That afternoon, Christine carried home her prize with a hand clasping each side of his shell and holding him out from her body. The large turtle clawed at her hands and peed down her arms. but smiling, she stepped lightly, holding him away from her clothes. When she got home, she showed him off to her parents. They were impressed by his constant activity and his size. Christine had been bringing home stray animals for years so her father, with a shrug, allowed the turtle to stay. She looked around for a way to house her new pet since he was too big for an indoor aquarium and living outside in the sunshine would be healthier for him. There was a large deep window well on the side of the house so she fashioned a nice terrarium by sinking a plastic bowl for a pond and putting in rocks and grasses and a seedling orange bush. Over the following months, the turtle thrived. She named him Max and lovingly cleaned his pen and fed him raw meat and lettuce. He scrambled about in his enclosure and swam in his pond. Max sunned on the rocks and grew larger.
Then came the California winter, where rain fell in sheets from Monday morning until Wednesday afternoon. Christine has never seen rain like this before. When she got out to check on Max, he was not there. So much rain had fallen that he was able to swim out of his living space. She searched her yard and the gardens for him, but he was gone. Christine hoped he had made his way to the neighbourhood creek where on any bright day, scores of turtles sunned themselves on logs and rocks. Max was free. She smiled at the sun breaking through the rain clouds and walked back into the house.
