The Dog and the Snail

One sunny Tuesday morning, a snail was wandering through E-Square Park. An American Eskimo dog happened to see her getting closer to the pond. The dog started to laugh. He said to the snail:

“You need some longer legs, slow snail.”

The snail had been hearing such laughter all her life. She felt impatient with all the creatures that had been making fun of her ever since she could remember. She said to the dog:

“No way. Today, I'm just tired from yesterday's race. I usually move as fast as the Internet.”

The dog responded with laughter. He said: 

“Prove it, kiddo.”

Now the snail was stuck. She tried to continue her bravery. She said: 

“Okay. Let's go for it. We'll run around the pond. That's about a mile or so. Whoever gets to the boathouse first is the speed champ.”

The snail and the dog found a duck to act as judge. The duck drew a line in the dirt, and said: 

“You both be here tomorrow morning at dawn.”

The next morning, the snail, the dog, and the duck gathered at the line in the dirt. The duck raised her wing and shouted, "Go," and the dog took off. 

The dog ran until he was out of sight. Somehow, he didn't like getting up so early, and he realized that he hadn't had his usual breakfast. He looked back along the pond. The snail was nowhere to be seen. He decided to have a breakfast break. He headed off toward the snack bar to get some fresh meat and a milkshake.

Meanwhile, the snail had started her way around the pond. She was a little overwhelmed at how fast the dog had disappeared, but she knew she had to try to win the race. She put one foot ahead of each foot, and she kept going.

To herself, she kept saying: 

“One step at a time.”

The dog enjoyed his fresh meat and his milkshake. Somehow, he had managed to spill the milk all over his brisket. He had to find some running water to get cleaned up. Then, he realized how totally exhausted he was.

He decided to just stretch out for a couple of minutes under a large clump of daisies.

The sun was high in the sky, and the dog was still sleeping. The snail was still making her way, one step at a time. She too was totally exhausted, but she kept up her pace, one step at a time.

She looked ahead. She could see the fox and the finish line ahead of her. She wanted to stop for a drink, but she knew she could not. She had to keep going, one step at a time.

The sun was moving across the sky. The dog was still sleeping under the daisies. Unexpectedly, the sunlight shone through the daisies. The dog woke up and stretched. He remembered the race. With great confidence, he knew that he could easily finish running around the pond long before the snail could. He stretched again and pulled himself up and ran back to the pond.

Ahead, he could see the snail. Imagine his amazement when he realized that she was just about to cross the dirt finish line. He increased his pace, but he was too late.

The snail was exhausted, but she managed to cross the line before the dog. She felt terrific about her accomplishment.

The moral of the story: Slow and one step at a time wins the race.