October Turtle

by Thomas Keenan

I wrote this in 2000 when Andrea and I lived in Hoboken.  It was intended to be three parts, but I left it together here so it is a bit long.  I have to admit when I wrote the first part, I thought it was completely original.  II would discover later that the same premise was used in a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip which I almost certainly had seen before I wrote this. 

Sunglasses 

The soft light of the autumn sun smiles across the back window of 323 Park Avenue lighting up a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring out from beneath a pile of blankets on a bed within. Like hot fudge and vanilla ice cream, the warm light mixes perfectly with the chilly October air that has seeped into the room. The big brown eyes seem to give off their own cheerful light.

Edgar especially loved the mornings just before Benjamin would climb out of bed. His mom would come in and stir him awake. Benjamin, all soggy with sleep, would hold Edgar especially tight, with his rosy cheeks pressed against the soft nappy fur of his hippopotamus (hippa-ma-pot-o-mus, as Benjamin would say it). "I’m too tie-red," is what Benjamin would always say after his mom stirred him awake, and then he would squeeze Edgar as tight as he could one last time before facing the day.

However, this day was different. After thinking he had the bed to himself, Edgar found himself staring into the bright hazel-brown eyes of the child. Edgar knew that look. It was the look that Benjamin always had when he had a plan.

Benjamin ran over to his closet and disappeared into it. Edgar could hear him desperately rustling around for a couple of minutes before he stepped out, holding a green plaid tie. It was Benjamin’s school uniform tie from last year that no longer fit him.

Benjamin then climbed over the bed and grabbed his favorite Mets hat from the bedpost. His tiny little fingers went to work on the adjustable strap, pulling it apart, then setting it to the smallest possible size. Benjamin then climbed back over the bed, and carefully placed the hat on Edgar’s head.

Next, he went to his desk and packed up all his homework, notebooks and pens into his burgundy backpack, zipped it up and brought it back to Edgar. Finally, he wrapped the shoulder straps over each of the hippo’s front legs.

Benjamin surveyed the hippo for a few moments with a concentrated look on his face. "There’s sumtin missin’, Edgar…" He then pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow, as he sat thinking for a few more moments.

Suddenly, the boy yelled out…"Aha, I got it."

Edgar watched as Benjamin’s tiny legs sprinted to his dresser where he grabbed something off of it. Before he knew it, Edgar found himself sitting in the hallway out side Benjamin’s door. "Benji," his mother shouted out, "are you ready yet? It’s just about time to go."

"Yes, mommy," Benjamin shouted, from behind the closed door. "I’m all weady to go." And Edgar was lifted from the bed and carried to the end of the bedroom.

Now, poor Edgar was really confused. Not only was he sitting in the hallway by himself with a heavy book-bag on his back, but he hadn’t seen Benjamin even change out of his pajamas yet. After a few minutes, Edgar heard Benjamin’s mom walking up the stairs. "Come on, Benjamin, I thought you were ready."

"I am, mommy. I’m juss walkin’ out of my bedwoom now," Benjamin shouted from behind his still closed bedroom door.

Just then, she turned the corner of the stairs and found herself staring at a small, nappy-furred hippopotamus, with a tie, baseball cap, book-bag and sunglasses gazing at her from the hallway floor.

Fighting back tears of laughter, his mother shouted in the most serious tone she could manage, "Benjamin! Edgar is not going to school for you!"

"Aw mom, why not?", came the response from the bedroom. "He wooks juss wike me. And hippo-ma-pot-amusses are weally smart. Edgar even told me so."

Mrs. Westover picked up the poor hippo and walked into Benjamin’s room. There was no sign of the boy except for a pair of small, non-hippo feet sticking out from the bottom of the blankets. Mrs. Westover went over to the bed and, with Edgar tucked under one of her arms, she started tickling the tiny feet. A burst of giggles erupted from under the blankets.

"Ok, Benjamin. Nice try. You have five minutes." She placed Edgar on the bed and walked out of the room.

A giggle filled voice reply from under the snuggly pile, "Ok, mom. I’ll be wight down."

