Terrapene carolina

I'm sitting in the fourth floor of the library, staring out at the bayou. I should be studying. Instead, I'm watching turtles swim. Do you wonder if turtles worry? If they hurt? I watch as one big turtle, perhaps the big kahuna, slices through the muddy water. He leaves a cleared path that stays long after he has passed. As I begin to think about how we too leave a path, I watch another smaller turtle fall in line behind him. I wonder if the little turtle looks up to the big turtle. I wonder if the little turtle even sees him anymore, of if he's simply following the effects of the big turtles passing. I wonder the same for me.. for all of us really.
There's a few brave turtles in the middle of the bayou, but most stay near the shore. It's muddy and full of vines and stagnation, but it's safe. When they tire of swimming, they can rest. Some are sitting just deep enough to where they can't possibly reach the bottom. Must they work to stay afloat? That's where I'm swimming these days. Near enough to the shore to call a time out when I want, but just deep enough to where I'm still working. I feel as though maybe it's easier just to swim across than to constantly stay afloat.

A girl is sitting in a study cubby near me eating a sammich. Tehe.