TMNT still aren't mine.

Five

That evening, after feeding my sons, bathing them and dressing them for bed, I had settled down in the kitchen to see if the radio I had found would work. Donatello was at my side at once, like a bee to honey, asking so many questions that I cannot begin to list them here.

The gist of the conversation went something like this:

"What is that? Can I see it? Does it work? Can I see it? How does it work? Can I see it?"

"Patience, Donatello. This is a radio. A radio is an electronic device for receiving sound waves from... somewhere... and lets us hear... whatever is being transmitted from somewhere else."

I smiled in self-congratulations at my "explanation". I had heard and read things, and I had to admit, the concepts were over my head so to speak. But Yoshi had had a radio, and we used to listen to beautiful music.

I tried bending the small antenna, but it was hard for me to do without breaking it, so I decided to see if it worked. I got up and, with a "stand back, Donatello!" that he ignored, I plugged it into the wall socket, cringing in fear of possible attack by the electricity. I had had a scare when Donatello had decided to see if he could fit certain items into these strange holes in the wall- that was when I learned in a baby book about "outlet covers", and managed to find or make several of my own.

I stared at the radio for a few minutes. Then I turned it on.

I was rewarded by much loud crackling and buzzing and other such nonsense noise- and the sudden appearance of three more pajama-clad turtles, eyes wide, questions flying!

Ignoring the four on the floor (Donatello was trying to explain to the others exactly what was going on, and to this day I regret that I cannot remember exactly how he was doing it, but at the time I just knew that it was so cute and funny), I began to work the dial switch slowly. More noise came from it, high-pitched, low-pitched, sounding like the crinkling of many many sheets of paper or the rushing of water through a flooded sewer channel-

A voice suddenly sounded in the kitchen!

I grinned at my success, and turned to find I was alone!

My four sons had vanished as if they had not existed.

"My sons!" I called, lowering the volume on the radio. "My sons, it is all right!"

Now Donatello peered nervously into the kitchen from around the door jam, eyes searching the room.

"Who- who is-"

"My son, that is the radio," I said kindly, holding out my arms to him.

He was torn! He wanted to examine that device so much, but the sound of a human voice so close to them had scared them greatly- which in one way made me glad, knowing that they would never seek out any of these people who would lock us away in cages, or worse.

"The voice is coming from far away," I tried again, as he edged his way slowly across the floor towards me. "The voice is coming from a man far far away in a place where he is sending out the sounds. Listen- he is going to play some music now."

I had recognized that he was introducing the next song- I had managed to pick up a station that played what Master Yoshi had called "Classical Music"- and the soothing strains of the first few notes caused a light to shine in Donatello's eyes, as his mouth made a perfect "OOoooo"...

He was quickly at my side, staring with great interest at this miracle, and listening with all his concentration to his first real "music".

They had heard me sing to them from infant up, but this was the first time any of them had heard what real music sounded like.

Soon the other three were crowded around, listening with great excitement, and I do not believe that anyone spoke for the entire selection, which by my estimation was a good seven to eight minutes.

"How's they get in there?" Michelangelo wanted to know, after I had explained that they had just heard a large group of humans playing musical instruments. He scrutinized the small "box". "They's must be tiny!"

"No one is in the radio," I explained, turning it off (much to their disappointment). "I will try to explain it to you later. Right now it is bed time."

I herded them before me, and after the nightly ritual of drinks of water, trips to the bathroom, and much tucking in, I was free to return to the kitchen.

Carefully I turned the radio back on, and sat in the dark with a cup of tea, letting the soft strains of some unknown (to me) composition wash over me.

It is funny, but the presence of this device in our home seemed to make me feel quite- well, human, as it were.

Next morning training took place without incident. It was after training that the chain of events started up from where they had broken off the day before, when I surmise that my unknown pursuer had lost my trail.

I have to guess at the coming events. My sons later told me much, but when four three-year-olds are trying to tell the same story, it gets a bit confusing.

At any rate, I was in the kitchen, fixing breakfast and listening to some morning talk show that I had discovered, while my sons were in the living room playing. I had an ear on them as well- I did not let the new entertainment source distract me- but it was as usual, you understand. You sort of listen to what they are saying and doing, but you really do not get involved unless a fight breaks out.

Apparently the "Father and ME" argument had begun again, quietly at first, but it soon built into the first domino that attracted this man to our presence!

"Everybody knows that the bad guys lives topside," Leonardo was saying as Michelangelo, his favorite comic in hand, was trying to make some point to his brother. "That's why we gotta go there."

"Yeah, there's no bad guys down inna sewers," Raphael pointed out, as he built up his first huge tower of the morning with the blocks.

"They's sewer workers," Michelangelo insisted. "We could fights them for practice!"

"That would be wrong," Donatello pointed out. "Sewer workers aren't the bad guys."

