Middle of Summer. The Sun was already in the horizon at nearly 6 a.m. and so Mikey was up as well. He smiled wide because it was Sunday, and this day, Splinter always went out in to the nature with the Turtles. Sometimes they walked inside a forest or near at a lake, or they just simply enjoyed being out on the meadow.
Mikey left his room and ran directly to Splinter's room. He opened the door and yelled happily.
"Father, father!" He jumped up and down. "It's Sunday! It's Sunday!"
Good thing Splinter wasn't a sleepyhead person, but waking up by Mikey's joy made his waking up process a bit longer.
"I know Michelangelo." He sat up and he put his hand in front of his mouth, let out a long yawn. The excited little turtle rushed close to his rat father.
"Where are we going now father? Up to the hills? Or down to the river?" He gasped. "How about we go to the village?"
Splinter never took his sons near to humans, and that's why he always avoided the village as an excursion point. But Mikey always wanted to see the village and talk with everyone he would encounter, he didn't know yet but Splinter knows that people wouldn't accept them.
"Be calm my son." Splinter gently patted the top of Mikey's head. "Today, we will go to a special place I like to show you."
The little turtle's eyes sparkled. Now he became more impatient than before. What kind of place they will go? Mikey had a lot of questions inside his head. Mikey's brothers came inside Splinter's room. Leo still rubbed his eyes, while Donnie let out a loud yawn and Raph just barely opened his eyes. Mikey was too loud, the dream just jumped out from his brothers.
"Good morning my sons." Splinter had a gentle smile on his face.
"Good morning father." All three of them answered back in half sleepy mood.
Splinter stood up. "Let's eat some breakfast and after that, we will go outside, in to the nature."
They all nodded and followed their father inside the kitchen like the good boys they were. The breakfast was the same just like in any other Sunday. Fresh fruits, noodle and tea. Even some cereal, but it was rare and mostly Mikey eats it alone. After they finished, the little Turtles bowed down, thanked the breakfast and they went into their own room pulling their yukatas on.
Splinter bought those yukatas from a city, but he made sure that their clothes reflects their unique personalities. The color of Donatello's yukata was purple and had cherry blossoms on it which meant kind or gentle and a single lotus that symbolized purity. And white carnations were on his Obi. Michelangelo's yukata were orange and it had red poppies and freesias on it. The meaning of those flowers were fun-loving and childish or immature. Perfectly reflected his personality. And his Obi was filled with cat patterns. Raphael's yukata had two color. Mostly it was red but at the bottom it was black. On his yukata it had a couple of peonies which referred to bravery and a lots of hydrangaes that reflects his pride. And there were cloud patterns on his Obi. The color of Leonardo's yukata was blue and had some zinnias together with magnolias. The meaning of those flowers were loyalty and natural. And there were two koi fish on his Obi. And of course Splinter. His yukata's color were brown with white chrysanthemums and hibiscus that referred to truth and gentle. And there were bamboo leaves pattern on his Obi.
After they all dressed up, they gathered at the entrance and Splinter checked if they have everything what they need. Drink, some food if they might get hungry, and some small stuff.
"Alright my sons. Are you ready?" Splinter looked down to his sons.
"Yes, father." They nodded.
"Let us go." He smiled and walked forward and his sons followed him.
Almost an hour passed away when Splinter finally stopped. The pathway was filled with stones, not just only land or grass. There were bushes and trees at the distance.
"Father?" Mikey tilted his head. "Is this the special place you told us?"
"Yes." Splinter nodded. "This is the place where I spent most of my days with my wife, Tang Shen. This was our favorite place."
The warmness of the Sun and the gentle wind that went through the area filled Splinter's heart with a nice warmth feeling. It was the same feeling when he walked around with Tang Shen and sometimes they had picnic.
"Go on my sons." Splinter said. "Feel free to look around and have fun. But don't leave the meadow."
The excited turtles nodded and they ran around, playing with each other. Splinter looked at them and smiled wide.
After an hour, the Turtles stopped playing and decided to explore their surroundings.
"Hey guys, look what I have found!" Mikey shouted to his brothers who they walked closer to him.
"What is it Mikey?" Raph asked.
"Look at this strange little bug." And Mikey showed the unknown bug he picked up from the ground.
"It looks weird and disgusting." Said Raph as he stepped away from the little creature.
"Don't worry Raph." Leo patted Raph's shoulder. "It won't hurt you.
"I think I know what this is." Examined Donnie as he looked closer to the bug. "It's a cicada."
"Never seen this before." Mikey sounded excitedly. "Can we keep it?"
"Don't you dare." Raph disagreed. He still had hard times befriending with the creatures living in the nature, especially the bugs.
Splinter walked to them, it was time to go back home. "Put the cicada down, Michelangelo. Just like them, we also need to go back home."
"Hai, father." Mikey crouched down and carefully put the bug down. "Bye, cicada!"
Splinter smiled. "Did you enjoyed this place, my sons?"
"Yes." All of them nodded.
"Father?" Leonardo looked up to his dad. "Can we come out here next time and telling us what did you and mother do here?"
Splinter rubbed his beard with a soft laugh. "Of course my son."
Then Splinter and his sons walked back to their house, spent their time together until the end of the day.
