Delta's Escapade From the Diary of a Terrapin

Anita Antao went on a holiday to spend a couple of weeks with her grand- kids to a remote part of the Philippines and came away with many stories. This one, in the words of the pet terrapin, is our favourite

- Anita Antao

It was Madita's 34th birthday! And her dear family wanted to give her the best birthday present ever.

Her husband, Nikhil along with their two daughters, Amara 6 and Zia 4 decided to present her a teeny-weeny terrapin, a red-eyed slither, and on visiting the pet store, their eyes spied me. A very excited threesome brought me here to their home in Ladislawa, Davao, Philippines. At first, I was put in a big plastic box filled with water. I could swim the length and breadth of this tiny swimming pool - tiny for them but BIG for tiny me.

Madita received me on her birthday, right on cue. She had conflicting emotions when she saw me. On the one hand, she was delighted that her family had taken so much trouble and put in so much thought over her birthday gift. On the other hand, she thought, 'oh, one more little one to care for and raise'. It was like having a baby again and her two little girls were still so little.

As for Amara and Zia, they were so enchanted with me that they wanted to pick me out of the water to hold me in the palm of their little hand where I fit perfectly. However, their holding me was not good for my well-being so there were constant chants of 'Nein Amara' 'Nein Zia', with Zia collecting the most number of German 'neins'.