A Turtle on Skis

"Faster, faster!" I'm yelling from behind. I can hear the moaning and grunts as I blink into the sun. Sigh. I want to feel the wind in my hair.
What can I do for her? She's no more than a turtle. Look, everybody has passed us one by one. On the way up they're almost on top. By the time we'll get there the immaculate snow blanket will be again scarred and trashed by ski tracks and almost everybody will be already down or on the way down.

"Faster, Veggie! Move your butt up the slope!" God, she's slow. No wonder with all the extraweight and lack of exercise. Arghh, if only I had skis and were not confined to sitting in the backpack. It makes me feel so useless. But, I have to admit, despite all my critiques she's still quite nice to me. I mean, she still takes pictures with me. And the backdrop is simply awesome. AWESOME, I tell you.
I kind of understand Veggie's urge to stop for pictures but I also know this is an excuse she uses and abuses to slow down and take a break. 'Cause she's not always really taking pictures but rather looks dumbfolded at the magnificent scenery. God, she's slow!

She reminds me actually of that old cartoon "Ferdinand the Bull". Far from fitting the image of a vicious bull, Ferdinand is gentle and loves flowers. He simply goes from flower to flower. If only there were something like a stinging bee for Veggie. Something to speed her up. My yelling she blissfully ignores by now :-( We came here to ski not to stare at the mountains!
And, I figured, there's more than just one problem here. First, she's out of shape and too fat. Then, this gourmet food she stuffs herself with every day at the lodge, that for sure doesn't help. I'm rather worried she'll only put on more weight. What am I gonna do? I'm doomed to hear her moaning and grunting forever. I'm worried for her.

I have to admit though, that, at least, she makes up for this by reading me stories at bedtime. About adventurous people travelling all over the world. I love those stories. They make me dream of remote places and bring back sweet memories. Well, I think I'll have to do with just the reading for now. At least I got to fly in the front seat in the helicopter. Hmmmmm, how I love that!!! Especially when the chopper just flies over a blade-like ridge. It can give you goosebumps. Luckily those are invisible beneath my fur.

And yet, believe me, there's nothing worse than a turtle on skis!

"Move, Veggie! Move!"