a growing up story- babies to teenagers

The beginning
Hamato Yoshi was just walking out of the pet store with his new pet turtles that he had bought to keep him company. He rounded a corner to see a group of men in suits and ties. He tried to walk away but was stopped by two of the men. “You must not leave this place that you have seen the contents of this place!” one of them said. Yoshi put the turtles down and began fighting. He was almost finished when a rat scurried over his leg. He stopped and one of the men threw and object at him. It crashed on the ground and splashing the turtles and Yoshi himself. He began changing to some sort of weird creature; he was turning into a rat. When he finished changing he went to see his turtles, but they weren’t turtles anymore, they were small infant turtles who were helpless. He gathered them up and went into the sewer where no one could find them. That was his last day on the surface.

They turn one
It has been a whole year now when the incident happened. The turtles grew up and they were a bit wiser now.  The smallest, who he had named Donatello, was already reading and they all were walking, yet none of them talked at all. Yoshi had become very intelligent of raising these boys that he hoped nothing happened to him like his daughter’s incident. He made a cake out of algae and worms for his sons. He smiled at the sight of his sons who ate, well all except Donatello who smiled at the cake. “Happy birthday my sons” Yoshi said. “Happy birthday to us!” his youngest son, Michelangelo said. Splinter gasped at his son’s first words. “You can finally talk!” Yoshi said. “Man! That ain’t fair! I want to talk too!” Raphael said. Raphael gasped at his own comment. “I can talk!” he said. “Well Michelangelo talked first! He was just lucky! I mean if I and Donatello were able to talk we would!” Leonardo said to his younger brother. “You can all talk! Let’s see if Donatello wants to talk!” Yoshi said. They all turned to Donatello who shrugged and said “I don’t like the cake, daddy, it doesn’t taste scrumptious at all”. Splinter smiled brightly and hugged all of his sons. “I am happy for you all!” he said with glee.

Two is the charm and a lot of harm
Splinter’s sons, who had just started calling him that, have gone insane.  They are always coming out of their shared room in the middle of the night and into his room next to the dojo. He was always tired during the day and always wide awake at night not knowing what the problem was. He sat his sons down one morning to talk to them. “My sons, why are you always coming into my room in the middle of the night?” He said. “Because the night is scary” Leo said. “Yeah! Like the scary clowns and evil ghost!” Mikey said. Splinter then realized what it was, a fear of the dark. He smiled and said “Thank you, my sons, now you may go play”. He would handle it tomorrow.

Three is cute and troublesome
Splinter was tired and worn out! He was training his boys all day, and by training he meant potty training. The most embarrassing thing in a toddler’s life and in life besides…well he put that thought aside since he had a lot of years ahead to deal with that. He was trying to become successful teaching his sons, but it was no use. He noticed his son, Leonardo walk out of the bathroom. He went into the bathroom and noticed something new, the toilet was used! I mean yes he has used it for his son’s training but he had never used it himself and all of his sons were scared of the toilet anyway…until now! He was so proud of little Leonardo! Leo was to soon find out of this happy accuracy….

Four is a life stopper
Splinter has been proud of all of his children’s creativity. Donatello was a genius with science and technology and everything else besides art and music, Michelangelo was a good drawer and was a fine artist, and Leonardo was a great story teller, but only of his favorite show, Space Heroes. Raphael usually hid in the background of his brothers doing nothing special but watch TV and reading comic books. Splinter was worried about his son but knew not to be too worried. But the days have gone by and he was seeing less and less of his son. He went inside his sons’ room to find Raphael sitting on his bunk reading a comic book. “My son, I wish to talk to you” Splinter said. Raph put his comic down to notice splinter. “Sure” he said.  “Why aren’t you doing anything special lately, besides getting in trouble?” Splinter asked. “If you are asking about who broke the vase it was not me!” Raph said. Splinter rolled his eyes and said “I mean why have you been avoiding me?”. Raph looked down at his feet and muttered “Because you like them better than me”. Splinter was shocked for what his son had said.  He placed his arms on his son’s shoulders and said “Raphael, I love you and your brothers all the same, no more and no less”. “I know but you have been giving them all the attention and when I do get attention it is because I did something bad!” Raph said. Raph was hanging his head down again. “Well that is my fault, my son, you know you can talk to me whenever you want” Splinter said. “Really? Thanks Sensei!”Raph said. Raph grabbed his comic and ran into the living room with the others. Splinter thought it was just the beginning of all of his troubles.

