Chapter 1

As she finished hosing down and brushing clean the shell of Tom, the Giant Tortoise, Marissa noticed that she had a sizeable crowd of visitors watching her inside the glassed-in exhibit enclosure which was quite usual.  She then heard her cell phone ring and grabbed the phone out of her jumpsuit uniform pocket and answered, “This is Marissa.”

“This is Gina in the Admin Building.  Mr. Anderson wants to see you as soon as you can get here in the next ten minutes,” the personal assistant said rather coolly.

“Okay,” and Gina hung up abruptly.

Marissa considered herself very lucky to have gotten a job at the city zoo. She was only 21 and recently graduated with only an associate’s degree in veterinary science from the local community college.  She loved working with animals but thought the best she might be able to do is work at a humane society cleaning cat and dog cages for barely above minimum wage. When she saw there was a job opening at the City Zoo, she immediately applied for the position.  As it turned out, she interviewed with Mr. Anderson and he hired a few days later.  Apparently, he was impressed with her personality or something.

Not only did Marissa love the job she was doing, but it didn’t hurt that she was getting decent government wages and benefits as well.  She had been working now for six weeks and had been assigned to the Reptile House.  Her duties included taking care of all the reptiles from the small lizards and snakes up to the giant tortoises.  Of course, the giant tortoises were her favorites and were one of the most popular and important attractions at the zoo.  There were three tortoises, Tom, Tony and Hildegard (more commonly called Hildy).

She put the hose and brush away and then left the exhibit area out a back door and out the rear of the Reptile House.  Luckily, she found a common-use bicycle by the door and was able to peddle the bike over to the Admin Building which was about a quarter mile away.  On the second floor, Gina was sitting outside Mr. Anderson’s office and she pointed to the office door without even looking up. Marissa wondered to herself why Gina seemed so unfriendly.  Maybe because she went to lunch a couple times with Mr. Anderson and was jealous? Who knew?

She headed for the partially open office door, knocked twice and entered. Mr. Anderson looked up and motioned her inside.  “I’m here as you requested, Mr. Anderson.”

“Hi Marissa, glad you could come.  You don’t have to be so formal, please just call me Ken.  So, how is it going for you here with your new job?”

“Thank you.  I am really enjoying my work here and I want to thank you again for the opportunity to work here at the City Zoo.  I just love working in the Reptile House, Mr. Ander… Ken.  My favorite part is taking care of the giant tortoises but I like everything I do there.  Tom and Tony are doing fine but I have noticed that Hildy does not seem to be doing so well lately.  She seems lethargic and is not eating well at all.”

Ken responded, “Actually, that is why I called you in here today.  The Vet Staff noticed the same things with Hildy.  We estimate that she is about 120 years old and so this is no surprise.  Over the last couple of weeks, they have taken blood, stool and urine samples and determined that she is expected to live only a week or two more.  I don’t have to tell you what a large blow that would be to the zoo since she is part of one our most important and popular exhibits here since they are quite rare.  We have already made arrangements to bring in a new replacement female tortoise from South America but this takes some time with transportation, customs, paperwork, quarantine period and so on.”

“I am glad to hear that you’ve found a replacement for Hildy although I feel bad for her,” Marissa replied.

“The problem I have now is that it could be a few weeks before the new tortoise arrives and I am pretty sure Hildy won’t last that long.  The public always expects to see three large tortoises in that exhibit enclosure.  Therefore, I need a temporary replacement until the new tortoise can become permanent part of the exhibit.  This is where you come in.”

“What can I do to help?” countered Marissa sincerely.

“I want you to take Hildy’s place temporarily and become a tortoise for a week or two until the new one arrives.”

“What?  How can I do that?”

