MONSTERNEXTDOOR, Special Chapter 5: Perspective of Young-Master

I’m a turtle named “Young-Master”—not “young master” as in a noble person, but “young master” meaning shy.

No need to know my age; let’s just say I’m as big as my owner’s palm now.

I was rescued by Grandpa from a red basin when I was little, then moved to a new home in a clear fish tank filled with beautiful decorations. I’m happy playing with pebbles. I like eating vegetables, insects, and small fish.

I love it when my owner takes me out to stroll on the balcony, soaking in the gentle sunlight and cool breeze.

My owner’s name is Diew—meaning “alone”—a gentle, kind-hearted person with a soft, pleasant voice.

I love my boss because my boss is a quiet person. My boss never raises their voice at me because they know I get startled easily. My boss often spends time reading books, listening to soft music, sometimes drawing, watching movies, and playing with me gently. My boss is my only friend. My life is peaceful—eating and sleeping, living in a small, quiet world.

But one day, a giant monster suddenly invaded my boss’s world. It’s huge, loud, and loves startling both my boss and me. I nicknamed it “The Giant.” The Giant, bigger than my boss, loves making loud noises and glaring at me. Worse yet, The Giant likes teasing my boss. And today is another day when The Giant sits staring at me in front of my fish tank, making annoying faces. Some days, it sticks out its tongue or rolls its eyes at me. I glare back, refusing to back down.

“Diew.”

“Huh?”

“Why is Young Master staring at me like that?”

My boss walks over and stands next to The Giant, bending down to look at me. Just seeing my boss’s face makes me instinctively wiggle my front legs in greeting.

“Is Young Master wondering what you are?”

“Hey, are you sneakily insulting me?”

“No, not at all.”

My boss’s soft hand reaches out and scoops me up. I slightly tuck my neck into my shell out of instinct—not because I’m afraid my boss will hurt me, but because I’m scared of The Giant.

“Want to hold him?”

My boss offers me toward The Giant. As soon as it reaches out to take me, I quickly pull my head back into my shell. I don’t associate with someone who teases my boss.  “Oh, is Young Master scared of me?”

I’m not scared. I just don’t like you! 

“Hmm, maybe he’s not used to you. He doesn’t usually tuck his head in when he’s with me,” my boss says.

When my boss pulls their hand back, I slowly poke my head out. 

“Oh, there he is!”

Then my boss offers me to The Giant again. I quickly retreat back into my shell. 

“Wait, no, that’s not it.”

“I think Young Master is definitely scared of me,” The Giant says. My boss’s laughter cheers me up. My boss places me in a clear plastic box, sets it on the bed, and sits down beside it. The Giant plops down on the other side of the box.

The Giant leans over to look at me in the plastic box, reaching a finger toward my shell as if to scratch it. I quickly poke my head out and pretend I’m going to nip at it—not that I’d actually bite, just to tease.

The Giant flinches and yanks its finger back fast.

“Hey! Young Master was going to bite me!”

“You have to be gentle. Turtles get startled easily,” my boss says.

My boss takes The Giant’s finger and slowly guides it toward me. I don’t want it touching me at all, but I’ll let it slide for one day. If I accidentally bit and ended up nipping my boss, I’d definitely be hated.

The Giant’s big finger touches my shell, guided by my boss’s hand.

The pressure isn’t too heavy, and it feels oddly soothing.

“It’s hard as a rock!”

“Well, it’s a shell, how could it be soft?”

“But this is a turtle, why is it soft?” The giant pulled his hand back and instead poked my master’s cheek.

It’s a pity that in this life, I was born a turtle. If I had been born a dog, I’d bite that giant for daring to touch my master too much. What if my master accidentally chopped off his hand and died? What would I do then?

I don’t really like the giant. From the first time I saw him, I felt an instant dislike. The giant always messes with my master, leaving my master with hardly any time to play with me.

But the reason I let him get close to my master is because the giant once did me a favor.

Back then, I was sick. My master took me to the vet, but it wasn’t my master who came to pick me up—it was the giant.

