A Turtle's Journey Beyond
Chapter 11: Winter Waterland
A 5 year-old girl once told him he was one of the bravest turtles in the world. He could not disappoint that little girl just because he chickened out on this one simple task. Would it really be simple? Michaelangelo told himself to remain calm when the force dragged him underneath the boathouse floorboards and into a strange, new world. Paralyzed to resistance, he felt himself traveling below the lower depths of the dark, foreboding lake. The first to disappear was the faithful AMBER headset, followed by his clothes, ninja gear, and his entire physical body. A swirling hole with bubbles invited him to continue downward into an unknown realm full of bluish waters, shards of razor-sharp ice, and...a child's face? Right before his eyes was the head of a young boy looking both sad and perplexed in his icy predicament. Who or what caused the poor lad to fall within the confines of a frozen lake?
"Whoa, you don't look so good, pal." Mike said, feeling himself get a little choked up.
"I think I should be cold, but I'm actually rather comfortable." The boy answered with a soft, English accent.
Michaelangelo looked up from the ice and took a few seconds to view his new surroundings. Judging by the frozen lake and heavy snow fall, he could see he entered a dimension during the cold, winter season. No telling what year it was exactly. The familiar boathouse stood behind him, mere inches from where he was moments ago. Keeping in spirit with the Yuletide, the owners pulled out their beautiful Christmas decorations. The main doors were adorned with two big wreaths and the side walls held up bright, red bows.
"Christmas, your family lost you at..." He sadly shook his head, pausing to hear a faint, squeaky voice speak out to him.
"Help!" Michaelangelo looked left to right, seeing no one. "Heeeeelp!" Then, straight ahead, he faintly spotted someone or something trapped in the frozen lake. It was a little clown doll dressed in a one-piece white outfit with purple and green toy designs. On his head was a standard cone-shaped clown hat with one large wave of orange-red hair. His eyes were bright green and full of panic from having half his body stuck in the solid ice. "Help me!"
"Is that a friend of yours?" Mike asked the boy.
"Hey, stupid! Over here!" The doll yelled, giving the turtle something to huff about. "Pull me out!"
"Why should I?" Mike sneered as he stepped closer. "Who are you?"
"That's me popette!" The boy answered happily.
"Ahhh. Your...hey, you must be Chippy, the one who gave me a fright under the planks! Heh, looks as though you're not so menacing in this world, are you?" The doll rolled his eyes and gave him a look of annoyance. "So, what is it you want me to do exactly?"
"Get me out!" Chippy yelled at him. Michaelangelo held back chuckles as he bent down and tried to pull him out of the ice. "Pull my finger!" The doll waved his fingers at him. Not remembering one of the oldest tricks in the book, the turtle did as he requested and heard bubbles popping beneath the doll.
"Ack!" Mike pulled back in disgust. "Oh, you nasty little clown!" The boy, however, giggled.
"Do you find this amusing?" The clown asked the boy. Michaelangelo grabbed a hold of the doll's arm and yanked harder. "Ohhh....eeee! Ooooh!" The boy giggled again, clearly enjoying this. The doll looked confused. "What am I, a clown?"
"It would appear so," Mike said, standing up, "and it would appear you're stuck good. I'll see if I can find something to get you out. Sit tight. Heh, heh!"
The doll continued to call for help as Michaelangelo made his way off the ice and toward the festive boathouse. He looked out onto the lake one more time. The doll repeatedly begged for help to anyone who could hear him within a one mile radius. Maybe in order to help this ghost boy rest peacefully, he first had to help that stupid doll. For the time being, it was the only thing he could think of to do.
The inside of the boathouse was a warm welcome from the harsh, blustery winds. Although small in size, it was a basic shed filled with the typical items used for water activities. There were two red and white buoys hanging on the walls, a well built fishing boat, and a block and tackle suspended by the windows. Along one wall stood a work desk with many cracks in its aging wood. Michaelangelo walked up to the desk, accidentally smacking his head against the block. He was seeing stars now.
"Ouch! Okay, note to self: I may be invisible, but physical objects can still touch me! Jeeeeez!" Mike stopped the block from swinging and looked over the surface of the table. The contents consisted of a little black horse on red wheels, a bottle with a ship inside and a large bag of Standard Crystal Brand Rock Salt. "Hey, what's the salt for, kiddo?"
"I think I remember father using that on the walkway." The boy faintly answered.
Michaelangelo nodded and looked over the three objects. None of them could help the clown doll in any way. The boy playfully pushed the horse back and forth while the turtle pondered what to do next.
