Once upon a time there lived a shy little turtle. It was very cautious and afraid to step out of its cave. You see, the turtle had been hurt before and thinking that it couldn’t survive yet another hit it decided to delve into the safeness of its cold dark refuge. Then one day the turtle decided to step outside. It felt bold and proud and daring as it made its first steps into the light.
Taught by history, the turtle concluded that its hard shell – carved with experiences, hopes and expectations – wasn’t enough to protect it from the vast variety of dangers of the big wide world, so it decided to make a shiny helmet it found in the cave its own. So thoroughly prepared, did it feel safe now?
No. After all, who knows what all unforeseen problems and threats may come up! Eery vile things it possibly didn’t even think of… There was but one thing the turtle was perfectly aware of, and that was how painfully vulnerable and utterly inadequate it was. So as it squirmed towards the light, carefully scanning its surroundings, its fears grew stronger with every step it took and every step it took got smaller, until it finally came to a halt.
Consumed with fear it began to backtrack towards its lonely abode as its eyes fell upon the stacked up stones next to the cave entrance.
The message was always there, right in front of the little turtle, and while it was many times amazed by the Happy Stones the turtle never once pondered the source of their happiness.
It was simple really. The stones were connected, and in balance. Not because it was safe and not because they were certain they wouldn’t fall, but simply because they liked to play just as much as they liked to spend time with each other.
Story & illustration by Sabina Nore
Behind the scenes info
The above computer-enhanced version was spawned from a hand-drawing of a goofy-looking head followed by a long neck to a finished drawing of a shy and overly cautious turtle, and that drawing looked like this:
The turtle and the bush were completely recreated based on the hand-drawing, while the other elements were merely modified, adjusted and enhanced. I have kept some of the lines and textures of the hand-drawing because I like the flair it ads to the illustration.
As for the character design, I like the idea of drawing awkward little things, not really cute by default, but then somehow making them turn out kind of cute.
Such a cute story..and for the Record Sabina, I like it, that you made the red eyes blue!
Beautiful combination of art and wisdom. I like it very much.
Good story. We (humans) are not so different from that turtle… Sometimes we worry too much and are looking for shields to protect ourselves. It’s often easier to believe and rely on our family and friends : they are our true shields! BTW very successful transfer from paper to computer!