“Marissa, you are the only one who can pull this off.  You are young, the right size, female and everything we need to do this.  Also, you have been working in the tortoise exhibit for the last month and a half and know how they behave and what they are like.  The idea is you would be completely fitted out in a very realistic duplicate Hildy tortoise rig with head mask, tortoise legs and everything. From outside the exhibit enclosure, no one would know it’s not Hildy.  I have already contacted the people we would need to make this happen. I am really hoping you will agree to this and say yes.  Although I hope you agree for the right reasons, there will be some financial benefits as well since you would be working 24/7 for a couple of weeks or so that you should consider.  What do you think?”

Marissa’s head was spinning.  There were so many questions about how this would work with the tortoise costume as well as the practical aspects of taking time out of her life for a couple of weeks.  “Ken, can I take some time alone to think about this and then I would like to come back in a little bit and discuss this with you and get answers to all my questions?”

“Of course.  Do you think you can come back in one hour or so?”

“Yeah, I think that would work.”  Marissa left the Admin Building and pedaled the bike back to the Reptile House. She stepped inside the Giant Tortoise enclosure and just watched the three tortoises.  Mostly she observed Hildy and how slowly she moved if at all and felt bad knowing she didn’t have long to live.  Her outside life wasn’t much outside work at the zoo so it didn’t see like being away for a couple of weeks would be too big of a problem to handle. On the other hand, she couldn’t imagine how anyone could really make her look like a convincing tortoise that could fool people even at a distance.  It was time to go back to meet with Ken, get answers to her questions and make a decision.

When Marissa returned to Ken’s office, Gina told her “Go in the office” in what seemed a pretty unfriendly manner.

Ken suggested that they go out to lunch and discuss the proposition in detail. They went to a nice nearby restaurant, sat down and went through all the questions Marissa could think of while eating. At the end, Marissa stated, “I think I will do this.  I am not entirely sure what I am getting into but it will be an adventure, for sure!”

“That is really great news and I was hoping you would agree!  I have already made arrangements since I was fairly confident that you would accept.  I want you to take off this afternoon and make any personal arrangements you need to take care of since you will not be home for the next couple of weeks or so. Tomorrow morning, you will report to Mastercraft Studios at 9 am where they will start getting you ready.  They told me they will be taking all kinds of measurements and making molds of your limbs, etc.  At 2:30 pm, you then report to a special gynecologist.  I am not sure what she is going to do but am told it is part of the process.  Here are two business cards with contact names, addresses and phone numbers. Again, thank you so much for agreeing to help us out of this predicament!”  They left the restaurant and returned to the zoo.

Marissa left the zoo to go home in her car.  She felt a little lightheaded not knowing if she made the right decision or not but now, she was committed.

Chapter 2

At about 8:50 the next morning, Marissa reported in to the receptionist at Mastercraft Studios and asked for the person on the business card.  She was told to come wearing shorts and a T-shirt. A few minutes later a very casually dressed guy in his early 30’s came into the lobby and asked her if she was Marissa.  When she replied that she was, he introduced himself as Jack and told her to follow him into the studio office.  He explained to her what they planned to do that morning.

“Please come with me to the studio and we will get started.  First, we will make molds of your arms which is pretty easy.  My assistant Debbie will take care of you the rest of the way.  When you are done, please come back to my office and I will fill you in on the rest of the process.  You will need to come back here in two days for the final fittings and setup. You are in good hands!”

“Come with me to my lab area,” Debbie prompted and Marissa followed her down a hallway to a moderate size lab room.  “We’re all setup to go so this shouldn’t take too long.  Like Jack said, we will start with molds of your arms.  These molds will be used to make your front tortoise feet. I am glad you are wearing a T-shirt so this will be easy.  Please sit in the chair and put your arms down the tubes on each side of you.  I will then pour some latex molding compound down each tube and you must try to be as still as you can for the next five minutes while it sets.  I want you to make loose, not tight, fists with hands while the latex is setting. This will be the most comfortable position for you in the long run.”

Marissa did as she was told and soon five minutes was up.  Debbie cut away the cardboard tubes leaving the off-white latex on each arm.  Using a dull blade, Debbie skillfully cut the latex down the length of the arm in two halves and removed the mold on each arm.  “You did well, Marissa.  These will work fine.  Now, let’s do your legs.”

