It’s a normal day as I stand in my own little world. The sun is hidden behind a sky full of an assortment of clouds patched on the quilted blue. There’s a breeze, gentle enough to blow loose strands of my hair into my face and send a tingle of tickling against my cheek. It might just have been the peaceful tranquility of the place, or maybe just the wanderings of my mind, but seemingly out of nowhere, a small turtle appeared. It’s slowness caught my attention; the way it so perfectly blended into the rest of the place made it stand out in a contrast to the land it sauntered over, so slowly, so cautiously. Perhaps it was the way it, every so often, would pause and hold itself still, as if listening for a call of danger in the flowing air. I sat myself down on the cool ground to watch it, which, after sensing my moving body, retreated into its shell in its own simple, yet effective, form of protection.

“Hide away in your shell, little turtle, until it’s safe to come out again,” I mused out loud, watching it, and waiting for its return to my reality.

From this view, it looked like a rock.