Saint Gudwall and the Turtles

(Turtle)

Saint Gudwall lived on the Welsh coast in a cave. The coast is known for its beautiful scenery and awful storms in the winter. The weather in the summer was amazing with beautiful green trees and the bright blue ocean, but in the winter it was nothing close to that. The skies were full of grey puffy clouds and wind that could knock a person over. Therefore Saint Gudwall was looking for a home that would let them enjoy the summer, but also keep everyone very warm and safe in the winter.

Saint Gudwall and his people had made themselves at home in a nice cave where they felt they would be safe from anything that came their way. The cave had furniture, books, beds, and other essential things that they needed. The cave had multiple rooms and was perfect for this group of people. Also the cave kept them safe from the different weather. There could not have been a better home for the people to live in.

One winter, a big storm rolled into the Welsh coast and the waves and surge started to get larger and larger. Saint Gudwall was aware that the waves were beginning to come into their cave more and more as the storm rolled in. However, he did not think that the waves would get big enough to roll all the way into the cave. Before they knew it a huge wave came in and wiped everything out of the cave and left Saint Gudwall full of sand and cold sea water. He knew that climbing out of the cave the only way of making it out safe and staying alive. As they reached the top of the cave they realized they were on a very high cliff and the winter storm continued to roll into the coast. Saint Gudwall and his pupils were scared, cold, and had nowhere to go or live; they had lost everything. They stood there shivering and they were distraught about what had just happened....

Just in that instance a small brown thing appeared from the sea. "What is that?" they all wondered. Confused, Saint Gudwall then realized that the turtles came to help him because they knew he was a lover of animals. The turtles called all the turtles in the sea and they all contributed a piece of a seashell in order to build a wall between Gudwall's cave and the ocean. The seashells were all very different, some were big, small, colored, and a variety of shapes. This wall was so sturdy that no amount of storm or wave would be able to knock it down. It only took a matter of a couple minutes for the turtles to come and help Saint Gudwall and his pupils.

Saint Gudwall was so thankful for this effort from the turtles that he granted them a shield on their back so that they could be protected for the rest of their lives. This "shield" is still seen on turtles today and is called their shell. Saint Gudwall and his pupils were able to live in the cave forever and ever without the fear of being washed out of it again. The turtles were the reason that Saint Gudwall and his pupils were able to return to their home that they loved so much. From then until the end of day, the turtles would stop by Saint Gudwall's cave just to say hi and receive love from Saint Gudwall.

The Fish Who Helped Saint Gudwall

Bibliography: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900).

Author's Note: In the original story, when winter rolled around a strong storm approached and before Saint Gudwall knew it a huge wave rushed into his cave and tossed everything around. The waves did not stop and Gudwall and his pupils needed to get out of the cave so they started climbing to the top. When at the top of the cave, they were on a very high cliff. The cliff was safe but it was freezing and there was no way they could live on top of the cliff. Before they knew it they saw a brown thing rising out of the water. The fish had started building a wall grain by grain to protect Gudwall's cave from the terrible waves of the winter. The fish saved the day and saved Gudwall's home.

In my story, It was the turtles who came to help Saint Gudwall and his pupils. The turtles used seashells instead of sand and came from all over the ocean to help. Saint Gudwall granted the turtles a shield for them to wear for the rest of eternity as a gift for helping him out and saving his home. This gift is now what we call a turtles shell and protects them from the dangers of the sea.