Lucky

When my older brother Shayan was 13 years old he took a trip to England. When he came back home, he had with him an array of new knowledge, experiences, clothes, toys and a little English turtle named Lucky (not lucky as in "luck" but lucky as in "LUCKposht"). Lucky was a small green English turtle the size of a large palm. Shayan played with Lucky, fed him, washed him and took care of him like any devoted master would of his pet. Shayan and Lucky laughed, played and lived Merrily and happily together. It was not until less than one year later when Shayan was sent to America for good and had to leave Lucky behind. And that is when I became Lucky's friend and play mate, I was 3 years old.
My family had shrunk down to my mom and dad, me and Lucky, so naturally Lucky and I spent many hours together. Through out the years I played with Lucky as he was a close friend and a confidant. He roamed around the house as he pleased and some times would get lost for hours.
I would fill up the bath tub with a few inches of water and place Lucky in there where he swam around and washed his face with his two little hands. I would put Lucky at one end of the room and I would sit in the other end holding pieces of lettus and carrots (his meal) and would watch him patiently and slowly make his way down to me. I would take Lucky out to the back yard and let him roam around in the garden while I rode around on my bike. He had made a home for himself inside of a little hole in the corner of the garden. At times we would leave Lucky in the back yard where he would roam around and sleep in his little hole for days. At other times he lived in a little cardboard box that my father had built for him (with cut out windows and a door) in the terrace. Lucky always kept his head, arms and legs inside of his shell when I picked him up and he would only come out when he thought no one was there. Lucky was slow and quiet, he was the most innocent creature that I had ever seen in my life.
One of the features that this adorable little English turtle had was the fact that he would sleep all through the winter and wake up when spring arrived and blossoms bloomed. One year my parents planned a trip for us to leave the city and celebrate the Norouz (new year) with our out of town relatives. Lucky was sleeping in a silent corner as we rushed out of the house to get to our destination, where we remained for over one week. While we were gone, Lucky woke up from months of sleeping and naturally he was hungry. However, this time his owners (technically that would be my mom and dad since I was still just a young girl) had forgotten to leave food for him. Sadly Lucky died of starvation. My parents found Lucky's lifeless body when we returned home from vacation and I was devastated.
Even though Shayan was Lucky's original owner and his first friend, I was the one who took care of him and played with him for many years. Lucky not only was my pet, but he was also my beloved friend.

I am sorry for not leaving food for you Lucky. I miss you.