One tiny snail

A little snail woke one night to stars. The tide had gone out, farther than it had ever gone before, and he saw, for the first time, stars. Winking, blinking stars, twinkling in the sky and shining on the sea.

All around him, snails lay with their round, brown backs to the sky. The little snail lay tummy-up, wondering at stars. Stars, stars, stars. So many stars. He began to count them.

"One, two, three...." How many stars were there? he wondered. "Four, five...."

A fiddler crab hopped up out of a bubble in the sand. "Count by twos," he said. "Faster! Two, four, six...."

"How many stars are there?" asked the little snail.

"More than snails in the sand," said the fiddler crab.

"More than ripples on the sea," sighed the sand dollar, waking from sleep. "More than bubbles in the deep."

"Infinite," whispered the seahorse.

"How many is that?" asked the little snail, wondering at the stars filling all the night.

"No end," sang the
seahorse softly.

"On and on, beyond
counting."

"Sea," called the little snail, "Sea, YOU are infinite."

"Not me," sighed the sea. "I end where land begins."

"Six, seven, eight...." The little snail began to count again.

"Sand," called the snail, "YOU are infinite."

"Not me," sighed the sand. "You can count my grains."

"Nine, ten.... Then, what is infinite?" cried the little snail, counting faster. "Eleven, twelve...."

"Love," whispered the stars. "God's love with you always, filling all space."

"Thirteen, fourteen...." The little snail did not hear the stars. He was counting. "Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen...."

"Shshshshshsh," hissed the seahorse, "the stars are singing."

"Eighteen, nineteen...."

"Stop counting!" called the dolphin."The stars are singing."

The little snail was still. He listened to the quiet, rippling away, all the way to the stars. And soon he heard singing, yellow stars humming, "Love," and silver stars strumming, "God is Love."

And tiny, tender speckle stars winking, "infinite Love."

"Love?" wondered the little snail.

"Gentle goodness," sang the dolphin, "lifting me in my leap."

"Tender presence," whispered the sand dollar, "guarding me where I sleep."

"All power," cried the whale, "making me mighty in the deep."

The little snail listened to the gentle night all around him, and the stars singing, "God is Love, guarding whales where they breach, and each smooth sand dollar where it lies on the beach."

Slowly, the tide began to rise. Soon waves rippled over the little snail, and bubbles, shining silver bubbles, more than he could ever count. He could not see the stars anymore, but he knew they filled all the night, twinkling on and on, beyond all he could see. "Love," sang the stars, "infinite Love."

The little snail liked to count, so he began to count the bubbles. "One, two, three...."

"Count by twos," said the fiddler crab, "faster."

The tide rose, and rose, and the little snail went on counting. "Four, five, six shiny silver bubbles."

Slowly he counted, by ones, because he liked to count, and besides, he was listening to the stars sing: "Love. God is Love, guiding gulls where they fly, loving one tiny snail counting stars in the sky."