Chapter Text
The long, echoing chimes of 11 o'clock rang in the evening ritual. Take the winding brick paths down the steep hills of the village, beyond the cramped, vine-covered buildings and the blazing amber lights in the windows. Walk carefully on the rickety wooden bridge that cut through the line of trees, keeping watch on the planks in the moonlight, making sure not to sink a heel in the holes scattered across them. Then, once the bridge dipped down into the sand and the ground no longer felt purely solid, gaze up at the billowing clouds and the gleaming moon and all her twinkling friends aligned into constellations. Hear the rumble of waves breaking against fragments of shells and sea glass, and the resounding gull-calls that reverberated through the air. Hum a little tune and spin unstable, clumsy pirouettes. And while looking back at the dim lights of the village peeking through the trees, feel completely separated from the world.
Maybe Johnny was just being an idealist, but he felt as if he could spend days’ worth of time at the shore at midnight. Then again… of course it was idealistic. Midnight was only one hour, no matter how beautiful it was.
He had walked about half a mile down the beach—he could tell from his view at the edge of the water. The peak of the mountain would reach high above the oak trees, the shore would lose its curve, and the lighthouse would align perfectly with the sand. He sat by the ocean, letting the water wash over his sandals and his hands sink into the chilly, soft sand. The crashing waves, the fizzling of the sea foam, the loud drawn-out caws of the seagulls, all of it was just as beautiful-sounding as the hundreds of days before. It never got old, not to him.
Then. He noticed something; a dark little rock-sized thing moving past his foot into the wave approaching it, quickly getting engulfed by the water and carried out to sea. Then another. Johnny watched the strange little creatures before being struck with a sudden realization: oh god, oh god! The turtles were hatching! With excitement bubbling up in his chest, he let out some instinctual squeak of joy and scrambled up from his spot next to the water. He followed the tiny trail left by the turtles up to the trees and stopped at a heap of kicked-up sand, smiling proudly at the sight in front of him. The nest he had found all by himself, with no help whatsoever, was one of his prized discoveries. And now? His babies were hatching.
Seagulls circled the area, swooping down low and letting out sharp joyous caws. He heard one whooping behind him. Oh god, a baby was already in its beak; it was taking off and kicking sand and fighting off another gull. Johnny’s heart raced as he stood amid the wild creatures. Then, he scooped up the turtle closest to his foot, then another one right next to the first, and bolted to the edge of the water, then ran back again to kick away a zealous gull standing right in the nest and grab more babies, fumbling around and getting sand in his eyes and running back and forth and whisper-screaming “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” until the last turtle clambered out of the nest, dragging themself along the sand. Nonchalant as they crawled past the remaining gulls.
Johnny cupped his hands under the turtle, picking them up and taking a bit of sand along with them. They stared at him, and although Johnny was absolutely sure that he was projecting human emotion onto an animal’s face in the dark, he was sure he saw wonder dancing in the creature’s eyes.
“Hello there, lil fellow,” Johnny cooed, feeling warmth and happiness blossom in his chest as he watched the turtle flick their flippers. Slowly, taking all the time in the world to observe his new friend, he walked over to the water. “You’re so handsome. Or pretty. Whichever you’d like more.” He tripped on a shell, stumbling for a second or so, but he steadied himself as quickly as possible and looked at his hands again to see the turtle still there, watching. “Would it be okay if I name you? I—I hope you said yes, because I’m going to either way.” He stopped right at the edge of the water, the tide rushing over his ankles and anchoring his shoes in the sand. “I... I’ll name you Everett. Because it’s cute, yes, but you’ll grow to be super majestic someday, and I think the name’ll still fit.” Everett still stared up at him, eyes wide and intent.
“Okay.” The water rushed towards them once more. “Time for you to go. Good luck, Everett. Look for me if you ever need help, okay? Ha-ha-ha. Okay.” He set his hands down to the water, guiding Everett into the retreating wave. “Bye-bye, lil fellow.”
With that, the turtle began its journey through life, and Johnny felt ready to return home.