Just like the arms, the process was repeated with her legs inside larger tubes.

“Now we need to get your head measurements.  Fortunately, we don’t need to use a latex mold for that for five minutes! Instead, we have the latest 3-D laser measuring device for that.  Lucky for you your hair is fairly short so we can just put a wig cap and take your head measurements.  This will only take a minute or so.”  They walked over to a small booth in the room with a chair inside and Marissa sat down as instructed.  Debbie handed her some goggles to put over her eyes which she did.  “While you are being measured, it is very important to keep still.  Again, it is only for a minute or so.”  Debbie closed the booth door and pushed a button to start.  With her eyes covered, Marissa couldn’t tell what was happening but she could hear that something was making a low buzzing noise.

After a minute, the buzzing stopped and the booth door opened.  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?  The 3D images look great by the way!  Your tortoise mask should be excellent.  Now, it would look very strange if you opened your mouth and people saw human teeth and tongue.  The next to last step we need to do today is make a mold of your mouth, tongue and lips.”

They walked back to the first chair where Marissa sat down.  Debbie went to a supply cabinet and retrieved a soft dental mold that was wedged shape.  “I want you to open your mouth wide and bite down fairly hard on this dental mold for about two minutes.  While you are doing that, I will be shaping it around your teeth, gums and lips to get a complete impression.  Any questions?”  She shook her head.

“Now comes the easiest part.  We just need a complete set of body measurements and then we are done here.” When the measurements were taken, Debbie walked Marissa back to Jack’s office, knocked on the door and showed her in. “Everything is done for my part and it all looks good.  We will be ready in two days.”  With that, Debbie turned and left the lab and headed back to Jack’s office.

“It sounds like everything went pretty good so far.  I wish I could show you more today but we are still designing the tortoise rig.  Frankly, it is our first time doing something quite like this and we all are really looking forward to seeing the end result.  I understand you are scheduled to see the gynecologist this afternoon – good. We want you to return here in two days at 11 am.  Before you come here, you will need to see the gynecologist to get fitted with a special device first.  I believe you are scheduled to see her at 9 am.  Any questions?”  She did have a few questions and then left the studio building.

She had lunch at a nearby fast-food restaurant and then proceeded to the gynecologist.  She found the office easily with her GPS, walked into the doctor’s reception area and reported into the receptionist.  “I am here to see Dr. Jeanne Harper.  I have a 2:30 appointment.”

“It will be just a couple of minutes and then she can see you.  Please be seated.”  Two minutes later the receptionist bade her to come into the doctor’s office.

“Hello, I am Dr. Jeanne Harper.  Nice to meet you.  I see we have a rather unusual request today.  You are being fitted with a Bodily Waste Device or BWD.  You would be surprised to hear that there are many professions and jobs that are extremely critical for men and women where they cannot leave their post for extended periods of time.  Most of the time diapers are not the answer for these people. Instead, we offer an alternate solution that is more practical and, frankly, more comfortable.  From what I understand you are about to do, this really is the best way to go.  Let’s step into the clinic part of the office next door and I can show you what we have in mind.”

They walked into the adjacent clinic room where Marissa spotted the typical gynecologist chair with leg stirrups.  “We won’t be needing the Ob-Gyn chair today. Just sit in the chair by desk. We will be fitting you with a simple device that fits around your genitals that cleanly and efficiently removes body waste from your person.  What are you, about 5’ 2” and 105 or 110 lbs.?”  Marissa nodded.  Dr. Harper walked over to some nearby shelves and after scanning a bit, removed a box and returned to the desk where she sat down.  She emptied the box on the desk.  Marissa had no real idea what the strange stuff she was looking at was.

“Can you please stand up and remove your shorts?  You can leave your panties and top on.  I want to see how well this fits you for size.”  Dr. Harper grabbed a flesh-colored cloth item that Marissa thought looked like a heavy-duty garter belt and put it around her waist and fastened it in the back with four hook-and-eye fasteners.  It sat just above hips and was quite tight around her wait.  There were two garter like straps in front and two in the back.  “How does that feel?”