Later on that day, Benjamin’s mom crept back into his room after he had gone to school. She picked up Edgar around the belly and looked into his fuzzy face. She adjusted his tie, straightened his hat and took the sunglasses off his face. Edgar’s eyes met her soft tear-filled eyes. Holding the hippo the way she held Benjamin when he was smaller, she went and sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. She rocked Edgar for close to an hour as he settled snug in her arms. She laughed again as she looked down at the funny hippopotamus. Edgar was very confused, because she still had tears in her eyes.

"I miss you, my little Benjamin, she finally said," before pulling the hippo tighter to her body, and turning her gaze to some point out the window. "I really miss you," she softly said again.

After another 15 minutes, Mrs. Westover stood up and gave the Edgar a kiss on his snout and and laid him down on the bed. She walked out of the room and left him staring at a red firefighter’s helmet hanging from the bedpost. Edgar smiled as he stared at the helmet and was reminded of an autumn day just like this one, last year.

The Fire Truck

It was a Saturday when Benjamin and he went to the hardware store with Mr. Westover. Benjamin, wearing his favorite New York Mets jacket, had his tiny hand tucked in his father’s giant hand, and held Edgar’s front leg with his other hand. Edgar often found his tail dragging on the ground, but he didn’t mind. He liked to be flopped around.

On the way to the hardware store, there was a small toy store that Benjamin’s father would visit with the silly duo. However, on this trip, as Edgar stared up at the birds, Benjamin came to a sudden stop, before they had even made it in the door of the toy store. After a couple of moments passed, he looked up at the boy. Benjamin’s brown eyes were open as wide as cookies, his mouth was open just slightly with his top teeth gently biting his tiny bottom lip. His little hand had closed tightly around the hippo’s leg. Edgar knew the look on Benjamin’s face well. It was the same look that he stared back at when he had first met the little boy years ago in the giant toy store in the big city.

Edgar followed Benjamin’s gaze to the toy store window. Just on the other side of the glass was a bright red fire truck that looked like one of the old trucks Benjamin and Edgar would see in dad’s history books. The truck had a seat that looked just big enough for a child Benjamin’s size and a place on the back that look as if it was just the right size for a small hippopotamus. There was a tiny wooden ladder attached to the side, and a silver bell sticking up on the hood. White letters ran along the side spelling out "Hoboken Fire Dept."

Mr. Westover looked down at him and Benjamin, with a big smile on his face. He took his giant hand and rubbed the back of the boy’s head, and said, "Well, if you’re good, maybe Santa Claus will bring it for you." He then pulled Benjamin away to the hardware store.

As the weeks went by, Benjamin would go on every trip to the store with his mom and dad, just with the hopes of catching another look at the shiny truck. Sometimes, when Benjamin and Edgar played Go-Fish together (which they did quite often), the boy would tell Edgar about all the fun times they would have in the fire truck: how they would zip around the house in it, patrolling for fires and rescuing cats from trees (which would really be Benjamin’s small gray elephants up on the bedposts). Or maybe, when the weather was nice, they would roll down to the park at the end of the street, and get ice cream from the ice cream truck.

At night, Benjamin would kneel down next to his bed and squeeze Edgar’s two front feet together between his hands to say his prayers. Every night, Benjamin would start his prayers with a joke that he memorized from his big book of knock-knock jokes (because he thought that even God needed to laugh). After the joke, he would thank God for his Mommy and Daddy and for all his toys and for his best pal, Edgar. Then he would ask God, in his most solemn voice, for the bright red fire truck he saw in the window of the toy store. Then he would climb in to bed, and fall asleep whispering more stories of great adventures that he and Edgar would have in the fire truck.

And, of course, Benjamin was the best little boy New Jersey had ever seen. He would eat all his peas at supper instead of hiding them under the mashed potatoes. He would help daddy wash the dishes instead of sneaking off to his room to play Go-Fish. And he would not only help mommy makes his bed but he would help make her and daddy’s bed.

Christmas Eve came around, and Benjamin and Edgar woke up early to go on errands with his mom. The old bakery was packed to the walls with people waiting to buy the famous sweets. Edgar stared at giant lemon meringue pies, muffin sized cupcakes decorated to look like Santa Claus and more cookies than he had ever seen in is life. Edgar could think of nothing else but the colors and sugar that surrounded him, yet Benjamin just seemed to stare past it all. His mind seemed to be in other places.

