THE SHELL BETWEEN US
by Dan Leonard

[Word Count: approximately 450]

In the cool, damp garden,
under leaves and over stones,
lived Snail
and Slug.
Snail had a shell.
Slug did not.

But they both liked
wet moss,
soft mud,
moonlit puddles,
and the quiet, quiet
just before rain came.

One night,
at the edge of the cabbage patch,
they met.

“You are slow like me,”
said Snail.

“You are soft like me,”
said Slug.

“There’s something,” said Slug.

Snail waited.

“A leaf,” said Slug,
“that catches the rain.”

“Where?”

“Far side of the garden,” he said.
“Past the wall. I think.”

They looked at each other.
They looked at the shining path.

“Should we go?” asked Slug.

“To the leaf,”
said Snail.

So off they went.
Slow-slide.
Soft-glide.

Soon they came
to a crack under the fence.

Slug slipped through—
slip!

“Easy peasy!” he called.

Snail tried.

BUMP.
BUMP. BUMP.

“There’s room,” said Slug.

“There is Slug-room,”
said Snail.

The shell between them
felt big.

They went on—
Slow-slide.
Soft-glide.
But not quite
side by side.

Then the rain came.

Tap.
Patter.
Drum-drum-DRUM!

Slug ducked under a leaf.
The leaf leaked.

Drip on his head.
Drip on his back.
Drip on his tail.

“This is a very poor leaf,”
said Slug.

“It is barely a leaf.”

“Come here,” said Snail.

Slug scooted close—
and beside her shell,
he stayed dry.

“Your shell is warm,”
said Slug.

“You are wetter than usual,”
said Snail.

They laughed.

When the storm passed,
off they went.
Slow-slide.
Soft-glide.

“Still going?”

“To the leaf.”

Soon they reached
a stone wall.

“I could go ahead,”
said Slug.

“I know,”
said Snail.

Slug looked at the narrow space.

“It would be easier without a shell,”
he said.

Slug stopped.

“That was too quick.”

Snail was still.

Then she turned away.
Slow-slide.

Slug went on.

Slip-slip.
Slow.
Hard.

No one said anything.
It felt all wrong.

They both stopped.

Turned back
to the wall.

“I looked slow this time,” said Slug.
“Found another way.”

Snail paused.

Then she followed him.
Slow-slide.
Soft-glide.

“This way. Quick!” said Slug.

“This is my quick,”
said Snail.

At last, they reached
the far side of the garden—
a leaf curved low
like a little green roof.

A shiny drop caught—
and stayed.

“It holds,” he said.

“I’m glad it did,” she said.

Another drop—
Plip!

“That was very wet,”
said Slug.

They laughed.

“Worth it?” asked Snail.

Slug looked at the shining leaf.

He looked at the long trail behind them—
two soft lines,
side by side.

“I was wrong in a hurry,” said Slug.

“We were right slowly,” said Snail.

The shell was still there.
But it was not
between them anymore.

And side by side,
under the leaf,
they sat.