Sticking Out Your Neck!

Maybe it’s having the twins, my grandsons from New York, back home again, that reminded me of a conversation I had with them a couple of monsoons ago: “What’s that?” asked one of them pointing to a huge shell on the ground.

“It’s a shell, with a snail inside it!” I explained. They both looked at it for a while, and slowly, we saw the snail’s head coming out and two beady eyes looking at us. Then the snail slowly started its journey across my garden.

“But if it’s not careful, a bird can grab it by the head!” they shouted fearfully, looking at the sparrows and crows around.

“Yes!” I said, “But if it’s going to be scared of those birds, it may never find food to eat and may ultimately die of fear inside its own shell!”

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