🐢 Tilly the Turtle’s Super Slow Race

Once upon a time in the lush, leafy town of Turtleton, there lived a young turtle named Tilly. Tilly wasn’t the fastest turtle in the pond, not even close. In fact, she was famous for being slower than slow. Slugs beat her in races. Even snails chuckled as they zipped past.

But Tilly didn’t mind. She enjoyed taking her time, smelling the flowers, waving at butterflies, and singing songs about mud. Life was good, slow and steady.

One sunny morning, Mayor Croak—a large, enthusiastic frog with a megaphone—announced a big event.

🎤 “LADIES AND GENTLECRITTERS! This weekend, we will host the very first Super Splash Race!”

Everyone cheered! Well, everyone except Tilly, who gasped so hard she sucked in a leaf.

Racing? Fast swimming? Splashing? That wasn’t exactly her thing. But then, her best friend Benny the Beetle zoomed over with sparkly goggles.

“You have to enter, Tilly! It’s not about winning, it’s about fun! And snacks at the finish line!”

Snacks? Tilly perked up. She did love swampberry muffins.

So, after some deep breaths (and a snack or two), she signed up. The other animals laughed when they saw her name on the list.

“A turtle in a race?” giggled the squirrels.

“Will she finish before next Tuesday?” snorted the ducklings.

Tilly felt like crawling back into her shell... but she remembered Benny’s words: It’s about fun!

Race day arrived. The course was muddy, wobbly, and full of surprises. When the whistle blew, everyone zoomed ahead—except Tilly.

She waddled. She wiggled. She waved at a worm.

She moved so slowly that a tree grew a new leaf by the time she reached checkpoint one.

But then, something strange started happening.

The speedy ducklings were too busy racing and slipped on a banana peel.

The squirrels ran into a bush arguing over who was faster.

Even Benny, her beetle buddy, got stuck in a puddle.

But guess who arrived one careful step at a time, helping each critter as she passed?

That’s right—Tilly!

She pulled Benny out, gave the squirrels a group hug, and made the ducklings laugh again. By the time she reached the finish line, the crowd wasn’t cheering for the fastest. They were cheering for Tilly.

“TILLY! TILLY! TILLY!” 🎉

Mayor Croak gave her a golden leaf trophy for “Best Team Spirit and Most Mud on Shell.”

Tilly smiled slowly and took a deep bow. And then... she had three swampberry muffins.