Kione

I had just came home from a bike ride with my dad yesterday and I saw something in the road. It was a turtle, right in front of my house in the street! The poor baby was probably lost, so I put on a pair of gloves and walked down the street to the park to let him go to the pond, admiring his beautiful shell and talking to him the whole way there. When we got to the pond, I couldn't find a way to get near the water and then I realized that I couldn't do it. I couldn't let him go, I formed a bond with the little guy in a matter of minutes. So I decided I was going to take care of him for the day-just for one day. I found a large plastic container and filled it with cold water and a few big rocks for him. I went on the internet and looked up how to take care of him and even went to look for a name that fit him, even if I was only going to be spending the day with him. I confirmed that he was a male turtle, I would have felt bad if I kept calling a girl turtle a he. He was a painted turtle and omnivorous. So I fed him some lettuce and organic swiss chard from the garden. Painted turtles also like clean water and sun basking, so I changed his water a couple times when it looked dirty and took him out and let him rest in the sun. After a couple hours, he hadn't eaten any of the chard or lettuce, so I worried that he might want to get some food by now. I knew I should bring him back home, or my best interpretation of it. I took him out of the container and started walking to a pond the opposite way of the other one. By then I had named him Kione, which means "someone who comes from nowhere". I talked to him and told him that I'd miss him, but he'd like his new home better. When we got to the pond, I said goodbye and placed him on the rocks near the water. He immediatly raced into the water and dove in.

When I first got him out of the street, he was a shy turtle:

The temporary environment I made for him:

Maybe it was selfish to contain him in a box, small compared to the big pond and world that he has so much freedom in now, or maybe it was the nicest thing in the world to give him so much care. If I hadn't interfered in his life, he may have been flattened into the street by someone who wasn't paying attention to the road, like a bird I saw on my ride. Or maybe it seems silly for someone to fuss over a turtle, come on, it's just a turtle. Just like a bee is just an insect, a fly is just something to be swatted and killed, or a hamburger is just a cow. No harm done. But Kione was more than just a turtle, he is a living being, a life just like any other animal or person. I don't know where Kione is right now, and I probably will never know. He could be still in that pond, swimming and living in happiness, or he may have ventured onto land and some idiot stepped on him. I like to believe he had a happy depart, but if not, my consolence comes from the fact that I impacted his life, even if I only had him for a few hours. Taking care of animals and people is a normal everyday thing for me. I value the sanctity of all living beings. There is no reason to be cruel to a turtle any more than a person. If every person realized that cruelty and hatred is not beneficial or kind to anyone, animals or people, the world would be a much better place.