The
water was cold and dark, but coldness and darkness was the
last things Noddy cared about. Actually he didn’t really
care about anything right now. He just had to get away from
the turtle group of his, who by the moment slept peacefully
back at home.
Noddy
had tried to get away from his group many times before, but
this time he really meant it. At least that was what he told
himself. Deep inside, he knew that he could never really
leave them. It just wasn’t in his nature. But, no, he wasn’t
going back to his group. Noddy was so different than the
others. They didn’t understand him. All those rules and
traditions, it was driving him mad. They expected so much of
him that he could never live up to.
As he
slowly swam further and further away from home, he suddenly
heard a familiar noise. Like the noises turtles make. Could
there be another group here? He had never seen other turtles
than the ones from his group. They all said, that strangers
were dangerous, and that you could never trust anyone but
yourself. But what did they know? Noddy wanted to see them.
“Can’t we take a rest soon?” Noddy heard one of the turtles
say. It was a female voice. So soft and warm, but at the
same time exhausted and suffering. In a weird way her voice
suddenly made Noddy so much happier than before. It made him
so warm inside.
“No!
We have to keep on going, just till we get to the big reef.”
This time it was a male voice speaking. It probably belonged
to the leader of the group. Noddy heard a lot of sighing
from the group, who had probably travelled a long way
already.
As
they swam past Noddy, who was hiding behind a plant, he
caught in the briefest moment one of the turtles’ eyes.
Unable to tell why, this look, made him even happier than
before. It must be magic, he told himself, as he followed
the group on their journey.
They
actually looked a lot different than his own kind of
turtles, Noddy noticed. Maybe it was a completely different
race. He was fascinated by them and studied all their
details very closely.
When
they after about a half an hour came to the reef, the group
settled. It looked like, they wanted to stay there for a
while. Noddy returned to his own group, who he couldn’t wait
for to tell about the strangers. It was nearly sunrise, and
most of the group was still asleep, but when Noddy started
to tell about what he had seen, everybody was soon very
awake.
“What’s all this nonsense, Noddy?” one of his friends said.
“No,
it’s all true” Noddy said. “They live by the big reef. Maybe
we could become friends with them.”
“No,
Noddy! You know, that you can never trust strangers. You
can’t see these other turtles ever again.”
Noddy
tried to come up with the perfect line, but he already knew
that his fight was lost. His group would never open their
eyes, to see that there actually are other good creatures
out there. If he wanted to see the other group it had to be
in secrecy.
One
night Noddy was watching the turtle with the beautiful voice
sleep. She looked incredibly beautiful and peaceful, just
like her voice. Suddenly she opened her eyes and saw Noddy.
At first she got scared and hid herself behind a plant, but
when she saw, that Noddy wasn’t trying to hurt her, she
moved a little closer.
“You’re not one of us” she said, studying him. “You look so
different”
“I’m
Noddy” he just said.
“Tilly” she replied, a little shy. There was a slightly
awkward pause, where nobody spoke, but then their eyes met
ones again, and it was like that magic look told them to be
together.
“Talk” Noddy said. “I like your voice”. And so she did.
Actually they talked all night and many nights after that.
He felt that, she understood him, like nobody had ever done
before.
As
their relationship grew, Noddy kept getting happier and
happier, but there was one thing that he wanted to do. One
thing he knew would cause trouble. He wanted to show Tilly
to his group. When Noddy told Tilly about his worries she
said nothing but just started swimming towards his home.
Apparently she didn’t want a thing like this ruin their
relationship.
“How
do I look? “ She asked him, when they where only very short
way from Noddy’s home.
“You
look absolutely beautiful” Noddy replied. Like there where
another answer to that question.
But no
matter how Tilly looked, she wouldn’t have been well
received. They all hated her, before she could open her
mouth.
“Get
away from our territory. We don’t want to talk to turtles of
your kind!”
Everyone
from Noddy group shouted, that they wanted kill Tilly and
eat her, and soon they started to hit her too. Tilly cried
and shouted at Noddy:
“Why
are you doing this to me? I thought that we cared about each
other, but instead you lead me into death!”
“No!
Wait Tilly! I love you!” Noddy shouted, but Tilly was
already out of sight.
Noddy’s group where very angry and wanted to kill, so they
swam after Tilly, who would lead them to her group. But
before they could get to any group, they saw a big crowd
coming right at them. It must be Tilly’s group, who had
heard about what had happened.
“Stop!” both Tilly and Noddy shouted, but with no luck.
Noddy
tried to find Tilly in the big fight, and then he saw her by
a stone crying.
“This
will never work” she cried. “We are too different from each
other. Just look at our groups killing each other.”
“What
does difference matter?” Noddy said. Tilly didn’t know what
to say, so she just kept on crying. But Noddy didn’t give up
this easily. He loved Tilly, no matter how different she
looked.
Then,
from the top of the reef, Noddy shouted as loud as he could:
“STOP!” Everyone stopped fighting and looked at Noddy. This
fight won’t solve anything. We are all turtles and deserve
to be treated the same way. What does difference matter?”
There
was a little whispering, but then Noddy shouted even louder:
“I
have a dream, but because of you it won’t come true”
The
turtles all looked a little embarrassed of them selves, and
some even whispered “Sorry”
From
behind the stone came Tilly, now without tears in her eyes.
“Noddy” she just said. “Talk, I like your voice.” With a
little laugh she took Noddy’s fin.
As
the sun was setting you could watch Tilly and Noddy swim
together fin in fin on their way to the world’s end. Cause
there nobody cared about difference.
Evanthia8