Student Publishing Program ::

Emma S.

Slimy

At the pet store, I bought frogs,
Little green gems in a pail.
To keep their water clean,
The clerk tossed in a tiny snail.

The frogs quickly died,
And at first I was upset.
I was left with just the snail;
Slimy, gross, and wet.

“We will keep him till he dies,”
My mom casually said.
I did not give him much thought,
Since the snail would soon be dead.

I forgot about the ugly thing.
He wasn’t easy on the eyes,
But one year had now passed,
He had tripled in his size.

I fed him organic lettuce.
It’s the only food he ate,
I started to be fond of him
As he grew and gained more weight.

By age six, the snail was huge.
He was bigger than my ear.
By now his name was “Slimy”
For reasons that were clear.

Slimy lived a good, long life.
He was seven when he died.
By then I was attached to him.
When I found him dead; I cried.

There will always be more frogs
And cats and birds for sale,
But I know there’s no replacing
My special, slimy snail.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2010 EDITION]