Snail cove
We snuck away from home, running bare foot into the woods. The trail leads us along side the stream. I peek over the edge of the bank. The gooseberry plants scratch my bare legs. Standing there for a few seconds I debate if I should try and climb down the bank to our climbing tree. Taking one look at the mud from last nights rain I decide to pass on a climb and run after Mackie. Up ahead Mackie had climbed down a low spot in our path where water fed the stream. I cautiously follow her into the damp stream overhead young trees block out most of the light. The air is cool. I nearly slip on the wet moss covered rocks. Grabbing the tree I look over. Mackie has a handful of snails. Turning my eyes to the ground I see lots more snails. We gather up handfuls of snails, climb out of the stream, and run up the path. We sneak past daddy, who is conveniently zoned on his guitar, and into Mackie’s room. Mackie hands me her pile of snails and lays out her bath towel. Sitting down I put the snails between us. Mackie sets one on her foot and watches it climb up her leg. Within only a few minutes we have snails climbing all over us. We giggle as they crawl across our tummies, legs and arms. Then there is a knock on the door. “Girls dinner” mommy calls. We gather up our new pets and carry them to the kitchen. There mommy puts them into an empty bird food container. Then she sends us outside to get sticks and leaves. With the sun setting behind us we run inside and put the snail bedding onto the jar. I hand it to mommy who puts it onto the kitchen counter and we sit down to eat.
