Bedtime - A Short Story Anthology

The Way Home

The Way Home

By JanePrince394

The shadows grew longer and finally the last rays of the sun kissed the clouds before disappearing. Suddenly, the light vanished, and the night claimed the world. That was not a place to spend the night, of course not... but home seemed very far away.

Especially for a poor little turtle named Totti. I know what you all have heard about turtles, but Totti's slowness was not due precisely to the weight of his shell, but to all the hours he had been up. He left school when the sun was still shining on his head and now he hid, leaving himself at the mercy of the forest.

Gone were the brown shoes that his mother had sewn him with so much love. They got stuck under a thick tree root and no matter how hard he tried, he could not get them out.

On his way, he was sure he could get home before his parents noticed his absence. But this being the first time he went alone, he could not find the way back for more than he remembered. All the trees looked similar and the sky that guided him in the afternoon, now shrouded in darkness, made him tremble. He did not know what he feared more... the unknown landscape that surrounded him or the idea of never returning home.

When he sat on a rock to rest, he heard a sound. Although at first, he did not know exactly what it might be, he quickly sharpened his ear and discovered that someone was approaching. He smiled, glad he was not completely alone in this situation. But he soon remembered his parents' advice to mistrust strangers. Without knowing the intentions of his visitor, and without much desire to discover them, Totti picked up a branch of the tree by his side and held it hard to defend himself if it was necessary. Totti was not sure if it would work, but he needed to be prepared.

The louder the footsteps became, the less Totti's hands remained calm. What if it was a bear or a huge buffalo having a bad day? Would a small turtle have a chance to win? And while he was pondering these questions, a fox with orange hair and coiled tail came out of the darkness, wearing denim overalls and a straw hat.

"Hey, child, where did you come from?" the fox asked surprised when he saw Totti with the branch held high, unable to take any step further. It was not normal at all for someone so small to wander through the woods in the middle of the night.

But he did not receive an answer because Totti was more focused trying not to faint than to formulate a sentence. Out of all the animals in the world, he had come across a fox. A fox! He had heard a lot about them, and most of the things were bad. Like, for example, that they were cheaters and cunning, that they did not wash their feet and that they used to steal from time to time.

"Are you okay?" the stranger insisted, but before Totti could answer, he recognized him. "Aren't you Totti, the son of Big Shell?"

"Do you know dad?" Totti asked, confused because he could not remember his face straight away. But it didn't take long. Almost immediately, Totti discovered the face was indeed familiar. The fox in front of him was the same one who sold wood to his family. Yes, he remembered. 

"If you know dad you should also know the way back," he said hoping the fox could be his guide. If he helped him, maybe he would arrive home before the sun rose again. "Do you think you can take me to him?"

Although Fabio did not like the idea at all because he was ready to go to bed, he decided that he should do the turtle the favour. But he wasn't going to walk through the forest in full moonlight. He was afraid to wake up with his feet swollen and unable to stand up the next day, something dreadful for a salesman like him. He would use a safer and faster method of transportation.