A Box of Books

1

As patrol nears an end, Leonardo finds a box of old books. They were just sitting there, outside on the steps of an old building. The box had 'for free' written across it and the turtle decides to have a closer look.

The books are worn, the covers bent, the spins broken, and the pages yellowed, but as he flips through the box he finds a few he likes. A book of fairy tales from Japan, a collection of Robert Frost's poems. Leo hesitates for a moment. The box does say for free, so no one would mind if he took them...

So he does. He slips the books into his backpack and took off after his brothers, desperate to catch up. They didn't ask where he had been and in a few weeks later, he pays another visit.

The box is still there, with some new books inside of it. He takes a couple more and adds it to his shelf. Over the next few months, he continues to visit the little box on the porch, always walking away with a new book.

He didn't know who left them but he was thankful.

A phone rings, Terra's moms calling her. She's sobbing over the phone telling Terra that her grandfather had died in his sleep.

She's heartbroken and Terra is too, but the two are the only ones he had. Mom has to plan a funeral. And Terra has to pack up his place. On the drive into the city, Terra thinks about her grandfather.

She remembers all the stories he had read to her, all the books he had given her over the years. Her grandfather had loved books and even called their apartment 'the library'. When Terra's grandmother had died, he had been heartbroken.

He decided to get rid of his books, only a few at a time. It hurt to hear the old man turn away from his precious books, but over time... he changed.

He began to sound happier over the phone. He told Terra about the little box on his porch and "the nice young man who always visited."

"he's strange lookin' sweetie, but you don't have to be pretty to read y'know. He always looks so happy when he leaves. I think Martha would like him..."

Terra smiled, pulling up to his tiny apartment. There it was, the little box. Still filled with books.

Terra worked hard through the day, packing and sorting through everything. Keep, donate, keep, donate. Then one day Terra was packing away her grandfather's old clothes when she heard it. A loud clatter near the porch. She looks out the window and freezes.

There in the semi-darkness, a large turtle is sorting through the box with a smile on his face. As she stares at him she starts to remember a few other things her grandfather had said.

"bright blue eyes...rather tall though...a big fella, reminds me of my old buddy Arnold...looks so happy when he leaves." Was this him? Was this the guy that made her grandfather so happy in his last few months?

She wanted to ask him, but just like that he was gone. She ran outside, looking down at the box. And sure enough, a few books were indeed missing.

Looking back into the apartment, she spots a box of Books she had packed. She goes and grabs a few books she thinks the turtle would like. She replaces the missing books he had taken, wondering if he would come back. Then she returns to work.