A Little Imagination

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT sadly
Summary: Somethings just require some imagination to make them fun
Rating: G



Splinter lifted his head and looked around the sewer making sure the coast was clear. Not seeing or sensing anybody else in the vicinity he motioned with his hand for his sons to join him. His sons were coming up to ten years old and capable of shouldering more responsibility but Splinter was always anxious when they left the safety of the lair.

“Keep within sight and search the boxes,” Splinter informed his sons once more.

Raph huffed out a breath but remained silent, he hated all the reminders that their father gave them because they made him feel like his father didn’t think him capable of remembering. He continued to make his displeasure known as he huffed and puffed as he looked through the bags and boxes which had been dumped in the sewer.

Splinter shook his head ignoring Raph’s vocal displeasure, sometimes there was no pleasing that boy. Leonardo and Donatello searched in relative silence, while Michelangelo kept up an almost constant narrative of the things he was finding and what he could do with it.

It always amazed Splinter the type of things that people would throw away and occasionally he knew the things he scavenged were most probably stolen goods, but in his situation he couldn’t afford to think about it. If he could use it to better his son’s existence and help them to learn then he didn’t think about where the goods had previously been.  

Lifting a box down from where it had snagged on a piece of metal which had been torn free from the wall, Splinter continued his search. Opening up the box he was puzzled for a second before he twigged as to what the box contained.

Smiling to himself he looked over his shoulder to his sons, before he closed the box once more and took it over to the sled they used to transport what they had found. He wasn’t sure why someone would have possessed all of those items but he wasn’t going to waste his time trying to think of reasons.

Slowly they made their way through the boxes and sacks of abandoned items, finding several items which they could salvage and even finding a carrier bag full of food which had been tossed out. Looking through the food Splinter could only reason that the food had been thrown out as it was past its expiration date.

Taking what was still suitable from the bag, Splinter added it to their load before turning back to his sons. They were dirty and looking a little tired so he decided to call their outing to an end. Taking up the ropes of the sled he began to lead his sons back to the safety of their home.

“What is in the bottom box father?” Leonardo asked walking beside his father.

“A surprise for you and your brothers to play with later,” Splinter explained simply.

Leo’s eye ridges creased together as he looked over his shoulder at the box, it looked so inconspicuous how could it possibly be fun to play with. For a moment Leo wondered if his father still thought they could get hours of fun from playing with a cardboard box as they had when they were much younger.

The proclaimed eldest really hoped that it wasn’t the case as they had long since outgrown such childish antics, or at least that was what Leo liked to tell himself. Behind him Raph, Donnie and Mikey exchanged grins at the promise of something new to play with.

Once back in the lair the four had to help their father with unpacking and storing the food and other supplies while the mystery box remained untouched. All four boys including Leonardo who seemed to have put his “grown up” attitude to one side, kept eyeing it curiously and felt their hearts beat a little faster as Splinter picked it up and walked to the centre of the living area.

Following closely behind him, the four gathered round in a circle as Splinter placed the box down. With a flourish Splinter opened the top and sat back allowing his sons to look in the box. Leaning forward four pairs of eyes looked down at the possible treat before raising puzzled expressions to look at their father.

“What are they?” Donnie asked tentatively reaching out a hand to touch the top piece.

“They are called wigs,” Splinter told them.

“What are wigs?” Raph asked reaching in and snagging a brown piece and examining it.

Splinter smiled and took the piece out of Raph’s hands. Slipping his hands into the underside of it, Splinter stretched the material and placed it on top of Raph’s head.

“Humans use them for several reasons, for when they have lost their hair or sometimes because they want a change or even because they are playing dress-up,” Splinter explained as he adjusted the wig atop Raph’s head.

Leaning back he examined his son’s new hair style and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Weird was not descriptive enough to describe how his emerald green son looked with brown hair. Beside Raph the other three turtles looked on wide eyed before letting out loud peals of laughter.

“Wait there, I shall get you the mirror,” Splinter chuckled and set off towards the bathroom.

