The Turtle-- Stories,Short Story for and about Kids and Children

Sheila and Shane romped around the shore while Mark fished.

 The whole family had come to the lake to fish and have a picnic and Elise went out in the boat with the farmer’s wife.

Mark and the two dogs stayed on shore. He found a raft and took the dogs for a ride across the island.

 Mark tied the stringer to the raft and put the fish in the water.

He went to get his fishing pole and when he came back to check the fish he found only one of them on the stringer. As he put it back in the water he saw a big turtle just a few feet away.

“I bet that turtle got my fish,” he thought.

  The turtle started to come closer and Mark splashed the water to see if he could scare it away.

  Shane and Sheila thought Mark was playing and they both jumped into the water and almost collided with the turtle.

            Now, turtles are very slow on land, but they are very fast in water.

            Shane started to swim after the turtle. Mark called Sheila to the raft and started to pole it toward Shane. The turtle must have dived under the water because Shane turned back to the island.

When he got near the raft, Mark reached out to help him. Taking Shane’s collar he  pulled as Shane tried to scramble aboard. But Shane was too heavy and the raft was too slippery. Shane slipped back into the water and Mark fell in with him.

When Mark shook the water out of his eyes and nose, he tried to swim to the raft but it was drifting away faster than he could swim. He turned to swim toward the island. He was getting tired though. Then Shane swam up to him and Mark grabbed his collar again. Shane pulled him to shore.

Sheila, by this time had drifted almost to the shore on the other side of the lake. She jumped from the raft and swam ashore. She started to look for the farmer, who was still in the boat fishing.

On the island Mark and Shane ran around the shore to see if they could spot the rest of the family.

In the boat Elise said, “I think I hear Sheila barking. But now it sounds like Shane. I can’t tell if they are on the shore or on the island.”

            The farmer’s wife looked toward the shore. “I think I hear Sheila over there. Mark must want to come out fishing with us.”

   “Then what’s that racket on the island?” the farmer asked.

He took out a pair of field glasses and he could see Shane running back and forth on the shore or the island and Mark waving his shirt back and forth. He looked toward the mainland. “Now, how in the world did Mark and Shane get out on the island and why didn’t they bring Sheila?”

            He started the motor and went over to the island. Mark and Shane got into the boat. He asked Mark why he went over to the island without Sheila and how he got there in the first place.

Mark tried to explain about the raft and the turtle. The farmer shook his head and said “Never mind, I don’t want to figure it out.”

Elise said, “That’s not hard to figure out.”

            Then she said, “Mark. There’s just one thing I can’t figure out.

“What?” Mark asked

  How come Sheila didn’t come back and get you with the raft?”

“Because the pole for pushing the raft got lost when I fell in the water,” Mark said

The farmer shook his head again.

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