Once, when I was little, my mom took my brother and I fishing at this very same lake. We'd been there for a few hours but hadn't had so much as a nibble. Just as we were leaving, defeated, i got a bite. I was soooo excited. I didn't catch a fish, but I had caught a little turtle. I begged and begged and Mom said I could keep it. I had an empty fish tank at home and I was going to set up the most pimp terrarium you've ever seen.
Alas, Turtle had swallowed the hook and we couldn't get it out. My Uncle Jack was fishing across the lake so Mom told me to take Turtle over to him to see if he could help. I skipped all the way around the lake and proudly showed Jack my new friend. I told him I needed help because Turtle had swallowed the hook. He took Turtle from me and said "Nothin' to do but cut off his head", pulled out a pocket knife and pfft, off came his head.
I flipped out and took off running for the car. I can still hear Mom yelling after me, asking what was wrong. I sat in the car, inconsolable over the loss of my beloved Turtle. I think Mom didn't believe me when I said Jack had cut off his head so we drove around to the other side to look for him. We found him, surely did, sans head and with a crushed shell.
I never talked to him after that.
R.I.P Turtle
Anyone that knew your Uncle Jack would surely believe that story! lol! Oh my, that is terrible. I remember when Brent found a tiny, little turtle up the road near the culvert you all played under all the time. He brought it home and asked if he could keep it. His daddy told him. "No, that is a snapping turtle and he will bite your finger off when he gets bigger!"..... Brent teared up to have to let his turtle go, but he put him out in the field in front of our house. My goodness, Jim didn't cut his head off!!! lol!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs adults I think we sometimes forget how the world looks through the eyes of a child. You and Brent need to start a support group for traumatized children. In spite of all of it, you both seemed to have turned out well.
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