"Red, Blue and Turtle"

A story by Supriya and Sarita ("Aaji") Padki

There was a bird. He lived in a nest in a tree. He had a friend. Both used to fly together in the morning. One was named Red and the other one was named Blue. One morning Red said to Blue, "I am going to go to the pond today."

Blue asked, "What will you do there?"

"I am going to take a bath," said Red.

"I will also come and have a nice swim." said Blue.

After they were done they called their friend Turtle. They said, "Come and fly with us."

Turtle said, "I cannot fly."

"Would you like to look at the top of the tree?" the birds asked.

Turtle said, "Yes! But how can I do that?"

"We will fly you up there." The birds said.

"But how?" Turtle asked.

"Red will grab your front feet and Blue will grab your back feet."

"But take care, don't hurt me!" Turtle said.

"We have to hurry. We go faster so there will be less chance of dropping you."

Red and Blue caught hold of Turtle and up they went.

"Well, I wish I could fly. The tree looks so beautiful!" Turtle said.

"We will pick you up whenever you want to fly." The birds promised.

NOTE: Yesterday my mother and Supriya wrote this story. My mother wrote the first sentence. Supriya wrote the next one and so on they went, alternating lines.