A Snail Just the Same
Stanley Snail is a nice snail—one of the nicest in all of Imaginaria. He's a happy fellow who likes to sing and play, and is polite to everyone he meets.
One day, Stanley visited his friends the flowers. They were so tall and beautiful, and their petals ruffled in the wind. "Come touch the sun with us!" they fluttered. Stanley thought, "How wonderful to smell sweet and be close to the sun!" So Stanley decided to become a flower, and with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," in a hum and a song, he was a lovely, fragrant flower.
Stanley stretched his leaves way up high, tickling the air. As he swayed to and fro, a bee landed on his flower-nose, then quickly flew away, all the while busily buzzing, "Honey, honey, honey—come with me and make some honey!"
Stanley watched as the bee landed on each of his flower friends. He thought, "It's great to be a flower—to smell sweet and all—but wouldn't be being a bee be wonderful? I could fly anywhere my wings flew, gathering nectar from honeysuckle and roses, daffodils and violets—and make honey all day long!" So Stanley decided to become a bee, and with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," he was a busy, buzzing bee.
Oh, how Stanley flew and what FUN he had with the other bees at the hive. But Stanley hadn't thought about how tired his wings would get, and soon he landed in a patch of clover to rest.
All of a sudden, Stanley saw a pink, wiggly nose, and a face full of whiskers. He flew around it, and saw big, floppy ears and a poofy little tail. Stanley said to the wiggly nose, "Why, you're a bunny, aren't you?" "Sure am—Barry Bunny's the name—wanna run and hop and play with me?"
Stanley thought, "It might be fun to be a bunny and have a wiggley nose and poofy little tail." So with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," in a hum and a song he was a bounding, bouncing bunny.
Being ever so polite, of course, he introduced himself: "Hi! I'm Stanley Snail ... well ... I was a flower and a bee today, and now I'm a bunny ... but I'm me just the same." "Okay," said Barry Bunny. "Let's run and hop and play!"
And play they did! Stanley and Barry hopped in the clover and ate thistles, and bounced where bunnies go to bounce. Then Barry stopped and wiggled his nose at the sky and said, "It's been really fun, Stanley, but I gotta go home now. It's getting late. Bye!" And Barry Bunny hopped away.
Stanley thought, "Oh, my! I should go home too—before it gets dark—but I won't fit in my home as a bunny." So with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," in a hum and a song, Stanley was a bee again, and flew back to his flower friends. "I'd love to smell sweet and stretch way up high again," thought Stanley, so with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," in a hum and a song, he was a flower once more.
Stanley turned his flower-face toward the setting sun and thought, and thought, and thought ... "Barry Bunny was fun to run and hop and play with—but I'm not REALLY a bunny ... And flying from flower to flower and making honey is great, but I'm not REALLY a bee ... And smelling sweet is lovely, but I'm not REALLY a flower. What I should BE is what I AM—only a snail, but ME just the same. I don't need to be ANYTHING else. I can still visit my flower, bee and bunny friends. They don't mind that I'm a snail—and I shouldn't either!"
So with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," in a hum and a song, Stanley was a snail again. He thought, "Tomorrow I'll see Sammy, Sarah and Sophie Snail, and tell them all about today. We'll play—and maybe visit my other friends too. But I'll be my OWN self tomorrow—only a snail, but ME just the same."
So with a "Hum-da-dee-umptiddly," in a hum and a song, Stanley crawled under a mushroom to sleep.
The Whispering Wind
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