I asked my dad if he could smuggle a Philippine forest turtle back from his vacation, as they are unique. He said "Impossible". There must be some parents out there who would do this kind of thing for their sons/daughters because they care..
I had a turtle when I was a kid. His name was Fred. I was only 6 or 7 I think and wrote my parents' phone number on his shell in case he got lost. Anyway, we had a little sandbox in the back yard we were playing around in, and I went inside to get a Capri Sun and when I came back out he was gone. I was distraught, put up signs all over the neighborhood, it was the first time I had ever lost a pet-anything. Why'd he run away from me? Was it because I didn't love him enough?
Anyway he was never found and eventually I sort of accepted that he was gone, wherever he was. Then, about 6 years later I was riding my bike and nearly ran over a turtle in a different part of the neighborhood. One phone number was crossed out and some other one was written over it. I was sure it was Fred, the way he looked at me and let me pick him up off the street. I did the right thing and called the number, but I'm pretty sure I returned Fred to the kid who found it and stole it from me. I can only hope that Fred's back on the lam again.
I had four turtles when I was a kid, and I covered them all in highlighter ink in the hopes that they might mutate. They didn't get stolen though, or anything cool like that, just all died before they were big enough to grow up and learn ninjitsu.
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