TYRONE THE TURTLE LOSES HIS WAY Chapter (2).

TYRONE THE TURTLE LOSES HIS WAY.

Chapter 2

 

Hiding under a large flat leaf Tyrone was feeling sad. He’d gone for a walk without telling his mum and now he was lost. ‘At least it’s cool under here.’ he thought as he looked out at the mass of green plants and trees in front of him. 

Suddenly Tyrone heard the pad, pad, pad, of a large lion walking somewhere nearby. ‘Oh dear me’ thought Tyrone. ‘I hope he doesn’t want to eat me for his dinner.’ Tyrone tried to get even deeper into the soft earth at the base of the bush he was hiding under when he suddenly found himself falling down a deep hole.

Tyrone’s mummy was also quite frightened as she searched for her little son. The thing is you see Turtles don’t really have legs and feet, they have flippers, which are great for swimming fast in water but not very good for walking on the land. Tina turtle wanted to shout for her son but she was scared that a hungry animal would find her and want to eat her. ‘Oh my, Oh my’ she thought as she shuffled her little flippers across the jungle floor. ‘Where can that naughty boy be hiding?’

At that moment, not too far away, Ellyphina was telling the Sid the Tree Snake all about Terry the Tilapia and how Tyrone the Turtle and his mum were missing. Sid hissed a little hissssss as he thought for a moment.

“We could ask Toucan to fly over the jungle near the pond. He has really good eyessssight and might be able to sssee them from high in the ssssky.” Ellyphina thought this was a good idea and so she asked Sid to climb as high in the trees as he could go, and look for Toucan. Meanwhile Ellyphina would try to find Clyde the Giraffe. Giraffes, as you know have their heads on the end of a very long neck and Ellyphina thought that might be useful as they could look in the trees for Tyrone and his mum. It was Sid the snake who had another good idea as he was climbing higher and higher into the treetops.

‘Ummm...’ he thought ‘I wonder if Turtles can climb trees? It might be better to look for them on the jungle floor as they are quite small and can’t walk very far.’ This was of course a very good idea but Sid still had to find Toucan, who, as it so happened, was sitting on a branch of the very tree that Sid was climbing. Toucan had noticed Sid climbing up and decided to fly down to see what he was up to.

“Hello Sid.” Squawked Toucan, which took Sid by surprise and he nearly fell off the tree. Good job Sid had his tail wrapped around a small branch and as he hung there upside down he said.

“Hello Toucan, nice to ssssee you.”

“What on earth are you doing upside down on that branch?” asked Toucan.

“Oh you know, just hanging around.” Replied Sid in his usual casual way.

“I saw you from up there.” Said Toucan, pointing with his wing. “I wondered why you were climbing so high and so quickly.”

“Well...” continued the dangling Sid. “I was coming to find you actually.”

“Coming to find me? Why on earth would you be coming to find me?” Said toucan giving his long beak a scratch with his wing.

“We are trying to find Tyrone the little Turtle who lives in the Crystal pool under the big Baobab tree. He’s gone missssssing.”

“Gone missing, what do you mean gone missing.”

“I mean...” said Sid in a much more serious voice. “...he’s gone missssssing.” Toucan turned his head as far upside down as he could to look at Sid face to face.

“When you say. Gone missing, you mean he’s not at home with his mum.” Sid was beginning to lose patience with Toucan and pulled himself upright onto the branch before replying.

“HE’S MISSSSSSING.” Hissed Sid as loud as he could, thinking that it might help Toucan to understand the words. “M-I-SSS-ing.” Repeated Sid.

 

Toucan clapped his beak together, pak pak,

“Oh dear me, oh dear me indeed, yes, well, yes I see, gone missing, that’s not good, no that is most definitely not good at all.” Sid sat and looked at his friend. ‘I think he’s got it,’ Sid thought to himself.

“I like your new red skin.” Toucan said going completely off the subject. Sid gave a sigh.

“It’s green, GREEN, I’m a Green tree snake so my skin is green.” Sid had had this conversation with Toucan many times. I think there is something you should know about Toucan, you see although he is a very colourful bird with a bright yellow chest and a large beak with colours like a rainbow on the sides, Toucan is colour blind. That is to say he cannot see colours the same way that you and I see them. Sometimes when he sees something that is really red, Toucan thinks it is green, and when when he sees something that is really green Toucan thinks it is red. 

Author's Note

Clive Tilley has asserted his right to be identified
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