Michelangelo made a disappointed sound.

"But how is we suppose ta get better if we can't fight the bad guys for practice?"

"We go topside," Leonardo insisted.

"We can't go topside- we ain't suppose ta leave the house," Michelangelo responded.

"I am the oldest," Leonardo said in his most grown up voice. "So I can do it. Asides, I'm gonna be Father's team, so I-"

"NO!" came the first shout of the morning. "I's gonna be Father's team! It was my idea!"

I waited for the inevitable scuffle/argument to break out- but what I heard was infinitely worse- the front door suddenly opened!

Quick as I could, I was out of the kitchen and immediately into the sewers, snatching back two naughty turtles who had barely stepped foot out of our home!

"Leonardo! Michelangelo! Get back in here!" I allowed myself to shout their names even as I grabbed them; my voice created many echoes in that dark place, but I thought little of it at the time, my main concern was those two!

I did not slam the door, but I did close it hard. Then I locked it up, and turned, hands on hips, to stare at two cringing little turtles who knew that a spanking was in their future. Both had their hands protectively covering their backsides.

"Who unlocked and opened this door?"

Leonardo glanced at Michelangelo, and swallowed.

"I- I- I did, Father."

Frankly, it shocked me to realize that any of them were tall enough to work the lock. It had been bad enough when Raphael, when two, had managed to open the unlocked door and get out. Since then I had made sure to lock it at all times. But now, to know that they could work the lock! For a moment I wondered how I could ensure that they could never leave the house while I was gone. Then I focused upon the two before me.

"You must not go into the sewers without ME!" I said. "You both know this! You must obey me on this!"

"Yes, Father," Leonardo said.

"We's sorry, Father," Michelangelo added. "We just wanted to fight the bad guys-"

I snatched the comic he was holding out to me rather roughly from his hand.

"I am putting this away in my room," I frowned. "It is filling your heads with dangerous ideas! You will stay in the house! You will listen to me! Or there will be no more lessons!"

Both of them looked even more upset at the prospect of no more lessons than they did at the chance that they were going to get spanked.

"Now, go sit on the couch until I tell you that breakfast is ready!"

Without a further word they scurried to the couch and quickly climbed up, seating themselves with such determination to protect their tails that I nearly smiled. But I kept my face stern as I went into the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast.

I think that the man had been lost during the night. I am sure that when I went out after the two would-be ninja that I did not smell anyone around; I am almost subconsciously aware of the presence of humans, and no one had been down this way in almost a year. Perhaps that is another reason I did not register the fact that someone was close by.

I believe that he heard me shout their names. I believe that he must have spent the night either searching or sleeping somewhere in the sewers, though that last one is hard even for me to believe- with all of the insects and rats down here, even I would not willingly sleep outside of our home. He could have climbed out for the night, and decided to come back in the morning to continue his hunt- I suppose I will never know. At any rate, apparently he located our general living area by following the sound of my voice.

The rest of the day went quietly enough. Then I heard on the radio that there was quite a storm going on outside, and I decided that it would be an excellent time for me to go scavenging- I could work quickly and be home before supper time. I prepared for my journey, while the children played with their toys.

"Now, I am only going to be gone for a short time," I told them. "I expect you to behave. Do not touch the radio while I am gone, do you understand me Donatello?"

"Yes, Father," he replied, crestfallen. It had been, as I had said, a relatively quiet day, except for my having to prevent Donatello from examining the radio- with a screwdriver!

I carefully left the lair, locking the door from the outside, and made my way down the tunnel towards a manhole that would let me out close to a very choice dumpster behind a restaurant.

Now, everything I tell here is based on the stories of my sons.

I had just said farewell to my sons, and left our home carefully, making sure that no one could detect our front door. Evidently my "friend" waited in the distant shadows, far enough away from me that I did not detect him by his smell (which unfortunately was blended in with the normal smells of the sewers), until I was out of sight.

He carefully and quietly made his way to where I had exited, and after a bit of searching (for despite the pale light across the way, it is very dark there, he found my front door- locked, but that was nothing to him.

("We was inna livin' room," Leo told me later, "playin' with our toys, and we heard the door rattle, and we knew it wasn't you cause you don't rattle the door!")

"I wish Father had not taken the comic book," Leonardo sighed. Even though it was Michelangelo's favorite in the beginning, Leonardo had become attached to it. He wanted to look at the pictures and pretend that he and Father were a team. He even had picked out which of the friends of the hero he was- Father, naturally, was the tall human with many muscles and no shirt, while Leonardo was the short yet strong friend of the hero, with a long "tail" of hair growing from his head and dressed in these green pajamas. At least, they looked like pajamas to him.

Michelangelo sighed.

