A Small Clay Hollow

I slipped back out onto the stone patio, stepping carefully past the door frame. Tucked beneath the wooden bench was an upturned terracotta pot with a smooth chipped arch along its rim. I crouched low and peered into the cool, shaded recess beneath it. Inside lay an empty snail shell with a tight spiral pattern. With slow, deliberate nudges of my front paws, I rolled the shell forward onto the sunlit flagstones to study the delicate ridges carved into its pale surface.