Temba TutuSnail
The Rainbow Chaser of Africa
By Bruce Cohen
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Bruce Cohen
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CHAPTER 1
The rain came pouring down. It was as if God had emptied a giant bucket of water over Africa. The garden insects scurried for shelter under leaves, stones or flowers, or jumped into the safety of their holes in the ground.
Raindrops can really hurt when you're this small.
The thunder cracked and the lightning flashed and all the creatures shivered with fright.
All except Temba TutuSnail.
He was waiting patiently under the leaves of a giant arum lily, safe and snug in his cosy little shell. "Eish! Summer afternoon showers are so slugtastic," said Temba to no-one in particular. "I just wish we had one every day."
Just as suddenly as it had begun, the rain stopped and the sun burst out from behind the clouds. Raindrops dripped from the leaves, and if you looked closely you could see a whole magic world inside each tiny drop. In the distance, a magnificent rainbow began to stretch lazily across the sky.
The arrival of the rainbow was a signal to Temba and all the other snails in the garden to get going. Their sluggy little bodies slithered slowly out of their shimmering shells and they began to slip and slide across the lawn which was wet and wiggly. A snail highway.
Now snails don't come out after a thunderstorm just to jiggle their jelly bodies or look for tasty things to eat. There's something much more exciting for a young snail to do after a thundershower when the grass is slick, slippery and cool.
Chasing rainbows.
Every garden creature knows that if you catch a rainbow you get one wish, and it will instantly come true, no matter what you wish for. Right then. Right there. Right now.
No waiting. No arguments.
No “come-back-tomorrows”.
No “sorry-we-don’t-have-your-size” apologies
No “you’ll-first-have-to-clean-up-your-room” demands.
You just yell out your wish and before you can say TutuSnail it will come true.
It’s well known that snails are never short of wishes. In fact they are the biggest wishers in the whole world. All day long they're thinking about the wonderful things they are going to wish for when they finally catch that rainbow. And all that thinking about wishing takes an awful lot of concentration and uses up so much effort that it slows the snails down. So now you know why snails are so not so fast. They're thinking. About wishes.
Right now Temba’s dad, Mr TutuSnail is wishing he had an electric lawnmower to cut a smooth path across the lawn so he can visit his friends in the next door garden more often. It usually took him six days to get there.
Mrs TutuSnail is wishing she had an air-conditioner to keep her stuffy, sweaty shell cool in summer.
Temba's sister Felicia is wishing for a slime green dress to wear to next week's full-moon feast.
And Temba? He's wishing for a SnailStation 5 system with all the latest action games.
Now, if O-N-L-Y he could catch a rainbow ….
******
CHAPTER 2
It happened one rainy afternoon not so long ago that Temba TutuSnail was slip-sliding home after a game of soccer with the crickets. This was not his favourite game because the crickets used him as a ball and his shell took a terrible battering. It gave him a pounding headache.
A brief thunderstorm had stopped the game and Temba had seized the opportunity to slip away. Now the clouds were breaking up and the sun peeped out. In the distance a magnificent rainbow began to arch gracefully across the sky.
Temba immediately forgot his aching head and became terribly excited. It was rainbow chasing time!
The little snail’s slime engine kicked into action, pumping out a slick and slippery ooze that helped him pick up speed rapidly.
Soon Temba was slithering wildly across the garden towards the fantastic rainbow and the promise of a wish being granted, going faster and faster, zigzagging here and there to avoid rocks, shrubs, the garden fork and the fabulously fat cat that was snoozing on the lawn.
Temba was well-known amongst the garden insects as the fastest rainbow chaser in Africa. Why, he had once almost caught three rainbows in a single day!
His secret of success in catching - well almost catching - rainbows was to stop thinking immediately he saw one. Then all that thinking/wishing energy became slithering energy and he was able to put on the extra speed needed to chase down a rainbow.
Temba slid towards the shimmering rainbow, closer and closer, until he was almost there, his tiny snail heart pounding against his sweaty shell. Then, with a giant leap, he flung himself onto the rainbow and his sticky body stuck to it with a noisy shlug!
The rainbow squirmed. The rainbow squealed and tried to shake the sticky snail off. But Temba TutuSnail stayed stuck.
The rainbow wiggled. The rainbow writhed. But the snail would not budge.
They tugged, they shoved, pushed and pummelled one another until at last the rainbow, exhausted, collapsed on the ground in a swirl of magical mist.
The rainbow spluttered with anger. "Well, go on, make your wish.”
To be caught by a snail. How embarrassing.
“Well, go on,” the rainbow moaned. “You know what to do. Of course it will come true. But, remember son, just one."
Temba was so excited by the chase that he didn't know what to wish for. He thought about all the things he wanted; a mountain bike, the latest mobile phone, a pair of sluggy sneakers with air-slime pumps. There were so many things he wanted. How could he choose just one?