"Me, too," he frowned sadly. He could see, in his mind, Father as the huge human with lots of muscles to show his strength and no shirt, and himself as the short yet powerful friend of the hero, with a TAIL growing out of his head- wow, that would be so neat, a tail growing out of your head!- and wearing green pajamas. "I wish that the bad guys came inna sewers, then we could fights them!"

"We can't go inna sewers," Donatello said, eyes straying to the radio even though his father had made it clear to him to leave it alone. "We has to stay inna house."

Michelangelo sighed. Then his face lit up with a brilliant idea!

"I knowed! I wish the bad guys would come in here and we could fight them and safe the day!" he enthused. "I wish I wish I wish that they would come here so we could fight them and be real ninja and show Father who is the best one to be his team, and-"

Four turtles, three of them listening to their little brother, suddenly heard something strange- the front door acted as if it were going to open, yet no one was unlocking it.

Four frightened toddlers looked at each other, frozen!

-rattlerattle-rattlerattlerattle-

Four frightened and terrified toddlers, wishes forgotten, immediately did what they had been trained to do- they hid!

After a long time (Leonardo told me) there was more sound of jiggling and scratching and scraping- and then the door opened, slowly. The man had managed to pick the lock finally.

Leonardo was hiding in the living room between the couch and the wall, where he could watch strange shoes walk into the room, slowly and quietly. He could see muddy wet prints being left behind each step. He was so scared as those shoes came closer and closer to his hiding place.

"Hello?" a rough voice called, and Leonardo cringed, putting his fingers in his ears so he would not have to hear the scary bad guy!

The man knew that someone was there- he had heard them talking when he had listened at the door; he could see the toys lying scattered around the room. "Hello, little kids! Your daddy told me ta come and take you to him! He's a friend of mine!"

He looked around, but saw no one. No big deal, he thought. This would be easy as anything. And it would make a nice place to hide out. That jerk won't mess with me as long as he doesn't want his brats hurt.

He went into the kitchen and rummaged the fridge, grabbing what he wanted and making a mess as he ate. He turned on the radio, and played with the tuner, not caring if anyone heard him. He was more than a match for kids.

("When he went inna kitchen, I snucked into the dojo," Leonardo told me. "I was afraid he'd sit on the couch, and find me, so I snucked into the dojo and hided in the dark with Michelangelo.")

He couldn't find any music he liked- stupid reception! Well, what can ya expect down here in the sewers? Stupid radio- can't believe I was tryin' ta steal this piece of crap from that little runt...

The radio was suddenly snatched off the counter and smashed on the floor!

From his hiding place under the sink, Raphael could see his first human close up- and he was scary! AND he was eating all the food! AND HE BROKE THE RADIO!

After a few more terrifying minutes, the man left the kitchen.

("I didn't wanna stay there, Father! He broked the radio! I waited, and then I snuck out and ran to the dojo to hide! And Leo and Mikey was in there, but not Donnie, and we was scared that he would find Donnie!")

Then he made his way to Father's room, where Donatello was under the bed, shivering as he watched this pair of filth-coated shoes left a trail of nasty sewer grime all over Father's clean floor.

He cringed and stuffed his hand into his mouth to keep from crying when the mattress suddenly sank down as the man got into Father's bed! It was hard, but Donatello kept quiet- though he was scared!

("And he didn't even take his nasty shoes off, Father! He got inna bed with his nasty dirty shoes! I was scared of him maybe being too heavy for the bed and he would crush me, but he didn't, but he was smelly and he had those nasty shoes on your clean sheets! He didn't even care!")

"Ah, this is really nice," he said aloud, not caring if anyone heard him. Indeed, he was speaking to let them know that there was nothing they could do, and he was not to be messed with. "I think I'll take a nice comfortable nap. Wake me up when yer ready to go with me to your daddy."

Yes-the man was not worried about anything. He figured that eventually the kids would make themselves known. He could afford to wait.

Donatello, under the bed, tried and tried to not be scared, but the longer he was under there, with that scary human just above him, the less he was able to not be scared.

("I thought maybe I could sneak out," he said to me later. "I thought if he's asleep I could sneak out! I moved as quietly as I could, and as slowly as I could, and I crawled to the door- but I think he saw me, 'cause he laughed! So I got up and ran to the dojo!")

He'd heard the noise- a scuffling type of sound, of someone crawling; he felt the bed move ever so slightly, and smiled to himself. He waited, however. He just lay there with his eyes closed, very comfortable, and waited until he judged that whoever was trying to get to the door had managed to almost make it... and then he had laughed.

Oh! The noise of that kid suddenly running down the short hallway! He laughed some more, and debated on whether he would get up and find the kid or just stay here. This was a damned comfortable bed- that runt sure had scavenged well!

In fact, this place would be perfect for him to stay in permanently. He would take care of this old man and his brats, and the place would be all his.

"Well, no time like the present," he said to himself. He got up and went in search of the kids, searching the other bedroom and the bathroom, and then he found his way into the dojo.