Scruple Attack

    This turtle was different.
    Rather than crossing the road, it sat upon it.  Was the animal luxuriating on the warmth of the pavement?
    One thing was certain, the turtle was in danger. I carried the animal to the edge of the road. A swamp adjoined it.
    I gently lobbed the turtle on a pile of wood located over the water. Oops! The turtle landed upside down. Using a stick, I flipped the turtle right side up.
    Not once did the turtle’s head emerge from its shell. Maybe the turtle was sick.
    I second guessed placing the turtle on the wood. Predators would easily find it. Might the water be a safer place for the turtle? I could submerge it.
    I wondered why I was obsessing over this turtle. Was it a matter of scruples?
    There are varying definitions of the word ‘scruple.’
    Here is a secular definition: ‘An unfounded apprehension.'
    Here is a moral definition (from The Catholic Encyclopedia): ‘An unfounded apprehension and consequently unwarranted fear that something is a sin, which, as a mater of fact, is not.’
    Fretting over a turtle has nothing to do with morality. But it does reveal how scruples can mess a person up.
    I did not submerge the turtle. Moving it away from the road was enough.