"You'd better hurry up," muttered the rainbow after a few minutes. "I'm fading fast”. The rainbow had indeed started to vanish. The violet and blue stripes were already gone. And the green and yellow ones were disappearing before Temba’s very eyes.
"Quickly, quickly. An iPad, an electric guitar ..."
Now the orange stripe was gone too.
Temba was frantic. How could he choose just one out of all these wonderful things? He needed time to think, but time was running out fast and he was squirming with so much excitement.
Then, suddenly, Temba TutuSnail froze. He couldn't move a muscle. Couldn't move a millimetre.
"Oh no," wailed Temba. “I've run out of slime. I'm stuck." The little snail was suddenly very, very frightened. The rainbow-chasing had used up all his vital, sticky ooze. Everyone knows that a snail without slime will quickly shrivel up and die. Temba TutuSnail was in serious danger of becoming just an empty shell.
As the last rainbow stripe faded into a misty nothingness Temba desperately yelled out his wish.
******
CHAPTER 3
It was dark by the time Temba slid under the log where his family lived. "I caught a rainbow. I caught a rainbow," he shouted excitedly.
Mr TutuSnail looked up from his dinner - a large lettuce leaf - and adjusted his stalks. He was used to Temba's boasts about almost catching rainbows, and he certainly did not believe his son had actually caught one this time. There was only one recorded rainbow capture by a snail in all living memory. By King ShakaSnail, more than 400 years ago.
"Well, what did you wish for, son,” Mr TutuSnail asked?
"Oh yes," said Mrs TutuSnail. "Tell us, Temba. Was it a motorbike?"
"Or a big screen TV that I can also watch," asked sister Felicia.
Temba shuffled from side to side.
"Go on son," said Mr TutuSnail impatiently. He was annoyed at having his dinner disturbed, especially when crispy lettuce was on the menu.
"S-l-l-l-i-i-i-i-me," stammered Temba. He was suddenly very miserable.
“And I suppose,” said Felicia, “that if you were a bird, you would have wished for feathers.” She thought that so funny that she tumbled back into her shell and rocked with laughter.
"Hush," said Mrs TutuSnail. She could see poor Temba was upset.
"Well", said Mr TutuSnail. "You look very tired, son. Put on your pyjamas and get an early night. Tomorrow we are moving to a new neighbourhood. We need to find a better spot."
Temba was indeed exhausted. He turned slowly and he slithered slowly towards his bedroom.
"But wait," yelled Felicia, her eye-stalks twitching wildly. "Just look at that!” Mr and Mrs TutuSnail stared at Temba and gasped.
"Your slime," spluttered Felicia. "Just look at your slime!"
Temba stretched out his body as far as it would go and then swivelled his stalks around. They were all staring at his shiny trail of slime. It wasn't silver-grey like every other snail's. In the moonlight it shimmered violet and brilliant blue-green, dazzling red, orange and golden yellow. It was a sight to behold. Temba TutuSnail had rainbow slime.
"Shivering slugs,” mumbled Mr TutuSnail.
“Goodness me," said Mrs TutuSnail.
"Oh how incredibly, totally awesome," screamed Felicia.
"WoweeZowee," said Temba as he whirled around, leaving a trail of multi-coloured loops and figure eights behind him.
“So you actually did catch a rainbow,” said Mr TutuSnail. “But you must have used up all your slime during the chase; so that’s why you had to wish for it. Luckily for you, the rainbow was very generous. Not only did she give you the slime of your life, but she gave you this dazzling ooze as proof that you really did catch a rainbow.”
“Yes,” said Temba excitedly. “You know, I really did try to thank her, but she just vanished into thin air.”
******
CHAPTER 4
The next morning, news of Temba TutuSnail’s amazing adventure spread throughout the garden. Soon a huge crowd of insects, bugs and slithering masses of slugs arrived to see the amazing slime and listen to the story of Temba’s rainbow chase. All the creatures agreed that Temba was simply fantastic.
The following week, at the Spring Full Moon ball, where snails from miles around arrived to celebrate and feast upon the crispy-delicious lettuces in the TutuSnail’s new garden, Temba was asked to perform a rainbow dance for all the guests. He swirled and whirled around the garden with the magical, shimmering trail of multi-coloured ooze following close behind.
The visiting snails’ eyes stood out on their stalks. Well, they do that anyway, but this time they almost jumped right out.
Now, next time you're in the garden after a thunderstorm and you spot a shiny snail trail on the lawn, look very carefully. If it shimmers with the colours of the rainbow, you'll know that Temba TutuSnail, the fastest snail in Africa, is visiting your garden.
Temba loves nothing more than telling the story of his amazing rainbow adventure.
Just ask him.
About the author:
Bruce lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has spent most of his working life as a journalist, but some years ago stumbled gratefully into the organic world and now has a healthfoods business called Absolute Organix (www.absoluteorganix.co.za).
When not working, he enjoys baking artisanal breads, making kefir cheese or fermenting sauerkraut.
Bruce is a life member of the International Snail Defence League (ISDL). You can contact him at bcohen@mweb.co.za