Loosely based on a true story…
Once upon a time in a city called Marseille
The sun was shining bright, it was just a perfect day
For Emma and her Daddy to go and look for snails
So they headed to the edge of town to seek their slimy trails
Snails are really fun to catch - they're squishy and they're slow
The French think you should eat them, and call them "escargots"
Does Emma like to eat them? No! She would never waste them!
Invite them home for dinner, sure! But not for you to taste them.
So Emma and her Daddy found a park in Southern France
Where they went and found some insects, bugs and spiders, flies and ants
"But where are all the snails?" - they asked Mister Dragonfly
"Surely you would know since you are always in the sky…"
Mister Dragonfly replied to them, "I fly too fast to see!
They go so slow, so I don't know - so why would you ask me?"
Go ask the bee; it seems to me he stops to smell the roses
From where he sits, he sees each one whose sticky face exposes
Emma asked Bee, who buzzed right back, "Honey, this ain't no time for stallin'…
I've got 2 hours to shop for flowers to find some yummy pollen!"
"Snails are slow, so look down low, that's where they will be found.
If you would find that source of slime, keep your eyes down on the ground!"
So Daddy crouched down and lifted up some moss, which, like a dark-green rug
When moved revealed that it had trapped a spotted lady bug!
She cried, "You saved me! Who are you?" The girl said, "My name's Emma"
"My Dad and I are looking for brown shells with grey antennae."
"A snail?" "O yes! Please, can you help?" - they asked the Ladybug.
She said, "I know just where they are, those houses-on-a-slug
They're not so far, and where they are I'm happy there to guide
You saved my life, it's only right -so stay right by my side."
Emma and Daddy marched the path of this their greatest need
No more hunts for snails on empty trails- let Ladybug take the lead!
And lead she did and took them to a space beneath a tree
Hidden from prying eyes and dragonflies and people - and that bee.
And there beneath their marveling eyes, upon that grassy pasture
Lay the unsuspecting slimy snails just waiting to be captured.
Emma's eyes grew big as she thought to whom she would extend
Her hand of love, that touch of care, the snails she would befriend
It wasn't long before a song grew deep in Emma's heart
For soon she knew that with her pets the fields she would depart
"How many, Daddy? Can we take them ALL? Each one of them's unique!"
"No, Emma girl, this is their world, this slime-bath by the creek."
"We must leave some for other girls and boys to come and find
In fact, with love, we'll leave them now this snack: my orange rind."
When they came home, inside their jar, the snails contained were four
Dad had said, with all Mom's plants, there's just not room for more.
Emma named them, all in order, from the biggest down to small
Joey was large, Jokester was tiny and Jimmy, mediumest of them all
But you said there were four, and FOUR there were - and that is what I said!
You are right, that I said four. When we got home, Hi-Yah was dead.
It's true with snails, the change from country to city life is drastic
From living in pure nature to crawling along in re-used plastic
But with a heart like Emma's and care and feeding and spraying them with water
They can live on to slither and ooze just like a son or a daughter
So if you love nature like Emma, and if documentaries are not enough
And you live in the middle of town, and not around that slimy stuff
Then do like Emma - ask your Mom - tell her, Snails will make you glad
And when Momma says, No - snails are disgusting! ...then just go and… ask your Dad.
