A Christmas Story:

This is a tale about a turtle who lived in a very large pond full of cool, clear water. For many years, he was quite content swimming lazily around the large pond, or basking in the sun on top of one of the big, rubbery, green lily pads that covered its surface. Sometimes, he would snap a passing dragonfly, or try to catch a fat, juicy water beetle to eat.
All in all, life was good for the turtle. Until one summer - one scorching hot and dry summer - the rain stopped falling and the sun shone so fiercely that the cool, clear water in the pond began to dry up. Little by little the pond shrank. Every day it became drier and drier, smaller and smaller, until finally there was so little water left that the turtle decided he must take action to find a new home before it disappeared completely. But how on earth would he do this?
Early one morning, as the sun took hold of the bright blue sky, the turtle set off to look for help. Before long, he heard two ducks quacking loudly to each other as they flew overhead.
Quickly, the turtle called up to them, “Ducks! You ducks up there! Please help me! My home pond is drying up. Would you kindly take me to a new pond full of water?“
“But how can we do that?“, replied the ducks. “We‘re flying in the air and you‘re down there on the ground.“
Now, as it so happened, at that very moment the turtle tripped over a long, straight stick that lay across his path.
“What if you carry this stick between your beaks?“ he shouted up. “Then I could hold on to the middle with my mouth and you could carry me to a new pond.“
“That‘s a good idea“, agreed the ducks, landing beside him. “But if we do, you must promise us that you will not open your mouth.“
And so it was agreed. The ducks placed the stick between them and with the turtle holding on with his mouth, they took off. The ducks carried the turtle across the sky toward a pond full of cool, clear water shimmering in the distance.
On the way, they flew over a field where some children were playing noisily. Hearing the flapping of the ducks‘ wings above them, the children looked up and burst out laughing at the strange sight that met their eyes.
“How ridiculous!“, shouted a boy. “Two ducks carrying a turtle on a stick! Doesn‘t he look silly!“
Well… this made the turtle very angry. Even though he probably did look odd, there was a very good reason for it. In his rage, he shouted at the children, “You‘re the silly ones. You don‘t underst-aaaa-and!“
As he had opened his mouth to speak, the poor turtle lost his grip on the stick and tumbled down out of the sun-filled sky, crashing onto the grass with a thump.
“Ouch!“ he shouted, rubbing his sore, bruised head. “If only I hadn‘t listened to those children. I‘ll think twice before angrily snapping at someone again.“

All too often, we open our mouths in anger without thinking about what might happen next. A wise person thinks before they speak, and if they can‘t say something kind, they keep silent.

The team at First Mallorca wishes you a very Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.