"Hmm, if we could use this tackle's rope, tie it around Chippy, and then pull..." Mike looked up to the tackle. "No, that wouldn't work. I don't have anything to cut the rope..." In a swift turn, he felt another pain shoot through his elbow after it bumped against that same, stupid block. "Ouch! I'm gonna have bruises on me and not even know where they come from!" With a growl, Mike angrily swung the block at a great force. The block flew outward and then back toward the desk, knocking the bag of rock salt out the window. Oops, that did something.
"Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man..." Mike hurried outside and found the bag split with salt upon the sheet of ice. Next to the bag was a broken hole. "Oh, great! Good job, loser!" Mike rubbed his head, looking around for a brief moment. Wait a second. He looked to the boathouse, then to the hole. Where was Chippy? Did he knock him out and down into the lake? "Um...Chippy? Are you down there?"
Peering closer, Michaelangelo moved over the hole and felt himself fall below the lake's surface. Down at the bottom of the lake was whole other world full of mystery and exploration. He immediately found Chippy sitting on the sandy-brown floor as if waiting for something to happen.
"There you are, Chip-- whoa!" Mike accidentally stepped over a yellow, rubber duck, hearing it quack angrily at him. "Oh, sorry!"
What was a rubber duck doing at the bottom of the lake? It was quite possibly another object lost from this poor boy's toy collection. The sound of the duck summoned a small car up to them, moving along as if it had no trouble finding its way through the murky waters. Michaelangelo blinked and gawked at the car, feeling his mouth drop several notches.
"How in the world..." Mike approached the car and read the title on the side door: Amber Car Co. "Wait, I gotta remember wherever I am, anything is possible! Cars can drive underwater, suuuuure!" The car door opened by itself, welcoming the travelers in for a little ride.
Chippy started to snicker. "You drove your new car in the lake? Boy, are you gonna get it!"
Mike made a face. "Hey, leave the kid alone! It was probably an accident...just like when...Shadow lost her SUV..." He paused and thought for a moment. No, push that incident away. Donatello refused to let her stay in the vehicle as it sank to the bottom of the lake. She was okay, alive and well back in his own time. This boy's family lost their son, and he knew they were hurting very badly. Shaking the thought from his head, he climbed into the driver's seat and looked at the windshield covered in a fine, white mist of fog. The passenger side opened and Chippy climbed in beside him. "So, where do you want to go?"
Chippy smiled to the windshield. "Home, James! I mean, Edwin!"
"Edwin?" Mike looked to the doll, then to himself. "Oh...so, that's your name! Okay, Edwin, let's take this clown home..."
"I can't see where I'm going!" Edwin reached up and wiped the mist off the windshield, followed by moving the car to a cliff overlooking three sand routes. One to the left, one in the center, and one to the right. "Which way shall we go?" He eagerly asked.
Mike looked over the dashboard and pointed. "Try that way first."
"Hold on, Chippy, here we gooooo!" Edwin let the car drive itself, the route spinning into numerous twists, loops and turns. The sound the tires made beneath the sand was unlike anything he had heard. It almost sounded like a very large snail sliding along a moist ground at an unbelievable speed. Although, that was something Michaelangelo had never seen before, it was the only thing he could think of! At another three-way stop, the passengers looked in all directions.
"Now, which way?" Mike covered his eyes and pointed randomly. "Eenie Meenie, Mynee Moe! Aw, heck, try that way!" Again, the car moved on its own and took the riders on some more crazy loops. Mike felt as though he was on some uncontrollable roller coaster heading to Lord knows where. It both frightened and thrilled him on what to expect next. "Man, what a ride..."
Chippy shook his head. "I- I'm gonna...be...sick!" At the end of the route, the car brought the travelers to the gates of a large underwater castle. Michaelangelo stared in awe at the sight of it, suddenly reminded of one of those fish tank plastic buildings. "Nice drivin', hee hee." Chippy stepped out and swam closer to the gate, looking back inside the windshield of the car. "Hey! I don't wanna be left here by myself! Go get the bear!"
"The who? Bear?" Mike squinted to him. "What bear?" Chippy ignored him and the windshield fogged up once again. Edwin reached out to wipe it off, finding themselves back on another three-way route. "I take it I can't leave yet? Chippy wants some bear for company. Oh, well, can't disappoint the clown."
"What a fun little motor car!" Edwin said with joy.
Michaelangelo smiled as he decided on which direction of the three routes they should take now. The crazy paths couldn't have all been the same. He figured if he tried a different route, the results would be much easier on the stomach. To his dismay, all the ramps were twisty, winding, and would cause anyone alive to lose their lunch. After another roller coast ride, the car stopped at three more routes. This was getting ridiculous. Michaelangelo pointed in another direction, turning up to a dead end of stalagmites. With those things blocking the way, the car booted them out and left them stranded on the sandy road.
