A Turtle's Tail: Tilly Turtle and the Leach • Tomorrow's Earth Stewards

This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series Pond Life

A Turtle’s Tail:

Written and illustrated by Anastasia Brennan

It was a Sunday afternoon, and Tillie Turtle lay around,

At the pond with other turtles who hardly made a sound.

Tilly splish-splashed in the water when a leech swam up and got her!

The bite was small and didn’t sting,

But for a leech on Tillie’s bottom, how embarrassing!

The leech wouldn’t budge, so Tilly swam off to hide.

She paddled to the reeds and crawled inside.

She hid in the reeds because she had no doubt,

That if other turtles saw her, she would definitely stand out.

Tilly hid in the reeds, and let out a moan.

Then suddenly came a splash. She wasn’t alone!

“Who’s there?” Tilly asked, sinking deep in the water.

“It’s me, Tanya Turtle. I’m looking for my daughter.”

“Mother!” cried Tilly, then she burst into tears.

As she showed her the leech and shared her fears.

“Stay calm.”, said her mother. “It’s just a small hurdle

All part of becoming a grown-up turtle.

We all have leeches – here, look at mine!

Believe it or not, you’ll be just fine.”

Tilly nodded and took her mother’s hand.

Then Tanya Turtle helped her daughter stand.

Together they paddled to where other turtles stayed.

But the closer they got, the more Tilly became afraid.

Then she looked down the log and was surprised to find

That all the other turtles had leeches on their behinds!

The End.