For once...I'm going to do something different. Instead of mixing reality with fantasy like I usually do I want to tell you guys something that actually happened.

For starters, for those of you who don't know, Vicky really is me. Her past is mine, her feelings are mine and Dennis and Amy do exist, just under different names. And Amy really was the name of my childhood friend mentioned in my stories numerous times. I do live out in the boonies and my dad does own goats, but we don't have quite as much land as I've made it out to be in the stories. I had to change that part to give the turtles free reign of the place.

Another thing is...I do owe the turtles a lot. That part is very much true as well. Even if they are just fictional figures, they have helped me through some pretty tough times. I will always be grateful for that, even if I can never thank them personally.

In a way they kind of inspired me to write again. I hadn't done it since I was a teen, just couldn't find the time or the interest to do anything. That all changed when the new movie came out, and I stumbled into the world of fan fiction. By pure accident actually. Was looking for something completely different turtle related when Google so kindly redirected me. It caught my interest, I tried a couple of starter stories to get a feel for it...Then "Realities Collide" was born and the boat just kept rowing from there.

So, if Vicky and the children are modeled after real folks...it shouldn't be hard to understand that there are other characters that are also based off of real characters. Honestly, to me, it gives the stories a more real feeling if I keep the feeling real. If that makes any sense.

But before I go any further with that, let me back track a bit here and let you in on how I feel about these guys. Maybe why I write the way I do will also be understood, but the main reason is to make what I will explain later a bit clearer to understand.

I was introduced to them with the 80's series, in a time that was a very dark period for me. Yes, this is the time frame the Amy thing happened and the whole court proceedings were going on. Not a pleasant time for me. But I had found these unusual green turtles. They made me laugh, lifted my spirits when my emotions were pretty much at the lowest point they can get for a little girl. I always held onto that. It was that perfect timing that started a bond so strong that it lasted until well in my adulthood. With each new incarnation of them, they grew and I grew with them.

The 03 series really spoke to me the most though for numerous reasons. As mentioned in my stories, Leo's struggles trying to lead his family seemed to mirror mine. But there were other issues too. Bishop is a villain I have used a lot, just because he seemed to embody all the fucked up shit I've seen in my life. And them having to deal with this twisted fuck only made me relate to the turtles even more. In time it felt like I knew them. Not know them like, Hey! Turtles are on tv! Yay! I knew them, intimately. I may sound weird here, there is really no way to describe this, but that knowledge I felt just kinda kept growing until I finally understood what it was when I started writing.

To me they feel alive. No I don't need to go to a dang loony bin to get evaluated, I know they are fiction. But because I had so related with them, felt so connected with them, when I started writing they just seemed to come to life because to me they were alive. I don't think about what I write when I write for them, it just flows naturally out. When I get writer's block it's more the fact I don't really know where to go with the plot or how to get it moving there, but once that is figured out and the actual interaction starts happening, it's like the story writes itself.

The strange result from this is, I actually love the turtles that are in my head. They are modeled after the 2014 turtles, yes, but this was my version of them and over the course of a few stories and several oneshots this version of them is now firmly embedded in me. When I write emotion filled scenes it literally is how I feel about them. So I guess you could say that they are more to me than just four make believe turtles. Even today they still help me, if I'm struggling with something I'll write about it. I can't tell you how many times I've slipped crap like that into my stories. So these guys are very special to me, very special. Not many out there can fully understand how much these crazy loons in my head mean to me.

Now, most of you know Cris. Well, surprise!, she's a real person too and a very good friend of mine though I didn't meet her like I did in the stories. And guess what...today was my birthday. Now, I already did a birthday oneshot so I really didn't want to do another one, but I really wanted to tell this. Not to brag or anything but because there is a slight twist that is still blowing the hell out of my mind.

Cris decided, after being told not too, to send me a present. Now silly little ol' me was expecting a card or something in the mail because she lives in another state. Not quite what happened there.

At mid afternoon, while my kids are outside running amok and causing terror to the neighborhood, a delivery truck pulls up. Dennis and Amy are out there hooping and hollering all excited to the point I really couldn't understand what they were babbling about when I went to go check. By that point my brother, Jim in the stories, is already signing for the package. Something he does a lot for me if he catches it. But I wasn't expecting it so I didn't think the boxes were for me. Until he came to my house with this long box. Yup...the words "Cris ima kill you..." were uttered.

Anyway I get it inside and sit down to open this strange shaped box, not having any fucking clue on what the hell was in there. So I open the delivery box the whole shebang was wrapped up in. And blue wrapping paper is staring back at me. Suddenly I knew what was in that box before I even opened it any farther. I knew and I started crying. My hands were even trembling as I carefully pulled the blue wrapping paper off and opened another box. Inside was a katana. I lost it. I'm holding this sword in my shaking hands and I'm bawling like a big baby.

That sword meant so much to me, not because it was a cool as fuck sword and I want to start a blade collection, but for what it stood for. Here was something that my favorite turtle smacks enemies around with on a daily basis. Here was something I could actually hold that had some kind of connection to someone I love very much but who exists only in my head. Big thing for me to take in there, but that's how I see this beautiful weapon. It's more than a decoration, more than a weapon, it was a symbol of (sound the cheesy alarm here) hope, strength and friendship because the last few days have been very rough on me. I'm not sure even Cris fully understands what she just gave me.

Now Holly, I know you are reading this too. This does not mean I think of you any less because you didn't get me something. Hell, I never asked for anything and threatened you with bodily harm if you did get me anything. Cris just didn't fucking listen...big surprise there. But you did keep the secret and that's a big thing here in this scenario. Because if you had blurted it out, it would not have had the same impact on me as it did when I opened the box. I hold you both dear for this incident today.

And here folks is the final twist. This is how the conversation generally went after I calmed down enough to talk to Cris later in the evening.

Me: Just out of curiosity...did you choose the wrapping paper color?

Cris: No. I ordered it wrapped but I didn't specify the color.

Me: You're fucking with me right?

Cris: No. I'm not.

Me: It was wrapped in blue wrapping paper...

Both of us: o_O

Me full of wonder: Maybe he is out there...

Cris: Yeah, in the wrapping department.

Facepalm