"So much for the fun little motor car, kid. We'll have to walk it from here."
At the base of the stalagmites, he could see there were only two walking paths to choose from, the rest were for driving. Michaelangelo began at the direction they intended, to the right, and pressed on that way. It was a marvelous water world with dazzling lights above their heads. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he could walk underwater just as easily as he walked on land. He couldn't do this in his own time. Even as a turtle, he had to swim around with his arms and legs.
Half-way down the path, he spotted a large pit with something stuck at the bottom. A cute, brown, teddy bear hopped up and down on a piece of broken ice. Next to him was a wooden sign marked: Danger! Thin Ice! Michaelangelo felt a strong pity for the poor creature trapped like that and he knew his little companion felt the same way. It was one of his precious toys.
"Ohhh, look who we found, Edwin!"
"That's me Teddy!" The lad beamed. "He looks like he could use a hand up, but he's too far away."
Mike agreed. "Hmm, I'd go down there, but I might get stuck myself. That's one of the set-backs of not being able to swim in this place. There has to be some other way to pull him up..." Mike looked straight up to the water's ceiling and saw a blurry anchor at the top. "I wonder where that thing is located top-side."
Michaelangelo backtracked to the stalagmites and followed the second pathway up around a spiral staircase. He could tell he was getting closer to the lake's surface by the shades of blue lighting up with each step taken. Through another broken hole, the turtle found himself standing on top of the ice once more. How many holes were in this lake? He knew he didn't emerge from the same hole he found Chippy. The location told him he was definitely away from the boathouse.
Then, he saw it. He saw the exact reason why Edwin had died so young. Turning his gaze to a snow bank, he found a fresh set of sled tracks coming from the trees and stopping at the edge of the lake. He was sad to admit the tracks lined up perfectly to the broken hole he was standing alongside.
"Oh, no. Oh, you poor kid. Your sled went out of control and you..." Mike bowed his head and swallowed heavily. "This is so unfair..."
Sighing in deep remorse, the turtle began a slow walk along the lake, getting to know this new world and its beautiful scenery. Beyond the edge of the lake, all he could see was a cluster of dark trees in every direction. Taking a step closer to the trees, the wind picked up and blew him backwards, almost as if to tell him there was no need to venture through the thick woods.
"Whoops. Guess I can't go up to the house for some hot chocolate, huh?" Mike stepped back on the edge of the frozen lake.
"You can't even see the house with the snow!" Edwin whined.
Michaelangelo continued to round the lake when he found a little boat, complete with a full mast and white sails. A grin appeared on his lips as he approached this fine vessel, looking ready to set sail at any given moment.
"Wow, Edwin! Is this yours? Look at this thing! Leo would be in his glory." Mike climbed into the boat and found a rope attached to the sails. Pulling it toward him, he watched the sails go up, but nothing happen. "Hmm, that's odd...how will we get this thing to move?" Mike climbed out and followed a rope, the end of it over by another hole in the ice. The two peered down to see what was on the other end of the rope.
"Oh, look! I can see an anchor from here!" Edwin said to him.
Mike also looked down the hole. "Hey, yeah! That's where Teddy is! We're right above him!" He then looked between the boat and the hole, getting an idea. "If we can somehow move the boat over here, it'll drop the anchor to the bottom and Teddy can climb on it! The boat probably needs something to push the sails. Let's see what we can find."
Michaelangelo was almost happy to know he was figuring out this whole puzzle without the help of his brothers. As luck would find it, the two ventured up to an old windmill buoy, also collecting dust on the lake. He never saw this thing in his world and wondered if it still worked. After finding a lever beneath the pivot, a sad-sounding motor sprung to life. Michaelangelo grinned as he watched the propellers spin like an airplane, ready to take off into flight.
"That'll put a little wind in your sail!" The boy said happily.
"All right! Let's go try the boat now, Edwin!" Mike ran back over to the boat, hoisted the sails and...sat motionless. "What?! I don't get it! That windmill is giving us wind! What am I doing wrong?" Mike climbed out again and looked all over, utterly confused. "Okay, the boat needs to move forward so that the anchor can be lowered to Teddy...I turned on the windmill...and..." A blustery wind whipped by him and for some strange reason, he almost felt it. "Hmm, maybe the sails will only move if we're going in a certain direction...?"
Michaelangelo began another slow walk along the lake, using his brain power as strongly as possible. At one edge of the lake, he found a bubbling hole with yet another wooden sign marked: Danger! Thin Ice! next to it. There were so many warnings, but unfortunately, so little parental supervision. The turtle paused at the sign and blinked away tears. It was such a tragedy to see a young child die in such a horrible way. He remembered the one year in early spring when April fell through the frozen pond at Casey's grandmother's farmhouse. If Leonardo hadn't been hunting in the forest nearby...well, he just knew she wouldn't be around if it wasn't for his heroic brother.