Raph growled at his brothers as they continued to laugh at his appearance but he left the wig on his head until his father returned with the mirror. Holding it up so Raphael could see himself, Splinter wasn’t surprised to have his son growl in displeasure and snatch the wig off his head.

“I look stupid!” he pouted crossing his arms over his chest.

“We can play dress up with them,” Mikey declared and delved into the box.

Wigs flew out of the box as Mikey searched through them before he popped up with a short straight black wig on his head.

“What do you think? I’m Professor Snape,” Mikey declared trying to glare at his brothers.

Splinter laughed not surprised that Mikey would make that connection; the youngest’s favourite books at the moment were Harry Potter series. The others including Raph laughed at Mikey’s antics as he stood up and began to stalk around the lair almost as if he was trying to catch someone up to no good.

Delving into the box Splinter sat back and allowed his sons to play with the wigs, chuckling as they turned to him and asked his opinion on their new looks. Leo snagged a bright blue spiky wig from amongst the pile and jammed it down on his head.

“Look look I’m a rock star!” Leo declared looking at himself in the mirror.

Striking a pose and beginning to play an imaginary guitar Leo made them all laugh especially Splinter, the old rat finding it nice that his eldest son was joining in the harmless fun. Leo began to dance to an imaginary beat making sure to head bang occasionally, laughing as his wig regularly slide forward.

“I’ve got a hairy chest like father,” Donnie shouted standing up holding up a wig to his plastron.

“Donnie’s all grown up,” Mikey squealed and moved to stand beside his brother.

Reaching out a hand Mikey ran his fingers through the hair of the wig and giggled.

“It’s not as soft as dad’s, haven’t you been shampooing properly?” Mikey asked seriously.

“No I’m a smelly hairy turtle,” Donnie declared loudly.

With a growl he pounced on Mikey and scrubbed Mikey’s face with the wig.

“Ahh no smelly hairy turtle attack!” Mikey laughed and tried to escape.

Splinter laughed along with them, enjoying seeing his sons play together and using their imagination. While Mikey and Donnie fought and Leo continued to dance around the lair, Raph looked through the wigs once more trying to find a fun one to play with.

So engrossed in his task he hadn’t noticed that Donnie and Mikey had stopped their play fight and that Mikey was sneaking up behind him with a long blond wig at the ready. Jumping forward Mikey jammed the wig down on Raph’s head.

“Look Raph’s a girl!” Mikey shouted loudly and fled.

Snarling Raph wiped around and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes blazed as he took in his new appearance.

“I bet he is a big fan of rock star Leo,” Donnie laughed.

“I bet he wants to kiss Leo,” Mikey added making kissing noises from what he hoped was a safe distance.

Raph snarled and snatched the wig off of his head and took off in pursuit of Mikey. The youngest gave his most girlish scream and fled from before his enraged brother. The others watched with amused expressions as Raph chased his younger brother around the lair.

Running through the wigs, Mikey snatched up the discarded blond wig and put it on his head. Turning around he faced Raph as the emerald green turtle barrelled into him and knocked him to the ground.

“You wouldn’t hit a girl would you?” Mikey squeaked grinning up widely to his brother and pointing to his wig.

Raph frowned for a second before a smile began to form on his face. He resisted but his brother looking up at him with a mischievous smile and a blond wig which shouldn’t have suited him the way it did soon had it breaking out.

“Just you wait, I’ll get my revenge,” Raph growled playfully.

Letting go of Mikey, Raph got to his feet and went back to the wigs where Donnie and Leo were playing together. Splinter watched as his sons played with the wigs and made things up. It didn’t surprise him when they all attended dinner with wigs on their heads.

Leo seemed to favour the spiky blue wig, while Donnie had taken a liking to a short curly brown one. Raph had chosen a red Mohawk style and lastly Mikey had snagged the only multi-coloured clown wig.

Chuckling Splinter hoped that wasn’t a proclamation of things to come but even if it was, at least his sons had been able to have fun and that was important to Splinter.

END