Ch 3 Donatello.

He continued to read until a strange whistling noise startled him and once again brought his attention to his four new charges, specifically the one with the gap in his teeth and the eyes of deep brown, almost the color of chocolate. Splinter smiled and once again found himself chuckling quietly.

This particular turtle, with all his childish like nature also seemed so highly intelligent. Yoshi looked up at the ceiling and wished, not for the first time, to be able to be a part of the human world once again. He could see this particular turtle excelling in everything and being quite the scholar. This is one he would love to send to a university, he smiled, maybe Oxford, he hummed, or possibly Harvard.

Yoshi looked back at the page he was reading. DONATO DI NICCOLO DI BETTO BARDI . Famous sculpture and artist, also known as DONATELLO. Yoshi read the biography and noted how gifted this particular artist was. Creating such great sculptures and wondrous architecture. Splinter found himself once again reminiscing to that same day not too long ago.

Flashback

Yoshi came running out of one of the larger rooms he was inspecting at the sound of two of his new turtles fighting and one crying. After quickly reprimanding them and watching the green eyed one soothing the one that got him mad, he made his way over to where the crying turtle sat intending to ask him why he had insulted his brother.

However, as he made his way over to him, he watched in growing amazement as the turtle with the deep brown eyes quickly composed himself and began to reassemble the blocks and create a rather large and very complicated castle. Not the typical kind with a few blocks put on top of each other, but several piled on top in a very meticulous and precise way. He did this quickly and expertly.

"Young one." Yoshi bent down and stared at the work of art. "Where did you learn to make this?" The quiet turtle smiled up at him and stood up. He toddled his way over toward the bench where there laid a small book of the English Alphabet for preschoolers that Yoshi had found on that same supply run. He had not yet started teaching his turtles to read but expected to once they were a little more settled in their new home. So, for now, the book was nothing more then a mere toy for the turtles, or so Yoshi thought.

For here was this small gaped tooth turtle using the book to help create something he not only had never seen before, but something very complicated for most children that were of preschool age. He watched in curiosity, his eyes widening and jaw slacking in utter amazement as the turtle opened the book and pointed to the letter 'C' and the word 'Castle.'

"Castle." The young turtle told him and then pointed to his blocks. "I make castle." He said proudly.

Splinter nodded and stroked his long thin beard as a sudden thought came to him. "Young one, did you read this?" He asked. He couldn't remember reading the book to the turtles himself so he could think of no other explanation.

The small turtle looked up at him and giggled. "I read book." He told him proudly. He then opened the little book to the first page and pointed to the letter 'A'.

"A". He told Yoshi, then pointed to the picture. "Ap..ple." He smiled then he pointed to the next letter. "B….Bird." He flipped the page. "C…Castle."

Yoshi's eyes once again widen in utter amazement. To think this young turtle child, who could be no more then maybe a year old, had actually taught himself to read! He watched as the turtle moved to the next page and sounded out the letters and the pictures. When he was done with the book, he looked at Yoshi with a prideful smile. "I read!" He yelled happily.

"Very good little one." Yoshi praised before suddenly frowning as he realized something. "Did you tell your brother you could read." The little turtle's smile faded and his brown eyes looked down in shame and he nodded.

"I say…I can read and he can't." The turtle confessed.

Yoshi nodded in understanding. "And did you call him a dummy?" The turtle eyes went up but he kept his head down and his bottom lip stuck out as though he was ready to cry. He once again nodded shamefully at him. "Den he push my castle down." He told him, his eyes glistening with tears again.

Yoshi looked at him, wondering where he had heard that name used like that. 'Oh well, at least he was honest.' He thought to himself and then addressed the child. "Castles can be rebuilt." He said, rubbing the turtle's head soothingly. "But your brother's feelings are very fragile and name calling can cause hurt feelings to run very deep and last for a long time." He watched as the turtle blinked up at him in understanding. Yoshi patted his shell and got him to start walking toward the green eyed turtle. "Perhaps you should say you are sorry to him."

The little turtle nodded and walked over to his brother. "I sorwy." He told him as the green eyed turtle looked up at him. "You not dummy, you smart and I wuv you." The two turtles hugged and Yoshi smiled as he watch them play with the blocks together while he went back to exploring the other rooms.

Present

Yoshi finished reading the biography on the famous sculpture and then looked back over at the little turtle with the soft whistle sounding snores. So intelligent at such a young age; so much more advanced then even he was. He smiled and mulled the name over. Donatello, a name meaning 'Gift' or 'Given by God'. This one, with his intelligence, will truly be a gift for us all. He hummed thoughtfully and blinked as he nodded his head in satisfaction. His eyes gazing down at the small turtle before going on to the next page.