A Shiny Morning Shell

I pushed past the heavy front screen door and hopped down the steps into the cool morning yard. In the damp dirt beside the stone pavers, a small brown snail was gliding slowly over a broad fallen leaf. I tiptoed closer and dropped onto my tummy so my snout was level with its tiny antennas. It stopped and pulled its head back into its smooth shell, making me freeze in place, worried I had scared it away. But after a quiet breath, it poked back out, and I gently set a smooth little pebble near its path as a hello.