Five is live!
Splinter has been seeing more of a project gone wrong then of Donatello himself. Splinter has been trying to get his five year old sons to play with one another but it never worked. The other 3 would play with each other but Donatello was always in his lab. He managed to get to talk to him one day after dinner. “Donatello, why do you not wanna play with your brothers?” Splinter said. “Because I am a geek and they are normal” Donnie said. “You are all the same, and yet you are all special” Splinter said. “How?” Donnie asked. “Well you are all my children and you are all turtles. You have a talent with learning, Leonardo has a talent of writing stories about Space Heroes, Michelangelo ha s a talent of drawing, and Raphael has a talent of fighting. You are all special in your own way” Splinter said. Donnie hugged Splinter and went to go join his brothers in a game of truth or dare. Splinter knew this was not the end of Donatello’s troubles.

Six is as hard as burned cookies!
Leonardo, Splinter’s oldest son, was the most responsible one of his brothers, but for a while Splinter has getting on to Leonardo for doing bad things. Splinter was meditating when he heard a crash from the living room followed by a cry. He ran into the living room to see a broken vase and a few shards in Raphael’s knee. “Who broke the vase? And how did the shard get on Raphael’s knee?”  Splinter asked. Mikey and Donnie pointed to Leo. “Leo threw the vase at me for saying Space Heroes was stupid!” Raph said still crying. Splinter turned to his son to see that he knew what he did and knew what was going to happen. “Leonardo go into the dojo and wait for me. Michelangelo go into the medicine cabinet and get me the first aid kit and Donatello go get me a wet rag from the kitchen and a plastic bag” Splinter said. His sons did everything as they were told and Splinter bandaged his son’s knee. “You were wrong to say that to your brother, Raphael, no TV for the rest of the day” Splinter said. “Hai, sensei” Raph said. Splinter went into the dojo to see his son, Leonardo, sitting on the floor waiting for splinter to give him his punishment. Splinter picked his son up and spanked him. When he was finished he asked Leonardo a question, “Why are you acting unusual?” Splinter said. Leonardo looked at his feet and said “Because the others made fun of me or being a goody two shoes”. Splinter looked at his son to see hurt in his eyes. “Well you, my son, will always be a good boy no matter what happens. You shouldn’t let your brothers get to you” Splinter said. “I know now, sensei” Leo said. Splinter let Leo go play but he also knew it was not the last of Leonardo’s misbehaving.

Seven is not heaven
Splinter’s 7 year old sons have all been through stuff that they like a lot. Like one day they would like superheroes and the next day they like ninjas. Michelangelo is the only one who still had nightmares about superheroes and has always been a ninja fan.  Splinter tried to reason his son that superheroes were not scary but could never do it. He used to like them when he was younger but something happened. One Saturday morning he talked to Mikey. “Why do you fear of superheroes?” Splinter had asked him. “Raphie told me that at night they come and eat you and use your bones and shell to use as weapons!” Mikey said scared out of his mind. “I see….well Raphael lied. Superheroes are known for helping people, not scaring little turtles” Splinter said. Mikey smiled and went to watch cartoons with his brothers, but Splinter knew it was not the end of Michelangelo’s fears.

Eight is when they don’t need you anymore!
Splinter’s sons have matured a lot lately and have learned to do a lot of things on their own, like cook and clean and deal with their problems. Splinter worried that now that they were 8 years old that they would try to sneak up to the surface on their own. Splinter was so worried one day he even thought of just stop teaching them in total! “Daddy, we are worried about you!” Leo said. “Yeah, you won’t eat or talk to us anymore” Mikey said. “Nor read to us at night or even kiss us goodnight!” Donnie said. “We need you!” Raph said. Splinter looked down at his sons and realized no matter how old they got they would always need him for protection and support. That night he felt good again and did his normal fatherly activities.

Nine goes by so fast
Splinter was happy for his 10 year old sons. They knew a lot of moves and have past most of his test and he was realizing some of their fears that he would soon have to test when they are 16 years old. Leonardo has a fear of snakes. He knew this because he had once let the children watch a scary movie about snakes on a plane and it turned out Leonardo was the only one who had nightmares about it. Raphael has an irrational fear of bugs. He noticed this when he was washing dishes and he dropped one due to a cockroach.  Donatello has a fear of small spaces. He knew this because he was once trapped in a closet and couldn’t get out until Splinter busted open the door. Michelangelo has a fear of the dark, still. He knew this because when waking his sons, he noticed Michelangelo on the floor of Donatello’s room. They were all individual know and they had their own rooms as well. Donatello even grew taller than his brothers somehow.

Ten is growing up
Splinter had his concerns for Michelangelo. He has been acting strange ever since they had turned ten years old. Mikey has been reading a lot instead of playing games with his brothers. He would pay attention a lot more in class and now he didn’t even talk a lot. Splinter took his son aside and asked him a question. “Why are you acting strange?” Splinter asked. “Because if I don’t catch up in class I will fail and then I won’t get to train with the others and if that happens I will be behind!” Mikey said. “Who told you this?” Splinter asked. He knew the answer he just wanted to know he was right. “Raphie” Mikey said. Splinter nodded his head and let Mikey go play. He was going to have a serious talk with Raphael that night.

