"Psst, Alya," Nino whispered to his friend, who sat beside him in the car. The girl looked up from her Gameboy curiously, wondering what could have made Nino call on her. He kicked his legs giddily and looked out the back window, glad that his parents were still putting out the coals in the grill. "I found something…"

Alya furrowed her brow, wondering why he had to whisper about this. "What is it?" she asked in a whisper, inching as close as her carseat's restraint would allow.

From his pocket Nino took out a baby snapping turtle. Alya's eyes went as wide as saucers, "Nino!" she hissed, "Put it back!"

"No way! He's my friend now!" Nino hissed back, bringing the turtle dangerously close to his neck. "Isn't that right, Jade?" he mumbled to the turtle, stroking its shell as carefully as a five-year-old boy could manage.

"Why did you pick him up?" Alya asked, though she was admittedly afraid of his answer.

"He grabbed my shorts and didn't wanna leave, so I put him in my pocket," Nino explained. "Don't tell my mama, she'll make me put him back!"

Alya wasn't sure of Nino's sanity anymore. They'd played in the water before eating, which meant that all through lunch Nino had Jade in his pocket. How he still had a leg, Alya wasn't sure. Snapping turtles were generally meanies, as her big toe had discovered. But, still, the turtle did seem to actually like Nino. It wasn't biting at him or trying to get away, instead nuzzling against the strokes to its shell.

"Why the name Jade?" she decided to ask, seeing as how Nino was not going to get rid of the turtle willingly.

"Mama has this really cool necklace that's all green and stuff, and she said it's called jade, so I thought it made sense," Nino explained. He was actually quite proud of his naming skills, in all honesty. Jade was one lucky turtle, he thought, getting such a cool name.

They heard a tap on the top of the car and both jumped, grabbing Alya's windbreaker to hide Jade with. Nino's parents piled into the vehicle and made sure they were buckled, never questioning the banana-yellow jacket draped over the middle seat of the car.

Nino's parents never noticed the turtle until they returned the car to the rental lot. By then, it was too late to return the turtle, so Nino got a new pet. Alya accepted the title of godmother, possibly too pleased with the situation.