Edgar knew exactly where Benjamin’s thoughts were. Edgar knew that once again, he and Benjamin were off on another rescue mission, with the bright silver bell of their fire engines ringing, as a red blur zipped through the kitchen to rescue the marshmallow snowmen from the blazing gingerbread house. And so it was like this for the rest of the day. Everywhere they went, Benjamin thought of nothing else but the bright red fire truck in the toy store window.

Edgar liked Christmas Eve because Benjamin and he were allowed to stay up late so that they all could go to midnight mass. That was their favorite time to go to church. The hippo liked at get squished in Benjamin’s arms as the boy sang along with the Christmas carols. Benjamin would make the grown-ups shake Edgars "hand" when they wished him a Merry Christmas.

After mass, that Christmas, Edgar sat in Benjamin’s lap between his mommy and daddy, as they took turns reading him parts of "T’was the Night Before Christmas" with all his favorite Christmas songs playing in the background. Benjamin slowly fell asleep with visions on sugarplums dancing on a fire truck.

Edgar fell asleep, also, and only woke up long enough to see Benjamin being carried off to bed. Edgar was too tired to wonder why he wasn’t being carried to bed.

The next morning, Edgar woke up very confused. His first early glimpse was of Benjamin’s face, with tears streaming down his cheeks, staring back at him. Edgar at once looked around, and realized that although there seemed to be a thousand presents around the tree, none seemed big enough to be Benjamin’s fire truck.

Edgar looked back at Benjamin, heartbroken…Until he noticed that along with the tears, the boy had the biggest smile he had ever seen.

"EDGAR," shouted the boy. "Did you bwing this for me? How did you get it? You don’t have any dowars!"

Edgar, still confused, suddenly noticed a bright silver bell just under his snout. In the reflection on the bell, he noticed a furry hippopotamus looking very fetching with a bright red fireman’s hat on his head. He soon realized that the silver bell was attached to something big, shiny and red.

Suddenly, Benjamin’s arms swooped down and picked up the dazed Hippopotamus. The boy held him tighter than ever as he spun around in circles. It wasn’t until the second time around, that Edgar saw the red fire engine. And it wasn’t until the fifth time around that Edgar realized that he had been sitting on the fire engine the whole time.

The small boy then stopped for a moment to look at Edgar. Benjamin then looked around the room for a moment before walking over to the Christmas tree. Quietly, he looked under and behind the Christmas tree. He then peered around the room some more, before looking again at Edgar. Then a little twinkle sparkled in Benjamin’s eyes, and the boy moved his lips real close to Edgar’s ear. After looking around the room one more time, in his lowest voice, Benjamin whispered, "Edgar, I don’t know where your hidin’ the waindeer, but I won’t tell anybody that your Santa Claus."

Despite all the boy’s searching, he did not see his mom and dad looking at him from the kitchen, each wearing a hippo-sized grin.

Floating 

Staring at the fire truck now, well used after a year but still as shiny as that Christmas morning, Edgar still cannot figure out how he ended up on it. As the small hippo stared out the window, he wished for more adventures with his best pal. He loved exploring the city with Benjamin and his parents. And when Benjamin wasn’t around like on days like this, Edgar liked to pretend he could float.

He pictured himself floating out the window into the fresh air of the back yard. He imagined himself, arms and legs extended and wind flowing beneath him, floating into Mrs. Westover’s small garden. During the spring, small red and purple tulips would grow around the edges. They would be the only signs of life in the garden, but Edgar knew that it was time for him and Benjamin to begin new explorations. In the fall, the small bush looking plants would explode into rich colors of burgundy and gold. Edgar loved the mums, because they announced the arrival of fall, which meant that the Halloween candy craze was coming, soon followed by Christmas.

However, it was the summertime daisies that were his very favorite. He liked to get close to them with his giant nose and smell them. He always imagined that the delicate little flowers were smiling at him. He always made a point of smiling back.

His favorite thing to do in the garden was to lie really still amongst the daisies, with the hope that one of the beautiful monarch butterflies would land on his snout. Sometimes he would lie there for hours waiting for a butterfly to land. Almost always, one would land, but would fly off after just a couple of seconds, because Edgar couldn’t help but smile. And when Edgar smiled, his whole snout would move, scaring off the butterfly.

Before floating out of the garden, Edgar would eat a couple of cherry tomatoes right off the tomato plants. Sometimes he would take a cucumber along with him on his trip through Hoboken.

