teacher, so they are the students..."
"That's it!!!"
I practically shouted,realizing how obvious everything had been. But, I couldn't go by just a name alone,I needed solid
proof that the stranger from the shop was infact the same " Splinter" that I had come to learn about during my childhood.
I needed to see him and get to know him, and I figured that was going to be the hard part.Deciding to hatch out my
sketchbook plan tomorrow, I changed my clothes and finally retired to bed for the night. With my nagging question half
answered,I was able to sleep fairly well.
