Lifesaver

Today I went for a run in the neighborhood next to ours ("ours" here means next to my grandparent's house in Richmond) and on my way home I found a turtle right in the middle of the street. I decided there was a chance it would be a dead turtle soon if I didn't help it get across the pavement faster, so I picked it up and set it in the grass it was headed for. Sure enough before I even got out of the street a car came driving by, so I'm gonna say I pretty much saved the turtle's life. I was also a little conflicted about the turtle-finding situation, because I knew Grandma would want me to bring it home to be her new pet, since her two turtles from last fall haven't come up yet in the backyard, which suggests they might be gone forever. You see, Grandma loves turtles, and when she finds one she keeps it. But I didn't really feel comfortable saying "listen here turtle in the street, I'm going to kidnap you and take you far away and lock you in a backyard, even though it's a very nice backyard and you will be well-fed." Instead I thought about how it would be awkward to walk several blocks carrying a live turtle, and I wasn't really done running. So not only did I save the turtle's life, but I saved its freedom, too.