It turns out the turtle I was assigned to - Discovery - died this spring. So a family member asked me if I'm going to contact someone about being assigned a different turtle.
"No. She's with the Lake Monster now. She needs to be remembered. And I'm the right person to adopt a ghost turtle."
Everyone ignores the fact that I'm slowly developing a Lake Monster cult and agrees this is peak Fizzy.
She couldn't go back to the wild, and she couldn't be adopted by an aquarium.
Discovery was a real being, and the nets took her from us. We have to be more responsible with our planet. We can't shrug things off as, "But it's okay because there are people out there cleaning things up and rescuing animals!"
That work matters, but they can't save everyone. We all have to do our part. I'm going to love this turtle and work for healthy water for all creatures.