The Snail

                            The Snail

There once was a snail that lived in a broken shell. It wasn't always broken. When it had started life, its shell was pristine and shiny and hard, smooth and perfect and irreplaceable. 

But one day a human stepped on the snail, maybe on purpose, and the stomp cracked the snail's perfect shell. It hurt, but the snail survived. But now it had to live with the ugly crack in it's shell forever.

At first, the snail seemed okay with the crack in it's shell. But then, the damage started to make it's life difficult. It couldn't move through the garden as smoothly as it used to, and eating vegetation was more difficult. And sometimes, the crack in the snail's shell would ooze and the snail would have to rest and try to heal. But the crack could never really heal, it could only be tolerated. If the ooze could not be stopped right away, it would stink and no other snails would come nearby. The snail was sad. And frustrated. And, at times, in pain, and not just from the broken shell. The snail was distraught. The promise of life had not been fulfilled.

And so one day the snail left the lush garden and found a place where it could be something else. The snail left his broken shell behind and became nourishment instead.

Le Escargot