“It is tight but no too bad,” Marissa responded.

“Good.  Right now, all I have are standard BWD’s in the office.  Once I confirm the fitting, they will have a special one made for you because of your special extenuating circumstances.”  Dr. Harper picked up what looked like a latex cradle object off the desk and then asked Marissa to spread her feet apart.  The doctor then kneeled in front of Marissa and positioned the cradle over her crotch front to back.  She then connected the four garter straps to the cradle holding it in place and then made further adjustments to the garter straps so it fit even more securely. The cradle covered her from her tail bone in the back to near her waist in front.  She noticed that there were a couple of holes with fittings in the device.

“What are those holes for?” Marissa asked.

“The smaller hole and hose barb are for a flush water connection and the larger is the outgoing waste hole.  Because you will be mostly in a prone position, the holes and connectors will be different on your BWD.  When we put your device on in two days, we will also seal the device to your body all around the edges with long-term medical adhesive to make sure there are no leaks.  What do you think?”

“It feels weird but not too bad actually.  Will this really keep my bottom clean after I go to the bathroom?”

“You can think of this device as a combination toilet and bidet and it might actually do a better job than you do now, believe it or not.  I think we have the right fit.  I will take it off now and then you can get dressed.  We will see you in two days at 9 o’clock.”

Chapter 3

The next day Marissa went back to work as usual.  She especially enjoyed her time the Giant Tortoise exhibit knowing soon things could be entirely different for her.  She was asked to go Ken’s office and fill him in on her previous day’s activities which she did.

On ‘Tortoise Day’ as Marissa thought of it, the zoo made special transportation arrangements to help shuttle her around, picking her up at her house in the morning.  Her first stop was Dr. Jeanne Harper.  She walked into the office and since she was the first appointment of the day, the receptionist ushered her right into the clinic room.

A minute later the doctor appeared.  “Good news!  Your special BWD was just delivered in the last hour.  It certainly looks different than anything I have seen before but it should work well for you.  I hope you haven’t gone to the bathroom recently because I want to have you try it out here first to make sure everything is good.”

Marissa could see this device was different from the last one and seemed to include extra plumbing parts.

“Please take off your shorts and panties now.  Just like last time, I will put on the garter belt first and then we will dry fit the BDW to make sure it is right.”  Dr. Harper was indeed satisfied with sizing and removed the cradle and put a half-inch wide bead of medical adhesive around the entire perimeter of the device.  With Marissa’s feet wide apart, the doctor carefully reapplied the cradle around the crotch area carefully checking for gaps which she didn’t find.  The garter straps were reconnected.  “Please stand like this for five minutes while the adhesive bonds to your skin.”

“So how does it feel?  Are you uncomfortable at all?”

Marissa responded, “I am surprised. It really doesn’t like it is hardly there at all.  I mostly feel the waist belt.”

“Great!  Now, we can hook up the plumbing and maybe give it a test run.  Can you please lay down on the padded exam table face up.  I will connect the waste outflow tube first to the BWD.  The cradle device had a large hole just in front of the clit area that was hard and protruded outward with pipe threads.  The doctor grabbed a blister-pack wrapped package that looked like it came from a hardware store.  “This is the same plumbing pipe that they would use under your kitchen sink if you can believe that!  It may be cheap but there is nothing better.”  Dr. Harper took the 1.5” PVC tailpiece pipe, inserted a nylon gasket and then used a large white PVC nut to attach it to the threaded protrusion hand tight.  The pipe stuck out about 12”.  “Don’t worry, they will trim it to length when you are installed in the tortoise rig.”

“Now I need you to turn over on your stomach so I can connect the flush line hose.”  Marissa rolled over on her stomach with her new waste pipe between her legs.  At the back of the device was another hard ½” hose barb connector.  The doctor went to her desk and picked up about 5 feet of ½” Teflon tubing.  She connected one end of the tubing to the hose barb and secured it.

