Subject 23:59

3. Rumors

The turtle stretched and yawned. As golden sunlight peeked through the clouds in the sky, painting the lab floor in various shades of golden. Just another day in the lab, the turtle thought dully, although he did indeed enjoy the vivid burst of gold and yellow on the lab floor. He once again thought of his memories he may have had when he was free, away from the confinements of the metal wall. Was that even possible? He stared out of the window, putting his mind at ease by looking at the fresh green leaves of the thick forest. At the corner of his eye, the turtle thought he saw a flash of bright orange from a window overlooking the corridor outside the room.

"What... what was that?"The turtle mouthed out in curiousity and awe of the bright flurry of an unknown creature.

"What was what?" a voice came from beside him.

The turtle turned around to see a creature with two round ears and a black shiny nose. It too was enclosed by thick glass walls and it's grey furry face seemed to bear a cheeky grin.

"What was what?"

The turtle hesitated for a moment, scanning the mouse with suspicion. He shrugged. What more could go wrong?

"I think I saw a flash of orange from outside the room. It's more like feathers... I'm not sure but-"

"Feathers?" the mouse's eyes shone, it's pupils widening. "You must have seen the legendary bird!"

"The legendary what?" The turtle blinked, unsure if he had heard the over excited mouse correctly. He was doing small jumps in the air with the occasional summersault.

"The legendary bird! Haven't you heard? How could you not know?" the mouse squeaked, it's voice raising a pitch.

"Legendary... bird? I just came here a few days ago, I'm sorry but I really don't understand," the turtle replied politely, observing the mouse quietly.

"Oh! It's a great tale you know, that legendary oriole. Let me tell you! It's gonna be so exciting!

"There's this awesome oriole who wanted freedom and it attempted an escape! Imagine that! The bird never came back and I guess everyone assumed that it died. Anyway there's this rumour that said the bird made it outside or something. Most other animals don't even make it pass the corridor outside. I guess after it died, this particular bird's spirit continues to haunt this place and thus you would be able to hear or seek glances of the bird every now and then. Everyone thinks of the bird as a role model!" the mouse explained excitedly, adding in a huge amount of exclamations and maybe even exaggerating in some parts.

"That's some story... but I don't believe in ghosts." the astounded turtle answered.

"You'd better! Look at Emerald!" the mouse pointed to the other side of the turtle.

Turning around, the turtle saw a snake in the cage. A green mamba to be exact. The turtle smiled, suddenly feeling shy as the snake's turned slowly towards the turtle, it's green scales glinting in the sunlight. He held his breath in awe and something about the mystique of the slender creature attracted him. The snake bored its soulful black eyes into his.

"Hey Emerald! Show this turtle here your ability!"

The snake observed the turtle keenly, it's slit pupils widening and it's eye colour slowly showing to a faint hint of gold. The snake slithered around a little before it's tail started to turn translucent before blending into its surrounding. The fading effect worked its way up the snake's tail until the whole creature disappeared into thin air.

The turtle blinked. He blinked again, yet there was no hint of green where the snake had once been. Did that snake just...just... he watched as the snake slowly became visible once more, its eyes still discreetly on the turtle.