EDRG 3344 T/R MGP Narrative (revision)

A Place for Sheldon

Once upon a time in a pond far, far, away, there lived a turtle named Sheldon. The animals of the pond called him Shel for short. Shel was awkwardly larger than other turtles his same age. Shel never quite fit in and he was wanting more than anything to be good at some thing, anything. His best friend is a dragonfly, named Drake. Drake had lots of ideas to help Shel find a talent he
was good at.

Drake suggested that Shel could try to be a chef, but Shel's arms were to short. Shel would hold a bowl in one claw and a spoon in the other but the mixture could not be stirred because his arms could not reach across his shell. Drake then said, “Well maybe you could be a singer." So Shel and Drake went to go see the best singer of the pond, Froggy the frog. Froggy had a great singing voice. He performed karaoke every night on a lily pad stage. Shel asked Froggy, "Can you teach me how to sing?" Froggy gave Shel some pointers on how to croak karaoke. Then, Shel decided he was ready to try his singing voice out. When he opened his mouth, a horrible sound came out, Screech!!!! So, Drake said, "Maybe if you climb on the lily pad stage, your voice would sound wonderful." Shel struggled to climbed on the lily pad. But before he was even up on the pad, it sank.

Sheldon was so embarrassed and sad because he still could not find his niche in the pond. He could not find what he was great at. Shel just swam away with his head down. Drake the dragonfly found Shel on his log. He told Shel, " Just be yourself and in time you will find who you are suppose to be."

Just then they heard a "Splash!", it was a fish doing her acrobatic routine. The fish was part of a circus show in the pond. Sheldon had an idea. "I could be an acrobat!!!! Excited, he rushed into the water and dove straight to the bottom. He just knew if he got enough speed he could fly into the air and flip just like the fish. He pushed off the bottom of the pond and swam as fast as he could. Which was not very fast. When Shel reached the surface, only his neck came out of the water. "No flying, no flipping! Aahhh!" growled Sheldon. " I can't do anything."

Drake felt so bad for his friend. "There is something you can be good at. Just be yourself and you will be happy," Drake said. Sheldon agreed and said "Maybe your right. Like they say, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The two friends called it a day and went home for the night.

The next morning, Shel woke to the sound of birds chipping. He left the log to find breakfast. After breakfast, Shel basted himself out on top of his log to warm up in the sunlight. Hours went by before Drake came over. Drake was so exited he found something for Shel to do. Earlier, Drake came across the pond's water polo team. They told the dragonfly that if he knew any turtles who were big and strong, to send him to the cattails of the pond. Shel heard Drake but he did not feel confident enough to go.

Shel took three days before he finally was convinced by his friend to go try out for the water polo team. Once Shel arrived at the cattails, he noticed that the other turtles were his same large size. They were missing one team mate and needed a new player. Sheldon tried out for the team and they asked Shel, "Will you help our team go to the championship finals?", Shel didn't hesitate, he
accepted. After two months of being on the water polo team, Shel was a strong player. He was a very good player and was voted the most valuable player. Drake was so proud of his friend.

The pond was all a buzz. All the pond animals were preparing for a parade. Their home water polo team won the championship game. Shel was who everyone was waiting to see in the parade. Shel felt like he finally belonged and he had a purpose in the pond. When Shel was on the float he waved to everyone while Drake rode on top of Shel's shell. Shel turned to see Drake and
told him, "Thank you for always believing in me and standing by my side. Your a great friend."