“In order to test the BWD, we need to go to the bathroom where I have the necessary plumbing connections.  If you need to go to the bathroom, we are almost there.”  They walked down a short hall to a good-sized bathroom.  Marissa felt foolish walking down the hall with device with plumbing connections hanging down.  She felt like she was wearing a strap-on with a big dildo in the front.

“I want you to sit on this padded table with your legs hanging down. I am going to connect your hoses up now.”  There was a sink on the wall behind her.  She turned on the water in the sink and adjusted the temperature until it was pleasantly warm.  She then connected the Teflon tubing to the faucet that was also equipped with a hose barb connector.  Next, she grabbed a six-foot 1.5” diameter corrugated hose and using a hose clamp, clamped it on to the end of the PVC pipe.  The other end she fed into the toilet behind her.

“OK.  Let’s test out the flush hose.”  The doctor turned on the sink faucet and soon warm water was running through the flush hose, the BWD and then out to the toilet.  “How does that feel?”

“It feels really good.”

“Do you have to go to the bathroom?  This will be the last chance you have to go until you are installed in your tortoise suit.”

“I guess I better try then.  Should I go both 1 and 2 now?”

“That would be excellent if you can so we can do a complete test,” the doctor advised.

“I am embarrassed to say but I cannot go when others around.  Can you let me have some privacy?  Come back in ten minutes.  Thanks!”

Dr. Harper returned in ten minutes and pleased to find out that Marissa had been able to go both 1 and 2 in her BWD.  “I will turn on the flush hose and clean everything out.”  Marissa felt clean again.  “Now let me give you a special treat.”  She disconnected the flush hose from the sink, inserted a funnel in the end of the hose and then held it under an air hand dryer.  The warm air flowing through her BWD felt wonderful.  “The good news is you will have this option at the zoo!”

Dr. Harper disconnected the hoses and told Marissa she could stand up. Since she obviously could no longer wear her shorts that she came with, the doctor gave her a long bathrobe to cover up with.  Dr. Jeanne walked her to the reception area and wished her luck in her new adventure.

Marissa walked out the front door to the waiting car that the zoo had provided for her.  She told the driver that the next stop was Mastercraft Studios.

Chapter 4

Marissa walked into the reception area of the studio and asked to see Jack.  “We’ve been expecting you and I have been instructed to take you back right away.”

When she entered Jack’s office, he greeted her warmly.  “This is going to be a big day for you Marissa.  You are entering as a woman and you will be leaving as a giant tortoise.  We are all excited about your upcoming transformation and can’t wait to see the end result.  The actual tortoise rig is just about ready for you in our shop.  We’re making some last-minute touches and adjustments.  I assume you have already had your bio-waste device installed and tested, right?”  Marissa nodded.  “Like last time, Debbie will be working with you first today.  Let me call her office and have her come here to pick you up.” Jack made the call and within a couple minutes Debbie had come to the office.

“Hi Marissa!  I am so looking forward to do this.  Let’s go back to my lab and will get started.”  They walked down the hall to the lab, stepped inside and closed the door. “I think we will need some privacy. Take off your robe please and sit down on the exam table.  Wow, I have never seen a bio-waste device like that before!  How does it feel?  How does it work?”  Marissa answered her questions quickly.

“My job today is to apply the leg forms to your arms and legs and put on the head mask.  This needs to be done before they can install you into the tortoise shell rig.  Let’s start with your new front legs since they are the easiest and work our way up.”  Debbie went to a nearby table and grabbed one of four leg forms of which there were two larger and two smaller ones.  They looked surprisingly realistic to Marissa.  “The latex leg form is covered in a tough rubberized material to give it a real scaley skin appearance and color.  It also protects the latex form underneath.  The latex mold part only goes to about your elbow and the upper part is just the heavy rubberized material that ends in a hoop.  As you will see, this will allow you to retract your legs inside your shell just like a tortoise would.