"I wish I could have been here to save you, kid." He said quietly. "The only thing I can do now is help your toys go home and make sure you find a nice place to rest for a very long time."
Moment's later, the boathouse came back into view, telling him this lake wasn't as big as he thought it was. With the interior having no more clues to help him, he decided to take a look around the exterior. Michaelangelo began along the sides, looking at everything and anything. At the back, he found a trellis going up the wall and onto the roof of the boathouse.
"Hmm, what's up here?" Mike began to climb the trellis and, to his surprise, found a rusty weathervane. Mike stared at the contraption and again, started to think over what to do. "The wind is blowing according to this thing, but what if I...move the arrow?" A very harsh squeak emerged and the pointer moved. Mike felt a gust of wind blow up in the direction the weathervane pointed; the force almost sending him off the roof. "Yikes!"
"Does this change the wind or does the wind change this?" Edwin asked with slight confusion.
"I don't know. In the car, we turned onto a different sand route when we found Teddy. So, if we want to move the boat from one side, the wind will have to come from..." Mike swallowed and pushed the pointer one more time. The wind blew fiercely, then died down again. "Call me crazy, but...this just might work!"
Michaelangelo jogged all the way back to the boat, jumped in and pulled the rope toward him. Again, the sails flew high, and then...the boat started to move! The wind took him and Edwin for a short ride over the hole in the ice, dropping the anchor down to the bottom of the lake.
"All right! We did it! Now, let's pull the boat back to lift Teddy!"
The logic was nearly complete for the mind of this turtle. Michaelangelo restored the weathervane to reverse the wind, and felt this would be the last car ride underwater he'll ever take. The two took different routes in the motor car, the anticipation growing more on them both. At a final sand route, Michaelangelo chose the right direction and the car went forward down the ramp.
"Let's go get Teddy." Edwin replied. At the corner of one turn, they found Teddy hovering over the sand route. The brave little bear sat quietly on the lifted anchor, almost smiling to his rescuers. The passenger side opened and Teddy climbed in next to them.
"Welcome aboard, Teddy!" Mike beamed. "Make yourself comfy." After seeing the loops up ahead, Teddy began to shake a little in the passenger seat. Mike frowned and eyed the toy warily. "Uh, Edwin, I think your bear might wet his cotton."
"Don't be frightened, Teddy," The boy said gently, "it's fun!"
Michaelangelo suddenly felt this was one of the longest routes out of all of them. He knew they couldn't be steered wrong, yet, he feared one mess up would send them at a dead end of stalagmites. The car seemed to know where to go and it didn't stop for anyone or anything. Up ahead, the sand route made a fierce set of zig-zag turns. The turtle gulped and gripped the seat while looking to Teddy.
"Got some wide turns up ahead guys." He mumbled.
"Hold on very tightly." Edwin told his beloved bear as the car zoomed through another series of sharp turns. At the end of the line, the car stopped abruptly in front of the castle. Chippy stood patiently outside the gates and waved for Teddy to step out and join him. The bear calmly floated over to the doll and also gave a friendly wave. Edwin felt much better now. "There, no one will be lonely."
Michaelangelo climbed out of the car next and looked between the two, unsure of what to say. What could you possibly say to a toy clown and teddy bear? As he reached them, the castle gates slowly opened, revealing darkness and the glow of a bouncing purple ball.
"Oooh, pretty!" Chippy said.
"Wow." Mike looked inside, then to the doll. "Okay, Chippy, I brought Teddy to you, so I guess...um..."
"I guess this means goodbye?" Chippy asked weakly. Michaelangelo went to speak, but the force returned and dragged him through the gates. The clown doll called out one more time, "Goodbye!"
Trumpets played loudly as the two entered this wide, exquisite room. It was a pinkish/purple-colored grand hall with high structure beams and water rippling on both sides of the floor. In the center of the room, Michaelangelo noticed a red carpet and a set of stairs leading up to a small jack-in-box. The purple ball bounced happily along the red carpet and up to the box. "All Around the Mulberry Bush" played softly as the box opened up and a blue spectrum of light engulfed the ball. The light increased within the room until Michaelangelo had to shield his eyes. A sparkling purple orb jumped out from him, giggling as it went into the box. Edwin was finally going home, and so was the weakened turtle.
"Take care, little guy." He waved. "Hope you stay nice and warm!" The light grew brighter and Mike felt himself drifting into some other dimension he hoped was his own. The turtle smiled broadly when he started to feel his normal senses returning. "I promised I would return, Shadow, and it's a promise well-kept."