The Ocean Summit

My brother gave my the idea from this tale of a sea turtle who goes on a journey to prove that he will be a good village chief.

            In the ocean far off the shore of Japan, there was a village of sea turtles. The turtles lived in their small village in peace. The village chief was wise, as all turtles are, but he was getting old.

            The chief had many children, but of them all Kame was the oldest and bravest. Kame was a friend to all in the village. He would swim with his little brothers and sisters, and they all loved and looked up to him.

            Kame’s prized possession was his shell; it was by far the most beautiful shell among the entire village. It was covered in intricate designs and shimmered in the sun beams that came down from the world above.

            One day, Kame was called to his father’s hut.

            Kame glided through the opening and found the chief lying in his nest. His rough cracking skin was white and his shell was twice the size of him. He slowly stretched his small head outside of his shell and looked at him.

            “Kame,” he said in a raspy voice, “I will die soon and you will become the chief.”

            The younger turtle tried to protest but the chief held up a flipper with great difficultly.

            “You must prove you are ready to the village as I had to when my father died,” he said.

            “What must I do,” Kame asked.

The chief cleared his rusty old throat and pushed himself up with his flippers. Kame followed him out of the hut swimming at a very slow pace to say behind him. They swam in silence as they passed the village. Kame wondered where they were going but thought it was better to stay silent.

            They swam far away from the village and didn’t stop until it was out of sight. His father turned around to face him and settled onto the sandy bottom with a heavy sigh. Kame settled down into the sand and looked at him expectantly.

            “There is an island to the east,” his father said, “It is said that a wise dragon lives there, he will teach you to be wise.”

            “How will I find him,” Kame asked.

            “Swim to the island, climb the mountain, find the cave covered in blossoms,” he said, “but Kame, the dragon will demand payment, you must not refuse his request no matter the cost. Go now and make our little village proud.”

            “I will Father,” Kame said.

            “Good luck, son,” his father rasped.

            Kame smiled and put his flipper on the back of his father’s shell, “I will return and I will make you proud.”

            Kame lifted off the sand bottom and swam away so fast that he did not hear his father say, “I already am.”

            Kame swam fast at first but after several days of nonstop swimming, he was beginning to feel tired. His eyes drooped and his mind began to stray from his task. His flippers seemed to weigh thousands of pounds and it was getting harder to keep them moving.

            His eyes became blurry but he continued on.

            Another day passed and Kame finally came to the island his father spoke of. He swam up to the surface of the water and looked up at the island in front of him. The island was covered in green and a tall mountain in the center. A thin line of black smoke flowed steadily out from the top.

            Kame dipped back into the water and with a deep breath swam forward to the shallows of the beach. He took a last gulp of water then left the ocean for the warm beach. He used his flippers to push himself forward across the beach towards the line of trees.

            He grew tired quickly as he climbed the sharp incline up the side of the mountain, but he kept pressing forward. Whenever he would want to stop he would recall the faces of his brothers and sisters, and his father.

            The warm sun was high in the sky when he finally came to the top of the mountain. Just as his father had said, there was a cave covered in pink cherry blossom trees. The line of smoke came from the mouth of the cave.

            Kame slowly approached the cave and yelled inside.

            There dragon poked his head out and looked down at the young turtle. Kame looked up at him in awe. The dragon was covered in sapphire scales that glittered in the sun.

            “I am here to prove myself as the next chief of my village,” Kame announced.

            “I know why you are here Kame,” the dragon said, flames sparked from his mouth as he spoke, “What will you give in return?”

            Kame frowned; he had forgotten to find something to give the dragon in exchange.

            “That is a beautiful shell,” the dragon said eyeing the shimmering shell on Kame’s back, “Give me your shell and I will give you my wisdom.”

            Kame looked from his gleaming shell on his back to the glittering dragon. He hesitated; his shell was his prized possession, not only that but it was his only form of protection.

            He couldn’t give him his shell.

            “If you are not ready to give me what I require you will have to leave,” the dragon said.

            Kame sighed and started to turn back when the words of his father came back to his mind.

            “You must not refuse his request, no matter the cost.”

            Kame spun around, the dragon was pulling his head back into his cave, “wait!”

            Kame pulled out of the shell. He shivered as the breeze brushed his now open skin and pushed it towards the dragon with his nose. The dragon picked up the shell and held it in his palm. A grin pulled at the corners of his mouth.

            “Well done Kame,” he said, “You have passed the test and have learned all that I can teach you.”

            “But you didn’t teach me anything,” Kame blurted out.

            “That is right,” the dragon said, “Wisdom has been inside you the whole time. You have proved that you can let go of selfish wants and listen to the sound advice of others. I give you my blessing.”

            The dragon lifted Kame’s shell to his mouth and opened his mouth wide. Kame stared it horror as the dragon’s flames licked his shell, but when the fire stopped he saw that his shell didn’t have any burn marks on it. In fact, it shimmered brighter and had turned the same color as the dragon’s magnificent hide. The dragon placed the shell in front of him and bowed his head.

            Kame couldn’t take his eyes off his new shell, it was better than before in every way possible that he couldn’t find words to say.

            “Thank you,” he finally whispered as he pushed himself back into his shell.

            “Farewell Chief Kame,” the dragon said pulling his head back inside his cave.

            The swim back to the village didn’t seem as long and Kame was enjoying the way his shell shimmered and reflected the rays of the sun when he saw his village in the distance. Everyone was there to welcome their new chief home, but he was most happy to see his father nestled in the sand apart from the crowd with a smile on his face.

            “Father,” Kame said happily swimming to him.

            “Welcome home, son,” he replied in a husky voice, “I am so proud of you.”