The giant put me in a plastic box. He didn’t dare close the lid because he was afraid I couldn’t breathe. It was pouring rain at the time, and the giant hugged the box tightly, running to find shelter because he didn’t want the raindrops to hit me.

“Sorry, young-master, it’s raining. Let’s take shelter for a bit, okay?”

“Are you cold? Do turtles even get cold?”

“We’ll be home soon. Just wait a little longer.”

“Are you scared, young-master? You’ll see Diew soon, okay?”

He’s just a loud, oversized human. Turtles aren’t that afraid of rain.

What I’m scared of is the sound of thunder.

But having the giant by my side in a moment like that was better than being alone, I suppose.

Since then, I’ve toned down my dislike for the giant a little. At first, I wanted to bite him every time he got close, but I never really meant it. I just didn’t like how he kept meddling with my master.

After playing for a while, my master put me back in the aquarium. Before long, the giant started bothering my master again. The giant loves messing with my master’s body and making my master cry out in pain.

“Phii Godt…”

“Good boy.”

If anything happens to my master, I swear I’ll crawl out and bite his throat out.

I woke up to the sound of rain hitting the glass door. I slowly stretched my neck out from my shell. The room was pitch dark, with only the faint light glowing near the aquarium.

Is my master asleep?

I hate it when it rains.

Before I could finish the thought, a flash of light slipped through the curtains. I quickly pulled my head back into my shell in fear.

I’m terrified of thunder. Every time it thunders, my master puts me in a box and lets me sleep beside him because my aquarium is near the glass door. I need the gentle morning sunlight, but when it rains, I hear the thunder loud and clear.

Time passed, and I waited and waited, but my master didn’t get up to take me to sleep with him. I trembled inside my shell. The rain showed no sign of letting up, and what started as a low rumble turned into a deafening clap of thunder. I hurriedly moved to tap the pebbles in my tank, making a clinking sound to let my master know. He might be fast asleep, but I was so scared.

Please, let my master wake up soon. 

Creak.

I heard movement from the bed through the darkness. I scrambled with joy, thinking my master was coming to take me to sleep with him. A shadowy figure approached, but then it turned out to be the giant’s face peering at me—not my master.

“Scared, huh?”

The giant looked at me for a moment. He walked over to the glass door and adjusted the curtains to block out any flashes of lightning. Then he came back to the aquarium, frowning as he thought.

“What does Diew usually do when it thunders?”

The giant didn’t go to wake up my master, but it seemed like he knew what to do. He walked away and returned with a plastic box. He placed the box on the table next to the fish tank, moved his hand toward me, then pulled back as if he’d forgotten something.

“Don’t bite me, young-master. It’s close to the glass here, and it’s loud. Better to sleep on the bed.”

The giant’s palm gently scooped me up. I cautiously tucked my neck into my shell a little, and the giant placed me in the plastic box softly while giving a happy smile.

“You’re cute, young-master.”

I’ve always been cute, obviously.

The plastic box was carried and placed beside the bed. I heard my master mumbling softly.

“Young-master, huh?”

“Yeah, I saw young-master was scared, so I brought him to sleep here.”

“How did you know to bring him here?”

The giant turned to hug my master.

“Because I’m awesome.”

“Yeah, awesome.”

“Give me a reward then.”

The giant started fussing over my master again.

“Phii Godt… I’m sleepy.”

“But I’m not sleepy anymore. Young-master woke me up.”

“Thanks, really. I was too exhausted to get up and bring young-master to sleep with me.”

“Do we have to do this every time it rains heavily?”

“Yeah, but if we put the fish tank here, it won’t get any sunlight.”

“So cute, huh.”

“So, young-master didn’t bite you anymore?”

“Nope, I told young-master to behave, or I’d bite him instead.”

The giant rambled on.

I tucked my head into my shell. The sound of thunder, now quieter, let me sleep peacefully. Today, I’ll just ignore whatever the giant’s doing with my master because the giant was nice today.

But on any other day, I wouldn’t let it slide. 

END

 

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