Til the Little Snail and the Vanished Fish

In a warm corner of the garden, beside a great old tree stump, a little snail named Til lived a quiet, peaceful life. Every morning he would slide out to greet the dewdrops, and every evening he listened to the dragonfly Lia tell stories about the world beyond the garden.

But one morning, Lia came fluttering in, unusually excited.

“Til! You have to see this! Come to the lake!”

“The lake? But that’s so far…” Til shivered a little.

“Maybe so—but something strange has happened there. Very strange.”

Til was a careful snail. But he was also a curious one. And curiosity almost always won.