The Snail Highway

I pushed through the screen door flap early to check for morning critters on the front steps. Right in the middle of the damp wood, a plump brown snail was creeping toward the edge, leaving a shiny, wet silver trail behind it! It moved so slowly that I sat right down next to it with my plush knees pulled to my chest. To help it travel smoother, I picked up a broad, flat fallen maple leaf and slid it right in front of its path. The snail reached out with its squishy eye-stalks, sniffed the leaf edge, and glided straight onto my leaf highway!