Where the Ocean Meets the Sky

The rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum.

With the words 'I love you' rolling off my tongue.

Never will I roam, for I know my place is home.

Where the ocean meets the sky, I'll be sailing.

Rod Stewart

Ch 1 Prologue

The pitter patter of little feet sounded across the floor making their way toward a large brown rat sitting in a recliner. The rat, whose name is Hamato Yoshi but know by all as Splinter, put his newspaper down and looked up in surprise as the little five year old turtle tot came toward his chair.

"Little one?" Splinter questioned as the small turtle walked toward him. "Why are you out of bed?

"I wanted daddy." The little turtle tot replied. He walked over toward the window. "Why does daddy sit out there on the beach all day long?" He turned to look at Splinter. "Doesn't he want to be with me? Is he waiting for something?"

Splinter smiled sadly at him and stood up. He walked over toward the little turtle, picked him up and nuzzled him. "Of course your father wants to be with you young one." Splinter told him. "And yes, your father is waiting, but he is waiting for someone."

"Who Ojichan?"

Splinter looked at him with uncertainty in his eyes. He began to walk away from the window. "Why don't we go outside and you can ask him?"

"Is everything alright Yoshi?" A female voice called out from the kitchen. A human female with long dark hair in her late forties poked her head out and smiled at the large brown rat and small turtle nestled in his arms.

"Yes Shen." Splinter smiled at his wife and continued to walk out the living room. "We are going to check on Raphael." He told her. She smiled sadly and, with a nod of her head at him in understanding, went back to cleaning her kitchen.

He walked toward the door of their small beach house, stopping briefly to pick up a small blanket lying on the couch. He walked to the door and made his way onto his porch and then onto the beach. The sand between his toes was cold and damp from the night air. The sun was starting to go down and the coolness of the breeze coming off the ocean made a chill in the evening air.

Splinter looked up at the evening sky and shivered lightly. The orange hue from the evening sun gave an eerie darkness along the silver clouds that gently drifted overhead. He shook his head slightly and walked toward the larger turtle sitting on a rock staring out into the night sky. Splinter watched as every now and then his head would lower and stare at something in his hands. His forehead creased in sadness as even his footsteps did not make his son turn around but as he approached, the turtle placed whatever was in his hands inside his plastron. "Daddy?" The little turtle in Splinter's arms called out. But still the turtle did not turn around, nor did he respond to his son's voice.

"My son." Splinter placed a paw on his Raphael's shoulder. "The air is chilly, why don't you come in and put your son to bed?"

But Raphael only shook his head. "She supposed to come back." He whispered. "He told me after five years, they let her come back." Splinter felt his heart ache at the sound of his son's broken voice. "I have to watch for her."

The small turtle in Splinter's arms looked up at him. "Can I stay out here with daddy for a while Ojichan?"

Splinter blinked back tears and smiled at his grandson. He put the little turtle down by his father; he then placed the blanket across Raphael's shoulders and patted his son's shell. Then, with a heavy sigh, he walked back toward the house.

The little turtle looked up at his father as he climbed onto his lap and laid his head on his father's plastron. "Daddy?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" The larger turtle asked. His voice sounded distant and harsh to the little turtle's ears.

"Ojichan says you're waiting for someone." His son said snuggling into his father's arms.

"Did he?" He felt his son's head nod up and down. "Did he say anything else?"

"No, I asked who, but he said you should tell me who you're waiting for." He blinked up at his father when the larger turtle said nothing. After a few moments the turtle laid his head against his father plastron. "Will you read me a story daddy?" He asked him.

"Didn't Uncle Donnie read you one?" He asked.

"Yeah, and so did Uncle Mikey and Auntie Miwa." He told him with a giggle. "I was going to ask Uncle Casey or Auntie April but I want you to read me one."

"How bout I tell you one instead?"

"Yeah!" The little turtle cheered. "What kind?"

"Do you believe in mermaids' son?"

The little turtle blinked at his father in surprise. "Like the one in my Disney book?" He asked excitedly.

The larger turtle nodded slowly, his eyes still continued to look out into the ocean, scanning over the waves that gently rolled along the shore, not once did he look down at his son who was looking at him excitedly with his bright blue sapphire eyes. "I like that story daddy." His son told him. "Is that the one you're going to tell me?" He asked. "That's your favorite isn't it daddy?"

"Know why?" His father asked quietly. His son shook his head. "It's because at the end of the story, the mermaid becomes a human and goes on to marry her prince." He looked down at his son and sighed deeply. The little turtle blinked up and stared into his father's sad green eyes. "But that's just a story." He continued. "In real life; things don't always work out that way."