The Snail and the Bird

A snail and a bird are in the garden.

“I am fast,” says the bird. “You are slow, snail. Let's have a race!”

“Okay,” says the snail. “We go to the big rock in the west.”

The bird flies fast. The snail is slow. After a second, the bird is far away. The snail looks up. A leaf is on the snail's back, like a small green car.

“This is my ride,” says the snail.

The wind comes. The wind is strong. The leaf goes up, up, up — and the snail rides on the wind.

The bird stops to eat. The bird eats a worm. The bird sleeps for half an hour under a flower.

The snail comes down by the rock in the west. The snail waits.

At last the bird wakes up and flies to the rock. The bird and the snail are at the same place.

“You are here?” says the bird. “But you are slow!”

“Yes,” says the snail. “But I have a fast friend — the wind!”