Teenage Turtle on a Mission!

         The name 's Earl. Earl the Turtle. There is this road that is forbidden for us turtles to cross. It's called The Forbidden Road. When I was a younger I used to wish to be part of the Mutant Ninja Turtles. Each has their own personality. Leonardo is controlling, Michelangelo is mellow, Donatello is the smart aleck, and Raphael is aggressive. I see myself as the fifth turtle the Daredevil one.

         I decided to cross "The Forbidden Road." It's the only closest thing to becoming as brave as my heroes. I consider myself pretty fast compared to the Tortoise that beat the Hare. The crossroad was far, very far. I can't even see the end of it from my side. I couldn't believe it all these vehicles and electric bikes are zooming quickly.

         The road was a good 30 feet or 10 meters long, the tar (tarmac) was just at the perfect temperature for this adventure I am going to take. I put my head out of my shell to look to the left and look to the right. No cars on this side. I put my right hand out and VROOM there goes a car that has a symbol shaped like a bull almost crushing my hand. A bullet of sweat instantly came rushing down my green face. I am having second thoughts, but I have to face my fears if I want to be successful in life. We have idols and heroes that we are inspired to be like. In my case, it would be the Ninja Turtles. I have to learn to be like them and conquer what's in front of me.

         I look to my left and took another step. I realized I wasted my time looking to the right the first time because this side of the road has incoming cars coming from the left. I continued this procedure for about an hour and successful cross the first lane. Only five more to go. The next step that I was about to take was about to change. As I took the step I couldn't feel the warm concrete floor beneath me. In fact, I was feeling a nice cool breeze and realized I was flying.

(FLYING?!)

         At this point I realized I was taken by a hawk with its grotesque claws hooking on to my shell. I better act fast before I reach to an altitude that can kill me with a drop. I don't plan to be bird food now that I have a goal to accomplish. I stretched my head and neck as long as possible so I can snap at the hawk's feet and surely I did. I am falling, feeling the gravity at work and I stopped. I hope I didn't break my shell or worse. I stuck my head out and saw that I landed on a truck tire that has been broken off on the road.

         To my surprise, I am now halfway to the road because the hawk had dropped me on top of a ripped tire in the shoulder of the road. Since I was startled by the hawk I have to know the correct direction I have to head towards so I don't end up where I started. If I remember correctly, the incoming traffic should now be coming from the right side. This side there was a traffic jam and the cars are crawling from right to left, which means I am in the right direction.

         I don't have to worry about fast cars now I can just keep walking as fast as I can. The sun is super hot and it is shining directly on me. I need to go under a car for shade so I decided to use all my stamina move as fast as I can. I inched for about 2 feet to finally get shade. I used up all my energy and wound up in front of the rear tire of the red car that has a symbol of a jaguar. The car started moving and I am out of energy to move away from the tire that is about to crush me. I don't think I can handle the weight of a car on my shell. As the tire on my right is slowly moving towards me my eyes widen instead of closing like a normal turtle would.

         I started having my life flash before my eyes. However, it wasn't my life that I was seeing, it was the Ninja Turtles scenes from movies and cartoon that I was seeing. I decided to fight for my life so I screamed and gave a halt sign with my hand. To be honest, I can't do much since I am not a mutant turtle that can grow into a human size. As I gave the stop sign, the tire popped and I felt a blast of air hit me. The car drove on top of very sharp broken glasses. The blast of air made me tumble and roll like a coin drop rolling around. I felt dizzy inside my shell. Finally, I stopped rolling and I was on the back of my shell. I can't flip back over.

         At this very moment, I was scared because many turtles I knew didn't make it when they are turned like this. I gave it my best and now I have to rest this way. I closed my eyes and just when I was giving up I felt a push and I was back on my feet.

"How?" I said out loud.

"Hey, Earl! It's me Jack the Rabbit!" said Jack.

"Thanks, Jack! You saved my life."

"Not a problem. I owe you my life. I can never make up for what you did for me."

         Jack is a good friend of mine. He didn't have any friends and he used to get made fun and picked on because he was slower than other rabbits and not as strong. I decided to train him by what I learned from the rat and the students. Since then he became stronger with a good heart and always helping others who are in need of help from bullies.

         I looked around and saw that I am only one lane from crossing to the finish line. Jack decided to pick me up and put me on his back. He hopped quickly and in no time we had crossed the line together. I told Jack that I wanted to do it myself and this shouldn't have counted.

"Earl, I understand you want to cross by yourself without any help. I think you are missing the bigger picture, my friend. This goal is a journey or an adventure with some dangerous obstacle. It is safe to say that you went through it. The most important thing about your journey is your friends being there for you. I know you love the Ninja Turtles. They never beat the bad guys with only one of them. They worked together and have Splinter to guide them. I might not be a turtle, but I think we make a good team." said Jack the Rabbit.

"You're right, Jack. I accomplished my goal simply by taking the first step and I ended a journey with a friend who saved me. I can't ask for a better memory." said Earl the Turtle.

         One day I will tell the world about my story about how I couldn't see the end of the road, but I took the first step to get closer to it and a Hare had helped me on the way. My name is Earl, Earl the Turtle.