2020 was a year of disasters. We had a very hot summer in Australia which resulted in the country's worst bushfires in a hundred years. The constant heat made me antsy and a bit cranky.
No sooner had the fires been extinguished than we were all hit with COVID-19, lock-downs, and restrictions. At least the shortages in supermarkets didn't affect me as I was already well-provisioned when the pandemic hit. Being cooped up at home with no place to go, though, like millions of others, drove me crazy. I'm young and I'm lonely.
I decided that I needed a getaway. Leaving my home is not something I do often, nor do I do it lightly. I have very special needs and my home is very comfortable. Leaving it requires exposing myself to the perils of the outside world. I'm George, an Australian Long-necked Turtle, and my home is one meter by four meter pond in Adelaide, South Australia.
I felt an overwhelming desire to find a friend, though, but my search needed to be executed carefully. First, my owner needed to fill my pond up to the very top. Otherwise, it would be impossible for me to climb over the steep concrete sides. Secondly, I needed them to leave a crucial door open or I would be trapped inside a courtyard. It was pointless leaving my home only to be trapped, as I knew I would never find a friend in the courtyard.
The day finally arrived. My owner had filled up my pond to the brim the night before and accidentally left the door open. I could sense that it was going to be a hot day, so I climbed out at first light to make an early start. The first part of my journey involved crossing a giant wooden structure, my owner referred to as a deck. Although I felt very exposed, I knew that I could always retreat inside my shell if I was threatened. I much prefer swimming to walking. The wooden surface was hot and hard and it took me a long time to reach the other side. I finally reached an expanse of native ground cover which was gentle to the touch and much cooler. Botanists refer to it as dichondra repens, but my owner called it Tom Thumb. As I crossed it, I disturbed a piping shrike having a bath but, fortunately, she was more interested in staying cool than pecking me.
Eventually, I came to a giant tree, with its low-hanging branches, large bulging roots, and white fruit that tasted like honey - my owner called it a white mulberry. A litter of dried leaves accumulated under the tree, smothering the ground cover and the weeds alike. Only some hardy mint plants were holding their own, enjoying the shady refuge and lack of competition. The leaves rustled and crunched under my shell, signaling to everyone that I was on the move. Fortunately, my owner had not yet noticed my absence from the pond.
I had ventured as far as the giant tree before and knew the gate was not much further. There was just one more tree to pass which had large green fruit - my owner called it an avocado. Its fruits were heavy enough to crack my shell if they fell on me, so I passed by quickly without looking up.
The gate beckoned just one meter beyond. My heart raced as I passed through and entered the side yard for the first time. There was another gate, presumably to the outside world, but it was closed, so I kept walking straight ahead. Eventually, I came to another gate which fortunately was open.
A rush of blood went to my neck. I could smell a great expanse of water, but it had a different aroma to my pond. Approaching the water, I was on the edge of my carapace. Surely I would find a girlfriend in such a large pond. I dived in.
I immediately realized that something was wrong. The water tasted strange. It brought back unpleasant memories. I had been living in the wild during the big drought at the turn of the millennium. My home at the time was Lake Alexandrina, which was fed by the River Murray, Australia's longest river. The river had almost stopped flowing, the lake had started to dry up and the water had become foul-tasting. The strange taste was salt.
I was used to greenery but this large pond had nothing growing in it. There were neither plants, fish, algae, nor girlfriends. Even worse, the sides were so steep I could not climb out. I was trapped.
This pond was very boring. I did my best to pass the hours, admiring a mosaic on the bottom, until I noticed a shadow passing over me. I looked up, and my owner was standing at the edge of the pond. Whoosh! A large scoop came down and collected me. I did not like being airborne so retreated into my shell. A few minutes later I was released. Even before I poked my head out of my shell, I knew I was home again.
My owner returned a few minutes later. It had been a long day and I was very hungry. My owner hand-fed me my dinner with chopsticks. An owner that hand feeds you is a good owner. Perhaps the grass is not always greener away from home.
Anyway, I don't think I will try escaping again but I hope my owner will find me a girlfriend one day. After all, I'm still young, for a turtle.
[Originally published in The Writers and Readers Magazine, April 2021.]