An Inch

One More Inch…

         An inch. That is all that I can muster with my energy, no matter how hard I try, no matter how determined I am. Just an inch. I look ahead of me, to my destination and feel myself drown in bitter, painful despair. The blessed grasses and trees that were my shelter were still a distant meter away. I had to get to them, lest I get burned alive on this scorching concrete pavement. I had to, but I just can't.

         Not now, not until my energy has returned to me. While it does so, as excruciatingly slow as everything about me, let me fill you up about myself.

         If you had thought me as one of you, I’m sad to say you were wrong, for I am not a human. I’m just a small, shelled creature, one that does not have bones, does everything extremely slowly, and is so helpless that I lie probably at the at the bottom of every conceivable food chain there is. Frankly speaking, I have no idea what I’m truly called, but you and your kind seem to acquaint me with the word ‘snail’.

         Warm sweat slide down the stems upon which my eyes are set upon, tickling them wickedly and all I can do is close my eyes in restrain: nature had not given me the luxury of hands to scratch myself. In fact, nature had given me nothing, but taken away almost everything from me, so much that it made me the weakest creature this Earth had ever seen.

         With a terrible effort, I push myself forward, pulling my eyes into my stems and grinding my teeth in an effort to block out the blinding pain in my underside. The pavement was blistering hot, and every inch of it that I covered caused my underside to scrub painfully against it, and get burned even more. That, more than anything else, drains me of my energy, and with it, my will to reach the shady refuge of the trees and grasses.

         Why am I here, you might be wondering. Well, let me tell you first that it hadn’t been my desire whatsoever to rub my belly raw on this accursed pavement in the middle of who-knew-where. No, I am in this predicament because of the law of nature, which decided long ago that only the fittest shall survive. It is something I don't really understand. Still, since you have stayed with me all this while to give me comfort, I will tell you all that happened.

         It all started just a few minutes ago. I, together with my family, were having our lunch when all of a sudden we were attacked by an army of red ants. They surrounded us, sealing all our exits, and ensuring absolute doom for all of us. I tried to fight them off, to get to my family, but I was too slow. And too weak. You see, nature did not give me, unlike the ants, lightning-quick speed, nor tough hide.

         Nonetheless, I resisted as much as I could, all through hazy bouts of pain as they bit me, each of it more painful than flesh and blood could ever stand. I thought about my family, then bitterly realized that if I couldn’t even help myself, how was I going to help anyone else? Soon, the foul creatures carried off the carcass of my wife and children in front of my very eyes. It was all too much for me. I thought of just giving in to my struggle, and give in I did. The cruel ants soon carried me off just like they did my family.

         Perhaps death wasn’t intended for me then, because a cat soon pounced on the foul ants. It started attacking them, and one of its flailing limbs caught me, throwing me painfully onto this loathsome pavement. I thought the cat would soon come after me, but it didn’t. When it left, I felt the satisfaction in knowing that the foul ants were all dead, and that my family had been avenged.

         With another titanic effort, I push myself forward as far as I can, but my beloved refuge is still half a meter away. The heat is beginning to kill me, slowly but steadily. I try to push forward again, but it is to no avail. I can do nothing else but wait for my energy to return. As it goes on longer, I begin to hate myself. To distract myself, I look around, and become amazed at how bright the things around me are. Oh, the brightness, it seems to be killing me! Why, oh why did it have to be so warm? Why did it have to be so difficult? Why does everything in life have to be so cruel and unforgiving? And most of all, why did it all happen to me?

         It is all too unbearable. I look up at the sky, ignoring the yellow disk that is the cause of my misery, and search for a bird that would come and carry me off to another place where at least, I wouldn’t have to bear the terrible heat. I notice a sparrow flying overhead, and will it to come get me. Then, I feel shock and dismay at myself. What has become of me? What am I thinking? If the sparrow were to get me, the only place I would end up in would be its stomach!

         Tears of shame flood my eyes when I think of what desperation has made me become. I begin to feel that I wouldn’t be able to get out of my predicament, at least not by myself alone. I am too slow, too weak, too…helpless. I push forward again, closing my eyes in pain. Never-ending despair engulfs me once again. I can't do it, I just can’t…

         When I open my eyes, I wonder if a miracle did indeed happen. I am much closer to my beloved refuge, only a few inches away in fact. Oh, the joy that fills me! Happiness explodes within me, and I dare to hope again. I push myself forward as hard as I can, ignoring the pain, ignoring the blistering heat, and everything else, focusing just on my goal. For the first time, I feel that I can actually accomplish it. The distance reduces from a few inches to a mere inch, slowly but surely. But I have to stop again, for my energy has run out. I have to wait once more…damn my helplessness! Just when I am about to start again, a huge blue ball rolls to a stop in front of me, directly in my path.

         How ironic! Life couldn’t have been more cruel! After all my hard work, I am so close to achieving my goal. And just when I thought I had it, this…this…I can't bear thinking about it. I feel all my hope and joy disappear. I am left with nothing, absolutely nothing. I have never felt so disappointed and miserable in my life.  I am so close, yet so far…Maybe I should just give up, like I did with the ants earlier. I should have realized then that if the ants didn’t kill me, the sun and its heat definitely would. Maybe I should just let it all go, and fall into the abyss that was death…

         But no, I can’t. Not when I am this close to my goal. Not after all the hard work I put in to come this far. I won’t! I have come too far to give up my dream now…

         My eyes flare open, and with another mind-numbing effort, I push myself around the damned yellow ball. Then I stop again, and pant heavily. For some reason, I find it harder to move. As I struggle, I feel my vision become hazy, and it becomes even more so by the second. It also goes out of focus, and there are red spots around my vision. What is happening to me? I try to move again, but nothing happens. My eyes become too heavy to lift up, so I close and withdraw them into my stems, and I feel my head slowly touch the ground against my will…

         There are certain things in life that you simply can’t achieve, no matter what you do, how hard you try, or how much it means to you. That is what I have learned from this experience. It may sound cruel, but that’s the way some things are in life. I know, because I am testimony to that. Yet, it doesn’t mean you should just give up in life. You have to try, just like I did. Who knows, miracles do happen after all.
Grunting with exertion, I will myself to move one more inch, just one more inch…

         *  *  *  *  *

         Sally looked up at the darkening sky when she heard the loud thunderclap, smiling that it was finally going to rain. It was such a hot day, she thought. From inside her house, her mother called, “Sally! Please get into the house, it's going to rain. And please bring the cat in as well. We don't want him to get wet and dirty.”

         “Yes, mommy,” Sally replied.

         She returned her eyes back onto the pavement in front of her house, and spotted her favourite blue ball. As she bent over to pick it up, she saw a shriveled snail right beside her ball. She squatted down and observed the poor creature, then picked it up and threw it softly into the garden beside the pavement.

         “Sally!”

         “Coming, mommy.”