r.i.p. roger

roger is your everyday farang turtle. well, red-eared slider, to be specific. and he lived, what humans (this human did) would assume, a happy life. he had a friend, pornthip, a lovely thai turtle, who shared a tank with him. the day roger was “brought home,” his parents put him and pornthip in a spacious tank, with plenty of water, and plenty of rocks to climb onto to dry off. some fake greens and a ceramic duck with a hollow belly. the belly of the duck was where they both liked to be.

they got fed.

they got out of their tank and ran around their mother’s single studio room, with their older, bigger brother pepe (with accents over the “e”s), a mexican-thai-american-nepali chihuahua.

the morning roger died was a beautiful morning. his mom was online, chatting with a close friend, uncle chase. she’d wanted to introduce uncle chase to roger and pornthip. when she neared the tank with the camera, she discovered roger, covered with ants, eyes filament-closed, dried up.

he looked like he died halfway through an intended step up a rock. dried up. and out of his shell.

his mom and his uncle lewis (neighbour and mom’s friend) buried him in one of her plants. the new one.

he was buried over christian and buddhist prayers.

pornthip is lonesome.

she is going to visit 7-9 year old thai students, in her mother’s classroom, who all prayed for her and roger today. all 36 hazard-prone of them.

r.i.p. roger, we love you.