turtle tot stories | tmnt 2012

First Mutation Day!

Splinter sat at the kitchen table one special evening, the grin on his face unerasable. His four sons sat around the table with him, swinging their big green feet, their eyes alight with wonder.

"Happy Mutation Day, my sons," Splinter said. "Today is the day that we found each other, the day we became a family."

"Family!" Mikey repeated happily.

"That is right, Michelangelo," Splinter gave a little smile. "Family."

"In honor of this special day," the mutant rat continued, "I have prepared gifts for the four of you."

"Gift!" Mikey said excitedly, clapping his hands in excitement.

Splinter gently patted his son on the head.

"Yes, my son," he said. "Stay put while I go to retrieve them."

He went to his room, then came back with quite a few things in his arms.

"Gift! Gift!" Mikey cried.

"Patience, Michelangelo," Splinter said.

He placed the gifts on the table, then lifted something from the pile and gave it to Leo.

It was a rather large Space Heroes blanket. Little Leonardo had fallen head-over-turtle heels in love with that show recently, and Splinter had managed to sneak out to a store one night and buy one for his son.

"Captain!" Leo cried, looking at the picture of Captain Ryan on the blanket. "Soft," he said, stroking it gently.

Next, Splinter pulled out a little book from the pile of gifts. But it wasn't just any book. It was a little dictionary. He gave the book to Donatello, who held it in his big green hands and looked at it curiously.

"Book," he observed.

"Yes, Donatello," Splinter told him. "It is called a dictionary. With it, you may learn many new words."

"Words," Donatello repeated. He opened the book and began flipping through the pages at once, eyes wide with wonder.

This time, Splinter dug into the pile and pulled out a little teddy bear he'd also snuck out and bought one night. It had light brown fur, a little red silk bow tie, big black eyes, nose, and wide smile. He gently handed the teddy bear over to Michelangelo.

The little turtle took the toy eagerly, staring at it with joy and excitement.

"Soft!" he exclaimed. "Teddy! ROAR!"

He hugged the bear close to him, beaming. Splinter caught Raphael shooting his younger brother a look of envy.

"I have not forgotten you, Raphael," Splinter told his second-oldest son.

Now there were only a few gifts left, so Raphael's wasn't hard to spot. He picked it up and gave it to his son.

It was a big square of fine silk for him to play with and tear up, its color a bright, beautiful red.

Raphael looked at the beautiful gift, his green fingers holding the red silk. He stared at it with an unreadable expression for a while, feeling it cautiously.

"Soft," he said finally. "No tear."

Then he hugged the silk close to his chest, his face buried in the soft material.

"I have one more gift for all of you," Splinter announced to his sons.

He picked up the remaining gifts in one of his ratlike hands.

It was four different colored masks-one blue, one red, one purple, one orange.

Splinter had been thinking carefully about what color mask his sons should wear. He walked over to Leonardo first.
Bending down to his son's level, he carefully tied the blue mask around his green head. His oldest son looked good in a blue mask; it really brought out his blue eyes. The little turtle felt at his mask in wonder as soon as it was put on.

Splinter moved to Raphael next. He took the red mask from his hand and tied it around his second-oldest son's head. The tiny turtle remained stiff throughout the tying process, and when his father was done, he tugged at the mask's rather long tails in interest.

Splinter went to Donatello next. He tied the purple mask around his second-youngest son's head. The little turtle dropped his tiny dictionary and began feeling at his mask immediately, carefully observing its texture with three-fingered hands.

"Soft," he said happily.

Finally, Splinter walked over to Michelangelo. The tiny turtle still played with his teddy bear, but looked up with a little laugh and a huge smile as his father bent down to look him in the eye. Splinter carefully tied the final mask-the orange one-around his youngest son's little head.

Michelangelo let out a squeal of excitement as he felt the material around his eyes. He clapped his little hands in joy, laughing.

"Daddy," he said. "Thank."

Splinter realized he was trying to thank him for the gifts.

"Thank," Donatello echoed, looking up at him from his dictionary.

"Thank!" Leo agreed, beaming.

And after a (very) a long silence, Raphael whispered, "Thank."

"You are welcome, my sons," Sinter replied with a smile. "You are welcome."