Book One In The Ahh-Ness Of Things Series: April & Donnie were once inseparable, but now almost six years have passed since she left NYC. What if April O'Neil could set the record straight, once & for all! The only girl down enough to chill with the...
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Raph & Leo were worried about me. I could see them talking outside of Mikey's room where I sat on the bed feeling sorry for myself & angry with the one person who seemed to wish I weren't in the house. I was never one to not know what I needed to do, just like I was always one to make myself get back up, but I couldn't make myself get up off the bed. I put my feet flat on the floor. Leonardo was there before me, reaching out his hand. He was our stability. Now again he was pulling me onto my capable legs. He was younger than Raph & Donnie but born to guide their path. He was asking me if I felt like swimming. He pointed out my bags in the corner of the room, where he had neatly lined them against the brick wall.
I dug through my things & found a pair of shorts. I slipped off my sweats, I tied my hair up in a bun, & pulled my shirt over my head so I was only in my sports bra. I felt vulnerable & strong, listening to the happy voices & splashing water outside of the cold little room. It was always that way in this house. Facing fears, growing up, learning to be stronger for accepting the things you never thought you could accomplish but were just one more step forward. This was a new day & I was ready to get back to where no one could ever make me feel like I didn't belong. Besides it had been Donatello who had brought me here to begin with, but it had been me who had made myself a place among them, no one else.
I walked out around the corner into the great room just in time to see Raph toss a thin young girl that looked a lot like a scrawny Mona, into the cistern pool. Her arms & legs flailing, she shrieked "Daahhh deee!"
Mona looked a little distressed from the center of the pool where she braced herself against the spray that showered her. 'Raphael, rrrocca rocca were you trying to get your daughter wet or everyone else?"
"Oh you're next, Beautiful!" Raphael roared across the water from where he stood on the edge of the cistern.
Leo sat next to him with his feet hanging over the side into the water, patting his knee; "You should watch you're back Raph, she sounds serious." Raphael heard me laughing & threatened to thrown me in as well.
I was saved by the ghostly interruption of a young boy, who walked gracefully alongside the water, up to Raphael. He looked older than he seemed, with big grey-blue eyes & a soft mop of dark brown hair. He was quietly moving his hands & he made little fairy like noises as he touched the big turtle's arms, in a poking & tapping manner. He was using sign language & Raph was signing back to answer him. I was confused, was this Yoshi? He was deaf? He had a gentle way about him that made him come across as delicate. Raph seemed like a hulk towering over him, even though the kid was tall. His long bare legs & angular shoulders gave him a willowy silhouette. He was wearing board shorts & although his skin was a cool clay green, he looked rather human. He didn't have a shell, he wasn't a turtle but he had a pattern of interlaid 'V' shaped marks down his spine that I recognized instantly. He looked just as I could have imagined Donnie would have as a human child.
