This requires a little explanation. Another Friday Flash Fiction writer, North Carolinan Russell Conover, had posted a little story about Ted the Turtle who wished he could fly. This isn't a follow-on, it's free-standing, but Russell deserves credit for the original idea.
Although content as a slow turtle, Ted still dreamed of flying. One day, he found an old oil lamp, and deciding that ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’, rubbed it. Out popped a Genie.
“I’ll grant you one wish, Turtle. One wish only.”
“I wish I could fly, thanks.”
One puff of smoke later, the Genie vanished. Waving his legs, Ted took off, slowly banking and weaving across the fields – magical.
Then: gunfire. Suddenly he realised that slow-moving flying turtles are indistinguishable from clay pigeons. He desperately hoped that the shotgun party were poor shots.
He heard an echo. “One wish only...”
Although content as a slow turtle, Ted still dreamed of flying. One day, he found an old oil lamp, and deciding that ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’, rubbed it. Out popped a Genie.
“I’ll grant you one wish, Turtle. One wish only.”
“I wish I could fly, thanks.”
One puff of smoke later, the Genie vanished. Waving his legs, Ted took off, slowly banking and weaving across the fields – magical.
Then: gunfire. Suddenly he realised that slow-moving flying turtles are indistinguishable from clay pigeons. He desperately hoped that the shotgun party were poor shots.
He heard an echo. “One wish only...”