“I first will put some talc powder on your so that you can slide your arm more easily into the leg form.  Go ahead and gently slide your arm into the leg form until your hand is at the end and can grab the inside grip.  You’ll notice there is some wiggle room for your fingers which should make it more comfortable in the long run.”  In less than a minute the leg form was in place on her arm and the hoop was up by her shoulder.

“Excellent!  Now we just have three more to go.”  Within a half hour, Marissa’s four limbs now looked like gray scaley tortoise legs.

“Next, we will apply the head mask on your head.  The head mask consists of two parts, the mandible parts which is the mouth and jaws and then the head covering.  We’ll start with the mandible pieces.  This is why we made the dental impression if you recall.  There is an upper and a lower jaw piece that we must position in and around your mouth and lips.  Hopefully this shouldn’t take too long.  I will warn you that once the mandible parts are applied, you will not be able to talk hardly at all.”  In another half-hour Marissa appeared to have the teeth and lips of a tortoise.

“Well, we are finally ready for the head mask.  I’ll put on your wig cap, Marissa.”  After she put it on, Debbie got a box from the nearby table and removed the mask from it.  It was a dark and scaley looking thing with two dark eyes made up of similar heavy rubberized material that covered the leg forms but was stretchier.  Debbie was a bit challenged to get the mask to fit over Marissa’s head but in the end she succeeded.  She bonded the head mask to the mandible pieces and at the neck so well that they were no visible seams.

“Would you like to see what you look like?” Debbie asked.

“Hmmph!”  Debbie held up a hand mirror in front of her.  Marissa looked at herself through the dark plastic mask eye lenses and was truly startled.  “I really look ugly!” she thought to herself.

“I have done all I can do.  You are now ready for the final stage of your tortoise transformation.  I have called for a couple of guys to come with a wheelchair and take you to the shop since you can’t walk there on your new legs. It’s been a pleasure working on you and I wish you a lotta luck in your new career!”

“Hmmph!”

Chapter 5

Marissa was wheeled from the cosmetics lab to the shop where she saw a group of four men standing around what was obviously the tortoise rig.  She was introduced to John who was the ‘Master Costumer’ and leader of the group.  He introduced the other three assistants and then went on to explain how she was going to be positioned into the rig and how it would work.  She was told the shell was designed to match Hildy’s in size and color.  The tortoise rig shell was upside-down sitting in a cradle to hold it steady on the floor.  It looked quite large at about three and a half feet long.  The center part of the rig was built up which she assumed would be the main body part of the tortoise with openings for four legs and her head. Marissa could see the bottom of the shell appeared to be covered with foam padding so she hoped it would be comfortable.

When the explanations were done, John said “You look like you are ready so let’s get started.  We have a long day ahead of us.”  With that signal, two of the assistants lifted Marissa out of the wheelchair and moved to position her above the shell.  “Please extend your legs and we will slide your legs through the two leg-holes at the shell posterior.”  With her legs all the way inside the rig leg-hole openings, the two men gently laid her in the shell.

“Great!  Now, lay your head down in the neck opening and we will get some pillows for you to support your head.  Next, I want you to put your arms through the fore-leg openings on either side of you.” The crew then went about fitting each of the hoops that were part of the leg forms into grooves in each of the leg openings of the rig.  Marissa now realized for the first time that she was now becoming attached to and a part of the giant tortoise rig.

It took John and his assistants another couple of hours to connect the neck of the head mask to the rig body frame, seal up and cosmetically hide any seams, hook-up linkage between Marisa and the tortoise tail and finally connect up the plumbing to the BWD.  When they were done, Marissa looked just like an upside-down tortoise except for a large opening where the belly would be.

“Marissa, you are doing really well!  We’re almost there now.  One of the last things we need to do is install the chest plate to what will be the bottom of the tortoise rig.  Before we do that, we will put some gel-filled padding and foam padding on your stomach.  Remember, when you are right side up, this is what you will be laying on so we want to make it as comfortable as possible.”  A 3-foot-long gel-pad was placed on top of her followed by a similar sized foam pad.

