The Little Girl

So I've decided to start posting in increments a short children's story I've been working on. It's silly but I hope you enjoy it. Here's the first post.


Part I


There once was a little girl who woke up one day on the wrong side of the bed. She simply stepped off her bed and found herself in a completely different place than she had ever been before.


It wasn’t accident. No not at all; that morning the little girl woke up and decided that she had never rolled out of bed on the other side before. She wasn’t sure why not, perhaps it simply had never occurred to her before. And quite frankly, she didn’t know why she shouldn’t. This being the case the little girl, quite intentionally rolled out of bed to the left.


The left side of one’s bed is a curious thing. It is a place unaccustomed to visitors, a place that holds a great deal of mystery and a good deal of questions for those who have never ventured there.


II.

As I said before the little girl found herself in a place completely unfamiliar. She looked down and found that her feet were completely covered in sand. She looked to her left. She looked to her right. On either side of her was sand. In front of her was sand. She didn’t bother to look behind as she already knew what was there.
The little girl considered her surroundings.
“I could be wrong, but I think I might have stepped into a desert. “ She conjectured aloud.

She thought some more.

“Or I do suppose I might have landed myself on an enormous sandy beach.”

“Hmmmm. Or perhaps I have stepped into a giant’s sandbox.” But that of course was a silly idea.

Having come up with these possibilities, but no real idea of where she was, the little girl decided to find out. So she stepped forward into the new land.
The little girl walked forward one foot after another and soon she began to hear the sound of crashing waves. She could see the spot in the distance where the deep blue sky blended into the line of water and far ahead, just out of reach, she could see the blurry shape of a person. She continued to walk toward the water and consequently also toward the unknown figure. When she was just a short distance away she stopped.


III.

The little girl could make out the person better from where she now stood. It was a man. He seemed young but it was hard to tell as he wore a full beard a color so bright she had to hold one hand to the sun and the other to over his hair to see anything whatsoever. The beard’s shade was a flaming orange color that matched his neatly trimmed hair. The man held a long stick that was crooked at the end much like a candy cane only it was also bright orange.

From where she stood, the little girl could not make out what he was doing. The man would stand still for a moment, then step to the left, pause, then move back, pause again, and move off to the right. He repeated this odd sort of dance over and over, all the time slowly moving forward.

What a strange man, thought the little girl with curiosity.
Just as she was considering whether or not she should move forward, the man turned. Even though he was still a good distance away, she could tell he was looking at her. He turned quickly around before she could decide whether or not to wave or call out to him. Without any real reason, the little girl felt that he must be a friendly sort of stranger so she ventured forward.

IV.

Just as the little girl was approaching the brightly clad man, he froze and without turning his head greeted her.
“Hello.”
“Hello.” The little girl replied. And waited. And waited.
Seeing that he was not going to turn to look at her, she took a step forward so that now she was standing next to him.
“Hello.” She tried again.
“Hello.” He responded again, still not turning toward her.
The little girl watched him. He seemed to be intently watching the sand in front of him.
“Excuse me,” she tried, “but are you looking for something?”
“Oh no, I’m not looking for anything,” he said shifting his staff to his other hand.
It was quiet again.
“Oh.” The little girl joined in the quiet, unsure of what to say. She watched as he continued to stare resolutely down at the ground.

“Well, what are you looking at?” she tried again.
“Turtles.” He said simply.
“Turtles?” The girl looked around. All she could see was the sand and the distant water.
“I don’t see any turtles.”
“I wouldn’t think you could.” He commented.
“Excuse me?”
“If you don’t want to see the turtles why should you think you would?” He explained.
The little girl was confused and hesitated. “I do want to see the turtles. Why wouldn’t I?”
“If you did, you would.” He replied abruptly and continued to watch the ground.
She looked down again. Still nothing. She kept watching and watching and after some time she began to notice movement in the sand in front of her. The entire patch of ground began to shake with movement. She looked up in amazement at the man, but he continued to calmly watch the ground.
Out of the sand crawled 8 tiny turtles, no bigger than a person’s hand. The little girl gasped in delight. “There are turtles!”
“Of course there are.” Said the man sounding exasperated.
“But you didn’t tell me they were underneath the sand!” She accused.
“I didn’t? Oh I suppose I forgot to mention that. They were taking their noontime nap.” He explained.
“How very strange” whispered the girl.
“No, not really. They nap at this time every day.”
“Every day?” She questioned. “Do you sit here and watch them every day?”
The man laughed. “Well of course I do. I am a turtle shepherd, am I not? What else would I do?!”

V.

Now the little girl hadn’t lived as long as the man, but she had lived enough years to know that she had never heard of such a thing.
“A turtle shepherd?” She asked. “But I’ve never heard of a turtle shepherd.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t have.” The turtle shepherd replied, “You didn’t exactly see the turtles at first either now did you?.”
“But that’s not fair,” pleaded the little girl. “The turtles were sleeping. You know I could not have seen them.”
“I suppose that’s true. But, I’ve never heard of a girl your age who has not heard of the turtle shepherders. Why every little child has heard of the great turtle herders! I suppose you haven’t even heard of the great Zaphonious…or of the epic Treaty of Fortina Zemuna and the Camel Clan!”
The little girl watched in amazement as the strange man continued to spew out names and titles she had never heard of, let alone could even dare to pronounce.
“Jphantka Pedunta, Calciphonas, Pertrapha the Great, Ralphent Vatronious!” he continued his face beginning to match his orange hair. Suddenly, he stopped. He became silent and his face turned downward, “And I suppose you have not heard of me.” It was more of a statement than a question.
The little girl was beginning to feel guilty for her lack of knowledge in the area of turtle herding. She could see that the strange man was really let down.
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard of you. But I’d be happy to know you now.” Offered the little girl.
The strange man turned to her and said simply, “My name is Jo.”

VI.

The little girl smiled kindly up at Jo the turtle herder. “Hello Mr. Jo. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The turtle herder sank to the ground with a sigh, buried his head in his hands, and begin to cry loudly. The little girl watched as all the turtles turned and slowly began to congregate around Jo the turtle herder as if sensing their guardian’s distress.
“Mr. Jo,” the girl asked gently, “Why are you so sad?” She placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder and carefully sat down next to him on the sand. Jo the turtle herder lifted his head. “What’s the matter? What’s the matter?! The matter is that you don’t know! Nobody knows!” He exclaimed and dejectedly dropped his head back to his knees.
“Nobody knows what?” the little girl asked carefully.
“Nobody remembers the turtle herders. I’m almost the last of my line. My little brother J will be the final turtle shepherd and then what will the turtles do? You wouldn’t know of course, but I am from the line of the great Ptanphajophethusia. He was the greatest of all the turtle herders. After him, each of his descendants took his name, subtracting one letter each time it was passed down. Now we are at the end…Jo and J.”
“What a strange tradition.” The little girl thought aloud.
Jo the turtle herder raised his head indignantly, “I don’t find it any stranger than a child your age who has not heard of the turtle shepherds.” He turned away from her and silently scooped up one of the turtles.

The little girl waited. The turtle herder sniffed loudly. The little girl was silent. The turtle herder cleared his throat.
Finally the little girl asked, “Please Mr. Jo would you tell me about turtle herding?”