From the garden, he would float up into the air, high over the rows of three story buildings. He liked how the small city looked from up there. He liked to pretend all the people were ants. It was when he was this high that he would practice doing flips, spins and the occasional dive bombing of flock of pigeons. Eventually, though, Edgar would become scared of being up so high, and he would float down to Washington Street and glide along just over the rooftops.

Though the toy store was his favorite, the floating hippopotamus loved all the small stores along Washington Street. There was the homemade ice cream store that had cherry-chocolate-chip ice cream served in pretzel cones. The only thing that Edgar didn’t like about the ice cream store was that he would always drip ice cream on his fur. He didn’t mind the red and chocolate stains, but Mrs. Westover didn’t, so he would always end up in the washing machine.

There was the comic book store, where he and Benjamin would flip through the pages of their favorite stories. They didn’t like the new stories so much. They liked looking at the old Green Lantern, the Transformers (when they were cars) and Batman. They also both agreed that Superman was the best of all the superheroes. (Edgar was partial to Superman because he also floated. Edgar sometimes wished that Benjamin would make him a bright red cape with the letter "E" on it.)

On Sunday mornings, after church, Benjamin’s parents would take them to the small coffeehouse at the end of Washington Street. Mr. Westover would get a big cup of coffee and read the "Sports" section of the newspaper. Mrs. Westover would read the girlie section and the section with all the scary numbers and graphs, while sipping tea. Benjamin and Edgar would sit at the counter against the window, drinking orange juice and eating a doughnut. Mostly, Benjamin would read "The Peanuts", "Garfield" and the other Sunday Comics to him. However, sometimes they would just stare out the window and giggle at the funny outfits that people wore on Sunday mornings. Sometimes, they would even see someone who forgot to take off their pajamas.

However, when Edgar was just floating along by himself, he would just look through the windows of the stores, and get excited waiting for his best pal to get home from school. After looking through all the windows, Edgar would float down to the park on the riverfront. Edgar wished that he had one of the big sailboats that he would see all the time going up and down the river. He could sail on it all day, and he wouldn’t have to worry, because hippos don’t get sunburns.

He liked to go fishing with Benjamin and his father. They would go in the evening at the park built on a pier sticking out into the river. Dusk was Edgar’s very favorite time to be in the park. As the sun set behind them, it would cast an orange and pink glow across the great buildings of the city across the river. Then, after the sun had set, the bright lights of the city would reflect off the river. It almost seemed to rise out of the river, and stand at the edge of the world as some fantastic storybook city.

Mr. Westover would often go for the bigger fish like striped bass or grouper. Benjamin liked to go after catfish and crabs. Benjamin would tie one piece of fishing line to Edgar’s tail, and a hook on the other end, baited with a jellybean. "Edgar wikes jellwy fish," Benjamin would explain to his father, "So how else is he gonna catch one if he doesn’t use a jellwybean?" Mr. Westover couldn’t argue that logic nor stop from smiling. Edgar never did catch a jellyfish. However, Benjamin and he suspect that they almost caught a starfish once, when they used a starburst for bait.

Once, though, Edgar did catch a crab…sort of. Edgar was just resting on one of the park’s benches after a long day of fishing. He never saw the other fisherman place a bucket under the edge of the bench. It was until he felt a tugging at his tail that he realized he was sitting too close to the edge of the bench. When he turned around, he saw the two tiny little eyes of a crab staring at him. The crab had grabbed on to Edgar’s tail with one of his claws. Lucky for Edgar, Benjamin saw it and was able to shake the crab off before it could get the hippo with his other claw.

In his daydream, Edgar was about to do what he had never done before. He could imagine himself floating out over the Hudson River. He could almost feel the cool breeze coming off the river. As he got closer to the other side, he could hear the honking of car horns and smell the roasting peanuts of the street vendors. And just as he was about to float into the city, the voice of Benjamin washed over Edgar like a tidal wave, and the hippo suddenly found himself back in the bed of the first floor apartment.

Within seconds, he could feel the weight of Benjamin jumping onto the snuggle pile. Before long, the boy swept his hippo up into his arms and buried his face in the nappy fur of his hippo. Edgar realized he didn’t need peanuts, flowers or fire trucks. All he needed was the love of his best pal, Benjamin.