Eleven is hard
Splinter’s son, Donatello, is the pickiest of his sons. He decided that his children should eat alone now since they are 11 years old. He told the children this and Donnie seemed the happiest about it. During dinner time for a week, Splinter was meditating and training himself. He would see Donnie every once in a while and notice he was a little thinner than he usually looks. So he got to his other sons to ask what was wrong with Donatello. “I don’t know, I never see him when I eat” Raph said. “I am not sure, Sensei, I don’t see him when I eat at all!” Leo said. “I never see him when I am eating and I never see him when he is eating” Mikey said. Splinter knew what was going on when he heard Mikey’s comment. Donnie was starving himself. Splinter called Donnie to the table. When Donnie came he asked “What do you need sensei?”. Splinter motioned him to sit and Donnie did as he was told.  “Why are you not eating?” Splinter asked. “What are you talking about? I am so eating!” Donnie lied. “Oh really? Then let me feel your tummy and see if it is full” Splinter said. “Master Splinter! I am eleven years old! I am not a kid anymore!” Donnie said, but Splinter did so anyway. “It doesn’t seem like it is full or has been full since I last ate with you, did you lie to me?” Splinter questioned.  “Hai, sensei. I haven’t been eating because the food isn’t good! I don’t like it!” Donnie said. Splinter sighed and pulled out a plate of algae and worms and sat it in front of Donnie.  “You will eat this right now” Splinter said. “But sensei! I don’t want to!” Donnie protested. “Well if you don’t do it I will spoon feed you like you are a child” Splinter said. Donnie started eating slowly. Ever since then he has had dinner with his sons.

Twelve is a curse
Splinter loved all of his sons equally. But it seems lately that they were battling for his attention. “Sensei! Come see my flying spin kick!” “No! Come see my drawing!” “No way! He should come see my dauntless ship replica!” “Guys we can all agree that he should come and see my new invention!” was all he could here in a day. Splinter knew 12 year olds were needy but not this needy! He decided he had enough of it for one day. The next day he put a sign up at his door saying “if you need me for important reasons you can come get me, but until then learn to get along well without me!” and all that day he meditated. The next morning when he got up his sons did not fight for his attention and stayed silent the whole week.

Thirteen sucks
Splinter knew it was time to tell the turtles something important but he didn’t want to…it was disgusting and awkward for a boy their age. He sat his sons down in the dojo and began telling them “the talk”. He waited for questions at the end but all he got was grossed out faces from his sons. “So is that why we see bloody trash in the sewer water all the time?” Leo asked. “Yes indeed” Splinter said. “Master Splinter that is sick! Why would you tell us that?!?!” Mikey yelled. “Because it will start this year and I wanted you all to be ready” Splinter said. Donnie stood silently in shock while Raph was muttering something under his breath. “My sons, you may go now” Splinter said. His sons ran out of the room and were silent the whole afternoon.

Fourteen is a blur
Splinter always knew his son, Raphael, always used potential in his fighting skills. Lately, though, he has been doing rather sloppy. Splinter also noticed that Raphael was also quiet when he was around his brothers. “What is wrong with you, my son?” Splinter asked when Raph was brushing his teeth. “I am fine, Master Splinter, I am 14 and you don’t have to worry about me!” Raph said after he spit out his toothpaste in the sink. “Well why are you doing badly in training?” Splinter asked. Raph spat out his mouthwash he was gurgling and turned to Splinter.  “The guys said I was fat” Raph said. Raph and splinter stood there silently. “My son, you are not fat. You are healthy and well like your brothers, fat is like the man on Fat Albert” Splinter said, remembering his son’s old favorite cartoon. “You mean Albert? Yeah he was pretty fat…but the others are right! I am fat” Raph said. “You are not fat, you are slim and trim. Now go ahead and get to bed. You have training tomorrow” Splinter said. Raph smiled and hurried to his room. The next morning was his best practice ever.

Fifteen is not the end of it
Splinter picked Leonardo to be the leader not because he asked, but because he was ready to be a leader. There was just one problem though; he didn’t think he was ready to be a leader at all. “But sensei!  I am just an inexperienced teen who just became a leader! They don’t even listen to me!”  Leonardo said. “Well I chose you for reasons, you are the only one worthy enough for being a leader, now go on and work on your next mission” Splinter said. Leo smiled and went off. Splinter knew this was not the end of his sons’ problems….but it is for now!
The end!