Sheldon

        My first real pet was Sheldon, a very small, green turtle. I kept him in a little green aquarium with blue rocks and two plastic palm trees. I changed his water when it got dirty and I fed him twice a day. Every time his food was about to run out I made my dad take me to the pet store to buy more. One night, about two weeks before Christmas, me and my dad went to the pet store for food. “You should start feeding him other food like bread, and lettuce. My turtle eats everything” the cashier told me. “Since it’s cold, put his aquarium inside a bigger box with sand so he can go hibernate there, the water gets very cold” she said.“That’s stupid advice” I said getting inside the car. My dad chuckled. “I don’t know. We should try it. She has turtles, maybe she is right” he said.
The Friday we went on Christmas break, when I came home after school, I noticed Sheldon’s aquarium was on the floor, inside a box with sand. I decided to trust my dad and the lady at the pet store and let my little Sheldon sleep outside of the water. The next day, Sheldon remained in the exact same position. I told my dad and he answered with “I bet he started hibernating! Don’t worry he is just sleeping”. A week passed and he stood there. My dad kept telling me to not worry and let him sleep, but I was getting scared. Christmas morning, after opening presents and taking pictures and eating breakfast, I took advantage of my family’s distraction and went to see my little Sheldon.
I picked him up and he had turned a very dark green color, almost black. His little legs were scrunched and dry. The image of his face will be forever in my mind. It was black, it’s little mouth was open, and he had no eyes. I started crying right away. My dad heard me and took sheldon from my hands to the sink, trying to get Sheldon to come back to life just by pouring water on him and failing miserably. We all knew Sheldon wouldn’t come back to life.. I had taken care of that little creature for almost two years and life just decided to take him away from me. A piece of me died with Sheldon that Christmas. I cried while having no support from anyone. My brother made fun of me and my mom told me to stop exaggerating.
Sheldon’s death made me realize that life goes on even after you lose something you love, and you might not always get support from the people who claim they love you. Also, one experience can change your life and some people will not notice, or even care. The experience proved that my brother does indeed hate me since the day of my birth.