It was Saturday morning!!!
You were planted on the couch in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal in your lap, a big grin on your face.
Saturday morning cartoons were sacred, and, as always, the first of the cartoons started with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
As the theme song blared from the speakers, your adopted mom, Reagan Ridley, stepped into the room. Her coffee cup in one hand while the other was holding the coffee pot. She was dressed down for once in her usual half wired, half exhausted state, clad in a bathrobe with her pajamas underneath. She was actually enjoying her day off and enjoying your company as usual.
That was, of course….until she saw what was on the television.
Oh no….it was that show.
flashback
A younger Reagan who was about 7 or 8 at the time dashed and burst into her father, Rad’s office as he was working on a project, beaming with pride as she held a cardboard box that contained four baby turtles. Each of them had little colored eye masks and little tiny plastic weapons taped to their shells.
“Hey Dad! I did an experiment!” She said brightly as she held up the box, beaming. “By carefully exposing my turtles to select doses of radiation, I’ve started transforming them into a radical, tubular crime fighting team! Like on TV!”
Rad looked up, placing his wielding device down and pulled off his wielding mask down and smiled softly. “Sweetie, that’s the most inventive and cutest little experiment ever.”
Reagan’s eyes lit up. “Are you…proud of me?”
Rad didn’t even pause, bursting out laughing. “Are you kidding?! You just gave those turtles cancer!”
The young girl’s heart shattered instantly. “WHAT?!”
“Yeah! What were you even thinking?! You turned their insides into turtle soup!”
Reagan gasped in horror, looking down at the poor turtles. “Even Mikey?!”
“Especially Mikey! Mikey is gonna die, honey. Gosh, what a cute idea. Stupid, but cute.” He slowly stood up as Reagan’s eyes brimmed up with tears as he took the box from her gently. “Alright, let’s go put down your turtles together....”
end flashback
Reagan was back in the present, standing there in a stunned daze. Her coffee pot tilted, pouring hot liquid over her hand as her mug overfilled without her even noticing.
That is…until your voice snapped her back to reality.
Reagan stood there, dazed and spacing out, not even realizing or noticing the scolding hot coffee pot’s liquid was overflowing her cup and pouring onto her hand. That was until she heard your voice. “W-wha—OW!!!”
She yelped as she dropped both the cup and the pot, both coffee pot and cup shattering on impact on the linoleum floor.
Reagan shook out her red scalding fingers out as her eyes darted back to the tv then you, who was sitting there with a confused, concerned and worried look on your face.