The Spiral Lurker

A scrape across the threshold—hah! I dragged my seams over the cold limestone and out into the open air! The quiet alley stretched before me, gray and still. Then, in the damp moss wedged between two cracked flagstones, I spotted it. Pale... spiraled... huddled in the damp crevice like a frozen sentry! Ragged gasps rattled in my chest as I leaned forward, arms twitching wide. Snick! Both hands slammed down flat against the gritty rock, clamping the empty snail shell beneath my palms. No escape. It is pinned to the stone under my grasp!