turtle tot stories | tmnt 2012

Dress-Up

Splinter sat on his knees in the dark of his room, his eyes closed, his breathing steady and controlled. It was a peaceful afternoon in the lair, and so far his sons were behaving well. He hadn't heard any complaining or tattling, so that was good.

He took a deep breath and let it out, relishing in the peace and quiet, in the wonderful relaxation of meditating.

"Daddy?" a little voice suddenly sounded outside of his room. "Can we come in?"

"Yes, my son," Splinter answered, opening his brown-red eyes. "You may enter."

The curtains to his room opened, and his four little sons shuffled inside, closing the curtain back behind them. They all stood there quietly for a moment or two, staring down at their feet.

"Well?" Splinter said, breaking the silence. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, Daddy," Leo spoke up. "It's just...we're bored. There's practically nothing to do. We were wondering...do you maybe...have something we can play with?"

Splinter broke a tiny little smile at the timidity in his eldest son's voice.

"Let me see," he answered, standing up. "I think I may have something."

His sons' expressions brightened immediately, and Splinter smiled wider. He turned and walked over to the far corner of his room, where he kept all his belongings from his former home in Japan. Looking at these things now made his heart ache, but nonetheless he took out some old clothing from the pile of stuff.

He carried the clothing back over to his sons and placed them carefully on the floor in front of the four tiny turtles, who looked down at them curiously. Splinter sat back down on his knees and folded his hands over his lap.

"These are some of my clothes from my old home, in Japan," he explained to his four little sons. "Perhaps you would like to play dress-up with them."

The tiny turtles' faces brightened with happiness and excitement.

"Yes!" Mikey cried.

He ran forward eagerly on his little legs and crouched by the pile of clothes, and his brothers followed suit, picking out clothing excitedly. Splinter watched them, smiling.

Mikey popped his head out from underneath the pile, gasping for air. A straw hat was dangling lopsidedly his little green head; it fell off as the little orange-clad turtle crawled out of the pile, scattering clothes everywhere. Splinter chuckled and walked over to readjust the straw hat on Mikey's head.

"You look very dashing, Michelangelo," Splinter remarked with a smile. "Many people wore straw hats back in Japan."

"Really?" Mikey said in wonder, reaching up to feel his hat.

"Yep!" little Donatello answered instead. "I read it in my book. Did you know straw hats are-"

"Nobody cares," Raphael helpfully informed his brother.

Donnie sighed and reached into the pile of clothing. He pulled out an old striped tie that matched his eye color perfectly-a red-brown, like Splinter's.

Splinter started forward to help his son tie the tie, but Donnie held out a little green hand to stop him.

"Wait, Daddy," he said. "I wanna try myself."

Splinter stepped back and let Donnie try. The purple-clad turtle's little green fingers fumbled as he tried to tie the red-brown tie around his neck. Just as Splinter reached out to help him, the little turtle said "Done!"

He'd tied the tie almost perfectly.

It was still a bit crooked, a bit incorrectly tied, but he'd almost gotten it.

"Very good, Donatello!" Splinter praised his second-youngest son. "You've nearly gotten it."

He knelt down to help the little turtle tie his tie correctly. Donnie smiled a wide gap-toothed smile of pride as he watched his father help him.

A little gasp of wonder sounded from behind Splinter. He turned around and saw that Leonardo had discovered his own article of clothing-an old, dark blue cape. The oldest turtle held the cape in his green fingers, his blue eyes sparkling.

"Will you help me tie this, Daddy?" he asked.

"Certainly, my son," Splinter answered warmly.

He walked over to his little blue-clad son and carefully tied the cape around his son's neck. Leonardo gasped excitedly, clapping his hands.

"I bet I look just like Captain Ryan now!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, Leonardo," Splinter smiled. "You do."

"Dad?" Raphael's voice sounded from Splinter's right side.

The mutant rat turned to look at his second-youngest son, and when he did, he had to stop himself from letting out a snort of laughter.

"What is this thing?" Raph asked, looking down at the silk outfit he'd found and put on. "I like it."

Splinter held back his laughter.

"It is called a kimono," he told his son, regaining his self-control. "The beautiful women wear them back in Japan."

His heart ached a bit as he remembered Tang Shen. Raphael was wearing her old kimono, her favorite one-the red silk one with the golden flowers and vines.

"You mean," said Donnie, snapping Splinter out if his thoughts, "Raph's wearing a dress?"

"Yes," Splinter said.

Immediately, Raphael's brothers exploded into laughter, clutching their stomachs and holding their sides. Michelangelo rolled onto his shell, banging the floor with his little fists.

"Big, mean Raph!" he snorted. "Wearing a dress!"

Of course, Raphael did not share their amusement. He pulled himself out of the kimono and stomped over to the corner of the room, sulking angrily. Splinter followed him, crouching down beside him.

"If it helps, Raphael," he said, "I think you looked very, very stylish in that kimono."