Childhood Adventure

A SILENT CHILDHOOD ADVENTURE 

Sandwich, MA, Shawme Pond, 1956, age 12

My childhood friend Peter just died at the age of 76.

He and his sister Shawnee, who survives him, have been my oldest friends.
When I was 12 and Peter was 10, we had many adventures. This was one of them.

Most stories about child adventures

are about running away

or being scared or making noise

But this story is different

it is about stillness

When the surface of Shawme Pond

was glassy

Peter and I would set off

in my small wooden row boat

to drift,

but drift with a plan

Rowing slowly 

we approached our prey --

turtles who were sunning themselves

on half sunken logs

fallen trees that had been 

in the water for years

at the forest edge

When we got close

we gave the boat one last

strong but silent

pull of the oars 

and let it float

like a piece of driftwood

moved by a gentle breeze

Like quiet Indian hunters

Peter was at the bow

his arm half outstretched 

but frozen

while I steered with the oars

And the dozens of unsuspecting turtles

continued to bask

in the warm sun

unaware of their possible capture

When we got within arm's length

Peter shot out his hand

like the long tongue of a frog

and grabbed a turtle's hard shell 

from the top and middle

to avoid getting bitten

And with that, in an instant,

the rest of the sleepy turtles

plopped into the water

and swam away

abandoning the one we had taken

But we had our prize

Hoping to entice him

from his shell

we placed him at the bottom of the boat

next to a leaf of lettuce 

-- a delicacy for turtles --

hoping that after some time

he might poke his head out

Then we might just drift

for another hour or so

until the shrill whistle

of my father,

that could be heard for miles

along the pond,

called us back to shore

But before we ended our adventure

we rapidly rowed to the forest edge

and placed our turtle back on his log

He did not linger

dropping quickly into the water

We watched him swim down to the bottom

then lost sight of him

as he mingled with the eel grass