The Turtle and the Moon
by Charles Turner

The turtle lived alone in the tall grass beside the lake.
Every day he went for a walk
and then he dived into the water
and then he took a nap,
and went for a swim.

Then he took a sunbath and went for another swim.
Sometime the turtle got lonely because there was nobody to play with.

At the end of the day, even before the sun went down,
the turtle would draw himself into his shell and go to sleep.

But one restless night he woke up and poked his head out
and saw something so big and so round
and so strange that he snapped at it.

The moon-for that was what it was-slid behind a cloud,
"I'm sorry I frightened you," the turtle said.
"Come out and I promise not to snap at yin again."
But the moon did not come out.
"Come out and let's go for a swim," the turtle said.
But the moon did not come out.

"I bet you can't swim," the turtle scoffed.
And then the moon peeped out
"I'll race you," the turtle challenged,
and he turned and lumbered toward the lake.

But when he poked his nose through the tall grass, the turtle was surprised.
The moon was already in the water, waiting for him.

The turtle threw himself into the shining lake -plop!-
and suddenly the moon was splashing around,
playing hide and seek and tag,
diving down here,
bobbing up there,
shimmering in every direction.

"Show-off." the turtle said,
and he began to show off too,
swimming in circles,
ducking his head,
kicking up his heels.

When the sun edged the horizon,
the turtle and the moon were very tired and very sleepy.
The turtle drew himself into his shell and slept.
The fading moon drifted to the other side of the lake,
to the other side of the word...

Not a trace of it was left when the turtle woke up.
The turtle went for a walk as usual,
and then he took a nap as usual,
and then he dived into the water and went for a swim
and took a sunbath and went for another swim, as usual.

But that evening the turtle did not go to bed before dark, as usual.
That evening, he waited for the sun to go down, for night to fall,
and for his friend to come out and play.