On Top of the World?

Not my best work, but it was a Monday and I haven't felt too encouraged by commentary of late...

The sick brown snail inched his way to the top of the globe. Looking back, he saw the thin layer of slime slowly drying behind him. He smiled appreciatively at how it left a clear sign of his passage from Australia all the way up to the North Pole. He knew from what other snails had told him that he would not find Santa Snail there, but he would have the honor of declaring the words he most wished to say. The moment was upon him. He was almost there. One more slither forward and he would reach his goal.

“Top of the world! Top of the world!” He cried out joyously as his eyestalks waved back and forth.

He would have been as well served to cry this out in his head instead of at the top of his little snail voice. No one was around that could hear him. All the self-respecting snails and slugs were sleeping at this hour. Someone was watching him though. Had he taken even a moment to scan his surroundings with his overly excited eyes, he might have noticed his peril. A little boy had been watching the snail’s progress with a malicious grin for the past few minutes. Now he had decided would be the perfect time to test out the resilience of the little nuisance’s shell.

That’s why he flicked the little fellow from his perch right on top of the world. Of course, he wasn’t counting on his sister returning to her own room at the precise moment. He heard a movement behind him, blond curls falling into his eyes as he turned to face a little girl with equally blond curls who was glaring at him. Neither of the children actually saw the snail hit the ground as their eyes were locked in a silent battle, but the snail definitely felt it.

“Goodness! My shell!” he exclaimed as that very possession made a snapping sound against the hardwood floor.

“Sarah Jane, how nice to see you,” the little boy said, batting his eyes innocently at his little sister in the hopes that she hadn’t noticed what he had done.

“Jimmy, how could you? She’s my friend,” the little girl had noticed and was tapping her foot angrily as she glared up at her brother with her arms crossed and her lower lip poking out.

“You don’t even know it’s a girl,” the little boy said as he moves his foot closer to the snail.

“I have to agree with that first part, but I don’t like what you’re doing with your foot,” the snail said as he tried to right himself.

Of course, neither of the children heard him. They didn’t hear a peep. The girl responded anyway by pushing her brother away from the snail who released a tiny sigh of relief. As her brother looked down at her in surprise, Sarah Jane quickly scooped the snail up in her hand. She wrinkled her nose as she felt the sliminess of his leg as it touched her hand.

Jimmy laughed at this, “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your disgusting little friend then.”

He was already out the door before she could respond. She turned her attention back to the creature trapped in her hand. He tried to curl into his shell as much as possible as her hot breath blew across him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take you outside, so you can play in the garden. Jimmy never goes there.”

The snail only heard was a loud booming noise, so he didn’t know to thank her. Instead, he cowered inside her palm as she made her way down the stairs and out into the garden. He noticed the changes in his surroundings, being worried by the heat of the sun and comforted by the shade of the garden. When she set him down amongst the stone and mulch surrounding a rose bush, he waited a few moments before sliding tentatively toward the base of the bush. Sarah Jane was already distracted by a fuzzy, black cat who was lounging in the sun, so he had no need to worry. He had plenty of time to slither away and ponder whether it was really worth it to be on top of the world.