One of the assistants then appeared carrying the large chest plate and the crew laid it on top of her completely covering the hole in the body of the rig.  The chest plate was screwed to the rig frame with a dozen machine screws and then the screws hidden with special screw caps and some cosmetic caulk which left no evidence of the fasteners.  The four-man crew examined everything on the belly-side and decided that they were ‘good to go.’

“I think you have been upside-down long enough, Marissa.  Are you ready to see the world right-side up like a tortoise would see it?”  She quickly nodded.  John and his three colleagues grabbed the large tortoise shell and flipped it upside-down with Marissa in it and gently set her down on the shop floor.

It took her some time for her to get her bearings after spending so long on her back.  The first thing she noticed was that everything she saw was now from floor level – a whole new perspective.  She tried to lift herself up on her new tortoise feet and was surprised how easy it was.  Considering how big the shell looked, the shell was really light.  John, observing her reactions, explained, “The shell is made from resin-Fiberglas material with a lot of air pockets so it makes extremely light for its size.  The rig frame is made from aircraft aluminum making it light and yet strong.  I think you will find it pretty easy to move about. One thing we must do is teach you is how to move and walk like a tortoise.  After we do some more checks and inspections, we will start your walking training here but the main practice and training will be after you are moved back to the zoo.”

Marissa tried to walk around in her new form and found it somewhat difficult at first.  With some coaching and help, she learned the technique that was not too difficult and more importantly, looked like how a tortoise would move about.  It occurred to her then that she had not eaten since that morning and that she was hungry.  Since she could not talk very well, she pointed to her mouth with her front tortoise leg.  John understood the message and went to get some food for her.  He returned with some lettuce leaves and fruit slices and placed them on the floor in front of her.  “As you know, this is how tortoises are fed at the zoo and how you will be fed. You might as well get used to it too,” John explained.

It had not occurred to her before that eating was going to be another big challenge with her new mandibles and tortoise teeth, not to mention she couldn’t use her hands any longer.  When Marissa tried to grab something with her new mouth, she tended to push it away. She finally figured that she had to bite down on it rather than approach it from the side.  The next thing she learned that chewing the food with her new block teeth was going to take some time and effort.  At last, she masticated a piece of fruit and swallowed it. Eating was going to be a low process. Eating off the floor was disgusting!

John announced that it was time to take Marissa back to the zoo. Although she hadn’t thought about it, it was clear she could not ride back in a car.  A pallet was brought into the shop and set on the floor.  A couple of the crew then picked Marissa up and set her squarely on top of the pallet.  A minute later another man appeared driving a forklift truck and easily picked up the pallet with Marissa on it.  He drove to the back of the shop, through an open garage door to a waiting box truck.  The rear doors of the truck were opened and the pallet was set inside the truck like apiece of freight.

“It has been a great pleasure for me and my crew to transform you into a great tortoise.  You look great and I am sure you will do fine.  I hope you can come back some day and tell us all about your adventure. Good luck!”  With that, John closed the truck doors and the truck drove out of the Mastercraft Studio lot.

Chapter 6

The truck pulled into the service entrance of the zoo and then was instructed to go to the rear of the Reptile House to make their special delivery. Since it was after 6 pm, the zoo was closed for the day so there weren’t many people around.  The truck backed into the loading dock area, the doors were opened and a zoo employee was waiting with a hand lift truck.  He positioned the truck forks under the pallet, jacked it up and pulled Marissa out of the truck and pushed it to the Giant Tortoise exhibit area.

When they arrived at the back entrance of the tortoise exhibit, Ken was waiting for her.  “Wow! You look fantastic!  If I didn’t know better, I would think you are a real giant tortoise.  So, how are you doing?” he asked not realizing that Marissa really couldn’t speak.

“Hmmph.”

“I’m sure glad you are back.  Unfortunately, Hildy took a turn for the worse today and had to be taken to the Vet Clinic.  I was hoping you would have a day or two to get acclimated to your transformation before we put you on display.  Now, it looks like you will have to go into the exhibit right away.  Richard is here to start your training in the exhibit enclosure and to show you the modifications we’ve made to accommodate you and how to use them.”

