How The Turtle Got His Shell

Once, when the Heavenly Father was making the creatures of the Earth, he foolishly set down the creature he was making. Now this animal had only a skin and no shell. Heavenly Father had put the breath of life into the creature already, so as soon as it was put down, it ran away. It fell right into the middle of a race on Earth, and the creature just barely missed
 getting trampled. He scrambled into the sidelines and watched the rest of the race. He had not watched any more than four racers when he thought, "Without a shell, I could be the winner. Why, that buffalo is practically going in slow motion." So the next day he joined the races. At first the other animals thought he was joking. But when he lined up at the starting line, they saw it was no joke. He won easily time after time again.The animals got so fed up with him, they came up with a plan. When the turtle,(for that is what he called himself) came the next day, there was a sign that said,  YOU NEED  TO HAVE A SHELL TO RACE. That night he went up to the heavens and asked, "Father, will you give me a shell? I want one I can take on and off." Heavenly Father said, " Go back to Earth, Turtle, and when you wake up, your shell will be there." And, in the morning, as promised, there was his shell. But what an ugly shell it was! It was a sick looking green color, and so musty and dull, it looked like it had been sitting in an attic for twenty years. There was a note that said, "Sorry, it's the best I could do on a short notice." Turtle hated it, but unless he wants to miss the race, he will have to wear it. When Turtle got there he heard shouts of, "Nice outfit!", and "Good luck winning this one!" But when he took his shell off, the animals objected. He raised his hand for silence. "Your sign said that you needed to have a shell to race. It did not say you needed to wear a shell to race." And so the Turtle won that race, and the many after that. But then came the winter. It snowed so much that the races were called off. It was so cold that Turtle kept his shell on all the time. Over time Turtle's shell began to grow attached to his back. In the spring, he went to race and he could not take off his shell. All the animals began to laugh at him. And turtle became the slowest of all the animals. That is how turtle got his shell.