Turtle panicked. “Maybe like that?” He turned Tuala on his stomach and rocked him a little bit. Tuala cried, and his face became red like the very reddest of tomatoes that Turtle had ever seen.
Turtle huffed. “How about this way?” He put Tuala on his bare chest and hummed a little tune. Tuala still cried, and his tiny flipper-paws flailed around on top of Turtle.
Turtle clapped his flippers, thinking. He put Tuala in the coolest, driest part of his shell, with a nice warm blanket. Tuala still cried, and the blanket was pushed aside as well as a tiny newborn Tuala could push.
Turtle sighed in exasperation. “Koala”, he mumbled, “can you help me?” Koala’s ears twitched as she woke up slowly and turned. Turtle handed her the Tuala, and she put her paws around him, holding him gently, and kissing his forehead. Immediately, Tuala cooed, and his face lost its red, returning to its regular, not-quite-gray-and-not-quite-green look.
Turtle deflated defeatedly. “Koala, am I bad at this?” Koala smiled at him, still kissing Tuala’s forehead. “No, you’re great at this. Next time I will need your help you will remember this moment, and we will both understand how it is to feel helpless, and how it is to feel helpful.” Turtle slowly nodded his scaly head, not quite convincend, but not quite unconvinced, either. He nestled up against his family, and in an instant, they all fell back asleep.