Week 2 Story: The Consequence of the Great Turtle

Long ago, as time was being created, there lived the Great Turtle. This evil being hungered for the souls of the young, and committed many atrocities in order to satisfy that wicked desire. Eventually, the Council of Creatures of the land and sea knew that is was time to end the reign of the Great Turtle. The Council mounted an attack against the Turtle, and an epic battle raged nearly an eternity. This battle of tragedy, heroism, suffering, and bravery ended at just the same time as the new eternity
was rising. I will not go into the details of this battle here, for it is not the purpose of this tale. However, I will tell you that many Creatures, such as the Mighty Unicorn, lost their lives to end the Great Turtle's reign (that is how we lost many Great Creatures who are now known only in legends). As the new eternity was beginning, the Council of Creatures had to decide how best to punish this most evil being. The Council knew that they could not kill the Great Turtle, as this would (as you well know) also be the end of all turtles, even those that did not share in their master's wickedness. It was decided that the Great Turtle would be imprisoned on Earth, doomed to roam as a being of dependent on both land and sea. He was also stripped of his title,
becoming simply the Turtle. The Council of Creatures trapped the Turtle in a small pool and shoreline, and did their best to keep all lesser creatures away for fear that the Turtle would somehow regain his power. As the millennia passed, however, many of Creatures became complacent and forgot the wickedness of the once-great Turtle. Eventually, a city of men developed near the Turtle's region, and eventually a naive king of men made this small pool into a vast lake, thus unwittingly increasing the Turtle's power and expanding his domain. The villainous Turtle wasted no time in utilizing his growing strength, and made attempts to consume the young boys who played in and near the lake. He nearly succeeded in consuming their souls, but one of the boys recognized the Turtle as a demon (although not technically correct, it was the closest the boy could come to putting a name to his instinctual fear). The Turtle was captured by grown men, whom he was not yet strong enough to

consume. The Turtle thought he was finally defeated, but then the cunning beast realized he could trick the mortals into releasing him back to his home. The Turtle feigned great terror when water was suggested as a means of execution. The poor, dim-witted king of men was deceived by this monster, and the Turtle was ceremoniously tossed into the lake. And that is where the Turtle remains, growing stronger and stronger and waiting for the day when he can regain his full power and no longer be bound by land nor sea, free to roam the cosmos in search of young souls to consume.

Author's Note:
I chose to create the backstory of How the Turtle Saved His Own Life because I thought it would be interesting to legitimize the fears of the princes and king. The original story was one of misunderstanding, with no true villain to be found. However, in my story I wanted to show that the instinct to fear the turtle as a demon was not mislead, but actually accurate. I also thought it would be fun to introduce the "Council of Creatures" storyline, and may want to incorporate that thread in more of my stories.

Bibliography:
The Turtle and The King by Ellen C. Babbitt

Images:
The Great Turtle
The Mighty Unicorn
The Cosmos