A Crazy Turtle Legend Retold

By day, Turtle is coincidental he sits outside of a Chinese restaurant by the side of an ornamental pond that is always empty of fish. The traffic creates a dusty coat on his stone shell, yet his eyes are wide open, they do not blur the world as it cascades along in its rumbling boxes, its leaking mechanical lungs. The still night does not land here until three in the morning, then Turtle disappears, changes form, reappearing in a dark and empty barroom, there he spins whisky and ice in a glass, until dawns first yawn then gulps he the whisky down. When light creeps under the rooftops Turtle returns to the oriental pond, sits upon the edge tries to recall what will come next, shudders once before turning back to stone.