As a middle school student, Miss Zheng kept two tortoises as pets at home. One outgrew the other as time went by. The two creatures, cute and lively, brought loads of joy to her otherwise boring life. She fed them on fresh meat on a regular basis. In time, the creatures seemed to be able to recognise the girl.

At feeding time, Miss Zheng was sad to see the bigger tortoise bully the smaller one occasionally. It violently pushed the younger brother aside so that it could have the meal all to itself. Anytime that happened, Miss Zheng ensured that the smaller pet had its fair share of the meal.

One day while checking on the pets, the preteenager found the smaller animal missing. She was worried. The girl, as well as her mother, searched high and low for the pet. To their chagrin, the creature was nowhere to be found. Miss Zheng reckoned that the bigger tortoise might have swallowed its smaller sibling.

After winter came one year, the bigger tortoise went into hibernation in the aquarium. It stayed there still and ate nothing. Throughout the wintry months, though, the smaller tortoise was on Miss Zheng’s mind.

Spring returning and the temperature up, Miss Zheng added some water to the aquarium. To her sorrow, the bigger pet did not revive. Instead, it was floating on the water, the white belly up, dead. Mrs Zheng the mother speculated that the creature might have died from dehydration or hypothermia.

That year, when summer was upon the family, Miss Zheng noticed something stirring in a corner of the room, where the shades met the floor. She went over and found that it was the smaller tortoise crawling there. It was still alive! Amazing.

Miss Zheng put the creature back into the aquarium and looked after it very well indeed. However, some weeks later, the creature went missing again.

This time Miss Zheng did not bother to look for the animal. Anyway, being free would enable the creature to grow independently.

The two creatures’ fates enlightened Miss Zheng. Being well fed in the aquarium did not increase the bigger tortoise’s survivability. Independence saw the smaller one exploring the world on its own.