The weekend started like any other weekend, racous, loud and too early!  Nothing unusual there then for a Friday morning!  After tearing around the house (the kids, that is) for a few hours we left to run our errands, arriving back just after lunchtime.

We had eaten but, DH needed to feed the pet terrapin, Soni.  He approached the tupperware terrapin ‘tank’.

BUT….the tank was empty…well, apart from the plastic foliage and ornamental pirates’s cannon…., and of course, some poop!  OMG….he did a runner.  The devious little so and so waited till we left and then did a runner…..He was nowhere obvious to be seen.

‘Did you see him this morning?’ I asked sceptically.

‘Yes, I fed him this morning.  Well, DS2 did.  We brought him to the lower level of the worksurface and DS2 gave him tuna’ DH assured me confidently.

‘But his ‘tank’ is still on the lower surface’ I commented.  ‘But,  how the h*ll did he climb out over the 6cm side wall of the ‘tank’?’ I asked incredulously.

Images of  him crawling about on the floor, hiding under sofas, behind curtains, flashed through my mind.

‘Seriously, how far can a terrapin go once it escapes?’ asked DH laughing, nervously.

I pushed the thought of having to explain another pet death to the kids to the back of my head.  Anyway, I thought, if there’s any explaining to do, it won’t be me doing it.  DH was the one to leave Soni perched perilously on the kitchen worksurface, 3 feet from the cold, creamy, ceramic tiled floor.  Can terrapin shells be mended with band aids, I wondered?????

‘Aha’ cried Daddy.  ‘Found you Soni.  Where did you think you were off to?’ he asked picking him up and plonking him back in his watery home.

Soni was found hiding behind the kettle, about 20cm from his home….DH was right.  How far can a terrapin get?

All I could think was how clever Soni was to avoid the 90cm drop to the floor, preferring to stay on the black/silvery granite work surface which camouflaged him so well.

Once he was returned to his ‘proper’ place, it dawned on me why he missed it.  The sun was pouring through the window and he stretched his neck to greet it.  By making his way in the direction of the kettle, I guess he was trying to make his way to the sun.

I swear I saw him smile a contented grin when he was back in his tupperware habitat!