2 years later…

BOOM.

The rain and thunder pounded against the makeshift roof Aileen had made of palm fronds. Lilah and Aileen had set up camp deep in a tropical forest just off a beach with coarse white sand. They were hopelessly lost, but they had been ever since we fled into the forest two years ago. 

Aileen was curled against a big cushy pile of tropical leaves, tracing her finger across the loose threads of the shredded tapestry. She had kept it as a reminder of what happened when she lost control. She sighed and wiped invisible dust off my tanzanite pendant.

Lilah heaved aside the boulder they were using as a door, a bulging patchwork sack in her hands. Aileen hoped that meant she had luck finding food.

“Roof’s got a leak,” she grunted. She chucked her sack onto the ground, and a few juicy grapefruits rolled out. Lilah slammed her fist into the roof. The beams and leaves shook and a steady stream of water poured over Lilah’s head. Her fiery maroon hair slumped limply against her ears and cheeks.

She scowled and peeled the plastered strands away from her face. Aileen frowned at her. “Even if it did leak, you just made it worse,” Aileen grumbled, gathering the water from Lilah’s hair into a ball and hurling it through the open doorway. A surprised yelp sounded from the forest and Aileen blushed. “Sorry, capybara,” she called out the door. Lilah snorted and slammed the boulder back in place.

“I don’t understand how you’ve lasted this long out here in the wilderness,” she scoffed. “If you’re going to continue being that soft, you’re going to die saving a toucan from an avalanche or something - then forgetting that you should be saving YOURSELF, not some random toucan!”

She would’ve continued but a faint, high-pitched whining cut her off.

“It’s coming from the beach!” Aileen said, darting to the door. Lilah followed her, grumbling, “This is EXACTLY what I’m talking about!”

Grabbing a wide tropical leaf to shield herself from the storm, Aileen headed out into the wilderness. Lilah shot a burst of fire into the air above our tent so we would be able to find it again.

As Aileen came to the beach, she was met with a sorry sight. A baby sea turtle lay abandoned on the white sand, mumbling weakly. His moss-colored flippers twitched against the beach. One of his back flippers looked cut.

This little guy had hatched in the reef just off the beach during this storm, and his new, tiny flippers were no match for the rough waves and he had been beached.

Aileen ran to the little turtle and picked him up. Apart from the cut on his back flipper, he didn’t seem badly injured, just shaken and exhausted.

Catching a raindrop in my palm, Aileen set to work healing him. Aileen formed the raindrop into a little sphere and gently pressed it into his wound. The scrape didn’t seem all that deep. 

After binding his flipper with a makeshift leaf-and-sap bandage, Aileen stroked his little head. A low purr sounded from his throat and she smiled. 

His shell was quite green for a sea turtle. It was sea green edged with olive. Starbursts of emerald were scattered across his shell, along with a few swirls of Persian green. Aileen was surprised. She had never seen that color on a turtle before.

“What are you planning to do with it?” Lilah asked. 

“Well, he hasn’t survived very well on his own,” Aileen said. “I think I’ll keep him.”

“Bah!” Lilah scoffed. “It’s a sea turtle. It needs water.”

Aileen thought for a moment, then gathered up the little sea turtle in a floating ball of water. “There,” she said. “He can float along beside me. I’ll name him Squirtle.”

“Squirtle! What a silly name!” But after a few repetitions and Lilah fell in love, with both the name Squirtle and the little turtle himself. 

Squirtle was enjoying himself in his little ball of water. He rolled around and around, splashing a few drops of water but not too much. He seemed cheerful. Aileen hoped he liked her because she sure liked him.

Lilah, Squirtle, and Aileen headed back to camp. Aileen smiled down at Squirtle in his floating ball of water. Her life had gotten just a bit better.