A number of years ago a turtle showed up in our Brooklyn backyard. My husband thought it had belonged to a next-door neighbor’s son. They’d moved some years earlier, and he had been very upset that he couldn’t find his pet.
It was exceedingly strange to see this critter appear from time to time. I was frightened the first time, as it moved a small empty planter aside as it walked — I thought it might have been a rat. I named it Anatole, for no good reason other than it popped into my head.
The new neighbors (the third owners since the boy’s family left) looked up the turtle, but I forget what kind it was. One time we put it in our daughter’s kiddie pool, and it was happy as could be. (more…)