Slow as A Snail

There was a snail, and he was setting off for a long journey, he had to make sure he had everything in his sac, a pen and paper to jot down notes, and record, a drink of juice- box, a sandwich, oh, and there was one other thing..

So he set off to his grandma's, it was a long way down the road, and he had a long way to go, do he started early, at dawn and grabbed his coat and things, and said to himself, 'let's go!' :)

The way was long, but he knew the route, and a couple shortcuts, in case he got waylaid, (or there was any imminent danger. You never knew, there were predators on this hot dusty Arizona path that were possibly in the mood for a tasty 'Snail' dinner. 😬

So he headed west, then east, zig-zagging to confuse potential enemy life forms. Then he snuck under a bush, and headed through a greener area, where he would not be found. Safety, at last, he breathed a sigh of relief, and took in the scenery, a ladybug landed on his shell, but fluttered away just as quickly.

"Oh, that's good luck," he said delighted.

The owls were hoo-hooing, and the eagles soaring, in the woods and beyond.

He knew the route, this little snail, but still he was praying hard that he would make it through, to meet his grandmother.

The snakes that slithered by just looked him in the eye.

Bunnies hopped around, oblivious.

There was surely a lot of commotion.

The snail plugged on, determined and true, and was actually covering a lot of ground.

People were walking by, hurried and busy, too blind to see the snail.

He stayed as far away as possible from the path where the people walked, and he was nearing his grandma's house, or shall we say, he was more than halfway there.

'Ah!' he took a nice break under the bench and noticed the sun shining brightly in the sky. The clouds passed.

He said, I should record this moment.

He took out his pen and pad, and wrote, 'sun shining brightly today.' Then put it back in his bag.

He was happy to be out and about, though there were a lot of potential dangers he had to avoid to remain safe.

He turned the corner down the road to old granny's, and a sense of nostalgia came over him. He could just imagine the fresh cooked pastries, and buns, all buttered up nicley. His grandmother could be seen from a distance, pulling weeds from the garden in front of her house.

He wanted to run, and say, 'Grandma, I'm here!' But that was not possible for a little snail, so she continued to pull weeds, and he slugged on, slowly but surely.

The sun was setting, but the remainder of the day was nice.

He met his grandma, after pushing his shell with his little slimy body, up the hill of her driveway, and went in for some cookies.

She was very happy to see him, he was coincidentally her favorite grandchild, and they talked. The time went on, they sang a song, and soon it was time for the snail to return home, on the long journey it would take for him to get home.

Then he searched in his bag for his phone, (oh no!) He needed it to show her his new book, called 'At a Snail's Pace'!

That was the whole reason for his visit.

"Oh, well, Grandma," There's next time, he said, and slidded out the front door and down the steps.

"Yes, honey." She smiled at him as he departed.

Down the road he did go, it was a nice visit, but he took it slow, and that's the way, the reason I want the world to know; take it slow, decide where you want to go; it's just a journey, this Life, you know.

And he made his way back home, through the park, through the forest, through the desert and then, he made it up to his front steps.

My friend, knowing tomorrow, he would have to : do it again. <3

Well, that was the story, but I will add some more excerpts to make it reach the right word count:

Making sure it's original, of course. Which is a struggle because, you hear things and they stay un your mind.

Then when you go to write, you have to say, that's not my material, going through my brain right now.

I have to reset.

This is conversational, but I am telling you something as a writer.

Something that I encounter while writing. I actually see the word count going up rather quickly, but..

So I need a topic. A subject matter.

Maybe at this time I will try to continue the previous story.

Here is an epilogue:

So the snail slept, and dreamed, and all the ruckus went on around his house as he slept, but he did sleep, and dream, and it was of this:

'I am the Snail King; you must do as I say,' came a voice..

The snail looked around trepidated.

"Who, what, where.."

"Silence! It is I that speaks!!"

The snail, in his dream cowered.

"Please, I..." he stammered.

"You must not forget your phone anymore. You should not be making great long trip(s. Your grandmother needs rest."

"Huh?" The snail tossed and turned.

It was like a nightmare.

Soon he woke up, and said, 'hey, glad That was just a dream!'

But his grandma called. "Old snail, please, I need some sleep. Can you come tomorrow? I still want to read the book."

"Of course, grandma," Wow, the dream was real. He sat down and ate a sandwich and slept. =

Ok, gee, 38 more words.

I want to finish this story, I'm famished.

Hardly ate yet. How is your day. I know I'm trivializing this contest. Hi everyone at Reedsy! I think you have a great app.

Summer Austin (pen name Maynard)