“Oh no you won’t, you little twerp! Nothing will stop me or bring me back down to earth!” And that little snail bounded as the boy screamed in such rage, toward the top of that cool garden wall. He crinkled his face up and shoved with such a great force that his shell bits began to fall off. “Just a little bit more!” he huffed and he puffed, “Almost there! Almost to the top!” He felt the dim thunder of the boy hitting the wall, little fists pounding with futility. The little snail looked backward and smiled a big smile as he realized he’d finally reached the top of the wall.
“Woohoo!” he cried out into the wind, “I’ve done, I’ve done it!” Then he settled on into and crunched down in his shell, “Here goes, here goes!” before exploding up and out with a joyous yell. The last of that shell shattered and broke and the little snail stood feeling pleased. With his little strong arms he held onto the stems of his leaves and smoothed them across his back. “I’m ready” he thought “It’s my time to fly!” And without another thought he leapt up and into the wind, spreading his leaves like a big pair of wings.
The air caught, the clouds broke and a warm ray of sun shone through on his skin as his face beamed proudly and happily again. “Thank you, butterfly, so much, for all that you’ve shown me; you gave me wings”. Then he turned on the wind and aimed in the direction she’d gone, “I’ll see you again” and into the wind-whipped yonder he charged on, a bright hope burning in his heart.