There once was a rabbit and a turtle who lived in a field.

One day, the two friends noticed another field across the road and decided they would check it out.

With a flash, the rabbit zipped accross the street and made it over.

There the rabbit found luscious green grass, trees for shade, and a nice pond. It seemed really nice and the rabbit wasn’t alone in thinking this as there were plenty of other rabbits and even a few turtles.

At this moment it occurred to the rabbit, where was his friend the turtle?

The rabbit went to the other side of the road where he found the turtle. There he noticed his friend’s shell was scuffed and scraped.

The turtle explained how when they went to cross, a car came by and knocked the turtle back. This made the turtle hesitant to try again.

The rabbit told the turtle everything he had seen over on the other side. He encouraged his friend to try again. Surely with some determination the turtle would be able to make it.

The turtle agreed. Readied himself, and tried again.

This time the turtle made it halfway before

BAM!

Another car came and knocked the turtle back.

The rabbit went over to the turtle, helped dust him off and told him to move faster. The rabbit explained how he uses his hind legs to propel himself quickly accross. He uses all his might to spring forward which creates his speed.

Again, if the turtle did the same amount of effort then the outcome would have to be the same.

The turtle tried again over and over. While each time the progress varied, the end result was the same and the turtle was knocked back.

The rabbit persisted in trying to get his friend accross. It must be possible, after all, the rabbit had made it there and back many times.

Then the rabbit realized the problem.

The shell!

The rabbit explained how the shell must be what is causing the problem. Clearyly it’s heavier and thus makes the turtle slower. The shell also adds to the turtles size and so makes it easier to get hit by the car.

The answer was so clear to the rabbit. He explained to the turtle to just get rid of the shell. Without the shell he’d easily make it!

At this, the turtle sighed. While he understood what the rabbit was saying, he tried to explain how getting rid of the shell wasn’t possible.

The rabbit didn’t understand. The rabbit became frustrated and thought the turtle wasn’t willing to try hard enough. The rabbit told him how if he had a shell he wouldn’t let it stop him.

Annoyed, the rabbit told the turtle how across the road there were other turtles. Clearly, it’s possible for a turtle to do it. It’s just a matter of effort and determination. And with that, the rabbit zipped accross again, leaving his friend behind.

The turtle continued trying.

Eventually, with much effort, and a little luck, he finally made it across.

On the other side, the turtle met with the other turtles there. They showed him the scuffs and scrapes they had. They shared how difficult it was for them to make it accross. They also told the turtle how lots of other turtles never make it.

More interestingly, they also explained how a lot of them had had similar interactions with the rabbits. The rabbits could never understand why the road was such a big problem for turtles when it wasn’t for them. Though some rabbits didn’t make it accross, in general most could easily zip back and forth.

The turtle realized the rabbits would never know the real weight of a shell.