The Iron Turtle

It is about an iron turtle my husband and I found in our back yard. I think it is an amussing little story. I hope everyone will enjoy.

The Iron Turtle

Written By Linda Pickens Phalen

On a very warm day in the month of August with perspiration dripping from our brow we were summoned to our backyard in the warm Arizona desert to investigate the commotion that our little chihuahua, Z was causing. He was only about three inches from the ground as he stood on all fours barking and jumping as if to try to jump our 10 foot block wall. What's all the noise about I asked as I ran out the sliding glass doors of our patio. He was barking with such force that he actually shook. I couldn't imagine what had spooked him. Just then my husband spotted something in the tall grass just inches from where Z was standing. His collar had caught on the fence that was protecting our newly planted rose bush and he couldn't move. But could he ever bark!!

For such a little dog, he had a loud boisterous bark. Well it turned out he had seen a long eared bunny and it just happened to hop right across this strange looking iron thing in the tall grass. After further investigation we both saw that it was an iron turtle. From the looks of it, it must have been there for quite sometime. It looked a bit weather beaten. Poor thing!  He or she looked like it had at one time been a pretty thing. My husband picked it up which was not an easy task since its feet were buried in the dirt. It's weight and a combination of water from the little bit of rain we get here on the desert and the overflow from the flowers we planted made it's feet sink down into the now hard and cracked dirt. It's funny we never noticed it before when we were planting. But being out here where snakes are known to habitat, we just keep our distance where tall grass grows. We don't want to be surprised by a rattler.

This grass just looked safe and we both try to wear high tops and gloves when we work out here in the yard. We rarely let Z out without one or both of us out here to watch him. He is such a curious little squirt. Curt, my husband put the turtle in a big bucket we use to water the roses with sometimes. He added water and some bleach and let it soak for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Then he got a soft brush and started to gently scrub it. It began to clean up some. It was beginning to change color. It went from kind of a rust to a pretty gray. We both took turns at the cleaning and finally after about an hour it looked real nice. Curt took it out of the water and placed it on an old towel and dried it off well. Then we placed it out back on our freshly spread rocks. It really looked nice. Now we have a new addition to our animal collection. It's funny to watch our little Z sniff our new turtle. Sometimes he will bark at it. It is bigger than he is but much lower to the ground. It must weigh 50 pounds!!

Now we have five squirrels, two turtles, three frogs and four black iron rabbits. This new turtle is the heaviest of all our other animals, but he is so pretty. I think I will name him Touche after the cartoon turtle. “Touche And Away!!” He was green if memory serves me. Ours is now a pretty silver gray.

He can be our Rich Touche......(Chuckling) I have named all of our other fake animals. Curt named our Real one. We are getting excited because family is coming from Maryland in a few days and we need to get the house ready for them. They have all met Z already so we don't need to worry about that. He is a sweet little thing but is so protective of us. He's our little watch dog. Now Touche is our watch turtle....”Giggling!” Just had to throw that in. Well the days have ticked down to hours now. Our company should be here most any time. At eleven fifteen the doorbell rings and Z barks. He is our other door bell. It is always so good to see family. Of course they want to see what we have done to our home, So we begin the grand tour. "We haven't finished the front yard but we are pretty proud of the back yard."  We lead them all out to see all our hard work. Little Z proudly runs ahead and leads the way. Everyone is impressed with the stepping stones Curt laid and all the plants we have planted. They loved the color we painted the house. It was an off white and now it's a pale pink. Just about the color of my wedding gown. It is pale pink (My Favorite color and off white) Now they are all admiring all of our cute little fake animals. Then we show them our new addition. Of course at this time, Z is on our heels and sniffing every step we walk. When everyone gets to Touche they really love him. The kids reach down and pet him. Then just as we all start back in the sliding patio door our Z does something that really steals the day.....He walks over to Touche, lifts his leg and pees all over him. Leaving a yellow streak clear down it's back. Everyone got such a laugh from that little act of jealousy. An hour later when we turned the hose on Touche the yellow did not want to come off, so

It's back to the trusty old bucket again for another bath!! That makes Two baths for Touche and only One for Z which means.....Z!! Where are you?.....”Bath time!! We got even with our sweet doggy this time. He hates baths, but  I think it is punishment enough for what he did to our poor Iron Turtle.

God Bless!

And

Happy reading!!

I hope you all enjoyed my little story. I had so much fun writing it. It's a True story. There is a PS to this. It was 109 when we gave Z his bath. So it cooled him down and washed him. We were not being cruel. Hopefully it taught him a lesson, not to pee on the animals. He's our baby....We love him more than anything!!:):):)

I want to dedicate this story to God, our sweet chihuahua Z and to a good e-mail friend who also has some stories on AuthorStand. One of her short stories Inspired me to write this one. I will just say...Thank You H.H.

Reviews

[VALORMORE DE PLUME]

A lovely free style write, depicting the discovery of a new friend. God's grace is awesome. He plants love in our lives in so many ways. We are His garden. You are one of His pretty light pink flowers.

[Linda]

Hi Laury,
Your video was absolutely "AMAZING"!! Very impressive!!! One key word..."WOW"!!!!! :)

[Linda]

Hello Laury, :):):)
Just now got the chance to read your kind review of my story; "The iron Turtle" Thank you so much. I am happy you liked it. AuthorStand is another site that I write on. it is also FREE. I have most of my stories there. I will try to get to your story just as soon as I can.
Linda

[Larry Dyson]

hi what is authorstand?..I love your free flowing style and story. Laury