tale of two tortoises

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Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

My friend, Nur Syahira, had always wanted to own a pet tortoise ever since. Perhaps her interest mostly trigerred from a recently opened pet aquarium booth in Giant Nilai, which is the supermarket most of us frequently visit.  But I think the main reason must have been because she fell in love with the cute physique of the mini tortoise.

At first I thought that it was just an idea. Used to think that she would never be brave enough to buy one.*hehehe.. how mistaken I was!

 End of last month, (can't remember the precise date) i witness the time when she bought not one, but TWO tortoises from the aquarium booth. Heheh. Well, I was a bit surprised, but excited as well. I was curious on how she was going to take care of them.Maybe it seems easy to take care of a tortoise. Since it is a miniature version of tortoise, it does not need much food, it only needs a small aquarium and the tortoise itself is sold with affordable price, for a student. However, I think that having any creature  under someone's care, would need quite a hard work. They need love and affection. haha^^

However, I don't think that it would be a problem for Syahira, due to her loving nature. Sometimes she even seems like an overprotective mom, bringing the tortoises everywhere. Really, I was almost jelous! ;) She even named the tortoises after our famous local cartoon, boboiboy. The female one is called Yaya, while the male one is called Boboi. Most of us also shared the joy of watching their behaviour in the green, tiny aquarium. Boboi was always so active and restless, while Yaya was a quite feeble tortoise. Sometimes it would take a long time for Yaya to climb over the step in the aquarium, while Boboi climbs over it quite naturally. And sometimes, when we hold up one of the tortoise and stare straight to their eyes, we would notice that they blinks.
Believe me, it was CUTE. seriously.


Then we had two weeks gap during the AS exam. Syahira decided to bring the tortoises with her, since her little brother (or sister, I'm not sure) was longing to see them too.

It was a long trip, by bus, from here to Penang. And after a few days at Penang, a sad thing happened.

Boboi died.

He was buried somewhere around her house yard.

When the exam gaps were over, Syahira went back to our college. The only occupant inside the aquarium was Yaya. Alone. And she didn't really seems to move around. She also refused to eat. Syahira was quite sad looking at the conditions of her beloved pet.

Then the time for Yaya to leave has came, too. She died a few days after.


Perhaps miniature tortoise couldn't live long. But all in all, everything come from Allah. And everything should, and would, return to Him.

Even us humans, we can never predict when or where our time is up. Like Boboi, although he was more active, he died earlier. And although both were bought at the same place, one died in Penang. Another died in Sepang.
Hmm..
maybe it's time to reflect everything we had done throughout this life. The clock is ticking.

P/s:
To Syahira, I hope you would stay strong, and never give up in loving other creatures.

P/s 2:
To Kadok, thanks for reminding me about death. I was quite surprised at first, but I know you meant well. ;) I'm not getting any younger, just like you.


in memory of Boboi and Yaya. Thanks Allah for letting them bring joy to my friends throughout their short life.