The Snail and the Penguin

One day Patient the snail woke up to a strange noise outside her window. She got out of bed and stuck her nose to the glass. Seeing nothing but sunny weather and bright green grass, she went to her front door to go outside and check, just to be sure that nothing was wrong. She walked all the way around her house, but did not see anyone or anything. She stopped to listen, and there was the noise again. It sounded like someone was crying. She squinted her eyes to focus, and started to walk toward the big poplar tree that stood in her front yard. Behind the poplar tree, sitting down and crying his eyes out, was a baby penguin! Oh no, thought Patient. I have to help.

“Excuse me, excuse me. What’s wrong?” asked Patient.

The baby penguin looked up at her and said, sniffling, “I’m lost.”

“Oh,” said Patient. “Well that’s ok, I’ll help you find your way home.”

“How?” asked the penguin.

“Well, what’s your name?” asked Patient.

“It’s Penguini. I’m from very far away.”

Patient thought for a second. She remembered that her neighbors down the street, the Emperor penguins, just had a baby a little while ago. “Well, I don’t think you’re as far away as you think you are,” said Patient. “Why don’t you look over there. Does that look like your house, down the street?”

“I don’t know,” said Penguini. “I was playing with my ball, and now I don’t know where I am.”

“That’s ok,” said Patient. “Why don’t we walk over there and see if that’s your house. If it’s not, then we can look somewhere else.”

“Ok, sure,” said Penguini. “But we have to hold hands if we’re crossing the street.”

“Of course we do!” exclaimed Patient.

Patient and Penguini walked together, hand in hand, past one house, past two houses, past three houses, past four houses, past five houses, and finally at the sixth house they stopped. “Does this look like your house?” asked Patient. All of a sudden Penguini’s eyes lit up – he recognized it!

“Why yes, yes that’s my house!” Penguini said with joy. “This is my house where my mom, and dad, and sister, and brother live! Thank you Patient, you found my home!”

“I’m happy to have helped,” said Patient. The snail and the penguin hugged, and Penguini went into his house, safe and sound.

Story by Lana Rakhman