New Horizons

In the land of Overflow lived a turtle named Stevie. For most of her life, she lived comfortably in a town called shelltopia, better known as “the shell.”

Stevie had memories of a time outside of the shell, but over the years, it was a place that she never left. It was comfortable there and besides, it was a dictatorship where she was the dictator. She could control every aspect of life inside the shell. No one could enter unless they had her permission.

One day, her city was invaded. She had been letting some “friends” in here and there, but she didn’t know they would turn on her after they had gotten in. After a while, she didn’t even recognize her city. It was taken over. She soon heard about a man who was standing on the outskirts of the town. He claimed to be able to restore her city. She was confused and thought to herself, “the city is already invaded, why won’t he just come in.” Word got back to Stevie that this was a respectful man. A man of great authority and power, but he would not come in unless he was invited.

So, because the city was such a mess, Stevie invited the man in. When he entered, Stevie knew this man meant business. Those who had invaded the city fleed at the sight of this man. Who was he?? In the matter of one day, the city was cleared just by the presence of the man.

As the man continued to walk through the city, he saw how badly it had been broken down. With his help and guidance, they began to rebuild the city.

A couple of years later, the man was still there. He never left Stevie’s side. As more months began to pass, Stevie began to become bored with Shelltopia. The man had been telling her about the land of Overflow. He wanted her to see every inch that she had time to see. Stevie dreamed of seeing this land, but she was too afraid to leave Shelltopia. What if she left the shell and no one accepted her. What if she left and had to come back. What if she didn’t know where to go once she left??

The man then revealed to her that he owned every place outside of Shelltopia. He even told her of a place that was to come that he would rule over. Stevie was intrigued but also nervous. He told her, “You weren’t born to stay in Shelltopia.”

Stevie considered this. One day, she finally got enough courage to leave. The man had promised to never leave her side. He promised that he would go ahead of her and that his influence would follow her.

Nervously, Stevie packed her bags. Together, they traveled to the edge of the shell. She stopped, looked out at the horizon and stepped across the border to follow the man.

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Thank you all for reading! This story was inspired by a dear friend who pointed out how uncomfortable I was in my shell.