One late night amongst the stars, Tuck the Turtle lay his head down by the creek. All day long, he had tried to find Rummy the Rabbit, his best friend. He hadn't seen him in a week and assumed that like all others, his best friend had disappeared from his life. Staring at his reflection, Tuck sighed a breath of defeat. The wrinkles by his eyes had grown old, his brown eyes rather sad, and his brown and green shell were rather dull. As a tear escaped the corner of his eye, he shrank his frail head back into his shell and fell into a light sleep.
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As the sky awoke, so did Tuck the Turtle. Beside him was his best friend, Rummy!
"Hey Buuuddyyy." Rummy drew out, hopping around. Tuck squinted his eyes a bit against the sun before smiling at his friend.
"You look different. I missed you, where were you?" Tuck engaged in conversation, taking in admiration among his fur and smile. His friend who was once a sad bunny, was now a happy little fellow hopping around in a bright new shade of grey with a smile big enough to take on the world.
"I was only gone for 6 days, Tuck..." Rummy glared at his friend, "And I went to see that new fox everyone's been talking about!"
"What fox?" As usual, Tuck was the last to know, and judging by his friends tone of annoyance he could tell 6 days wasn't as long to Rummy as it was to Tuck.
"Oh my gosh, member the one that moved here a year ago? Everybody was saying she can make leopards move as fast at cheetahs, and pandas be ferocious as lions? Well, I went to see her and look at me now!"
"I still don't understand what she did. Did she bathe you? Did she buy a new car?" Tuck squinted at his friend against the sunlight.
"Noooo!" Rummy protested, "Oh my gosh, just go to her and you'll see. Trust me, Tuck! Her name is Fabiola but everybody calls her Fi. She lives on the edge of the woods not far from here. Do you remember where they are?"
"Yes, I remember." Tuck glumly replied, and with that he set out to find this fox that made his weared out friend look so happy.
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It had ended up taking three days to find the fox. He had asked a squirrel who heard from the birds that it was a few miles the opposite direction. Tuck the Turtle was slow as it was, and making this journey was very difficult on his aging body. Tuck wasn't very old, but he allowed himself to fall into a pit of doom. He never exercised, he didn't eat right, nor did he socialize very much. Rummy was his only friend, and he had known him since he was just a little guy with no shell. Finally, a little after dusk, Tuck had managed to make it to Fi's den. At the edge of the foxhole, Tuck lifted his head to try to see if he could make out any movement. He couldn't, and for a moment he debated going back home. A flashback of Rummy hopping around faster than he had ever seen made Tuck continue into the den.
"Hello??" Tuck called out as the walls grew higher with light.
"Greetings, my fellow citizen!" A fox emerged from a corner. Setting down a book and tipping the edge of her glasses, the fox swarmed over to Tuck, "How may I accompany you on this fine evening?"
Tuck had to think a moment before replying, "Well, my friend Rummy had came here..."
"Ah, yes! Fine rabbit, that young lad! How is he enjoying his new lifestyle?" The fox smiled, eyes bright with intensity.
"Fine..I only saw him for 10 minutes?" Tuck replied, a bit thrown off by how happy the fox was. It was after dusk and if somebody had came into his home uninvited, Tuck would have been rather angry. He had people to dream of and worlds to escape from.