Marissa was wheeled into the rear access to the exhibit and then Richard with help from a second man lifted her off the pallet and set her on the ground. She could see Tom and Tony in the distance and they appeared to have no interest in her.  Perhaps you can fool the people but not the other tortoises.

Richard spent an hour showing Marissa the new features including the flush system, a feeding station, a privacy section with a message center and more. These were all out of sight of the general viewing public.  She was happy to know she could have some human food even if it was just smoothies, slushies and milkshakes.

It was getting late so Ken and Richard said their last good-byes and they left.  Other than a night shift person monitoring the Reptile House, Marissa was left alone with her two companions.  Although the tortoise rig was relatively comfortable, she knew it would be a challenge to sleep knowing her first big day on exhibit was coming.

The next morning, George entered the enclosure through the back entrance bringing food in a bucket.  He worked with Marissa in the Reptile House.  As usual, Tom and Tony knew what was happening and headed for the usual eating area where they knew the food would be placed which it was.  He then emptied the bucket in another small pile near where Marissa was on the ground.  Since early morning visitors were watching, George gave no indication that Marissa was any different than the other two.  She ate more of the food than she expected to and it was not too bad considering.  However, she was glad she could always get a smoothie from the private feeding station when she wanted to.

After ‘breakfast,’ George pulled out the garden hose and a broom and walked over to Marissa.  He turned on the water and started brushing Marissa’s shell with the broom to the delight of the visitors.  She couldn’t help but marvel at how the tables had turned in just a few days.

One thing Marissa learned quickly is that life is pretty boring to be a zoo animal.  Other than walking around a bit, there really was nothing to do.  She tried approaching Tom and Tony but they edged away from her as she got closer.  Were they afraid of her or just not sure what she was?

The day dragged on and finally it was closing time.  It was clear that the transformation had succeeded spectacularly and no one in the public was the wiser or suspected a thing.  Ken stopped by at the end of the day and entered the tortoise enclosure.  “Marissa, you were terrific!  It could not have gone better.  I wish there was a way for you to get out of here at night but everything is set up for you here.  Hopefully this replacement situation won’t last too long.  Also, I must tell you that Hildy took a further turn for the worse so we had to euthanize her today.  We are doing everything we can to expedite Hildy’s replacement tortoise to get here.  There are a couple of road blocks but we’re trying to get around them.  Again, great job Marissa!  See you tomorrow.”

Chapter 7

Day 2 was pretty much a carbon copy of the first day.  Marissa tried to come up with a routine to pass the time but there wasn’t much she could do.  The highlights of her day were the meals and the daily brushing.  Tom and Tony maintained their distance from her. It was probably better that way since she was not sure what she would have done had they approached her.  She certainly was not equipped to get into a tortoise fight if it had come to that or, frankly, a sexual encounter.

Day 3 was like Day 2, Day 4 was like Day 3, …

To relieve some of the boredom, a small TV was installed in the privacy area so she could get some outside stimulation at night.  She really missed being able to talk and communicate with people.

After twelve days of confinement in the tortoise exhibit, Ken stopped by at the end of the day and explained, “We are still having a lot of difficulty getting the new replacement tortoise imported.  Between export and import paperwork, customs issues, animal quarantine and a lot more, this is becoming much more difficult and time consuming than we imagined at the beginning.  We are doing everything we can to make this happen and as fast as possible.  Please be patient, Marissa.”

Day 13 was like Day 12, Day 14 was like Day 13, …

On day eighteen, Ken again stopped by to update Marissa.  “We are making progress slow and sure on the tortoise import.  We’ve overcome some of the obstacles but it seems they just put new ones in our way. Rest assured we are doing all we can. I’ve decided to put Gina in charge of handling this tortoise import situation full-time.  I know she will work very hard to get the tortoise replacement here.”

Day 19 was like Day 18, Day 20 was like Day 19, …

The End