Author’s Note: This story is based on a character from my children’s book Elissa the Curious Snail. The book series consists of four books. You can visit Elissa’s page and have the option to purchase the books by clicking the link here.
Tabitha, the Tabby Cat, lives in a house with her owners. They have a daughter named Francine and a son named Timmy. Francine is a little girl with red curly hair and glasses; she likes to help her mom in the garden. Timmy likes to pull her tail, squirt her with his squirt gun, and tease her with things on a string.
Tabitha is a helpful cat. She strolls around the house and looks for any chance to help. Her reward for a good job is a scratch behind her ears. She loves the attention; it always makes her purr. It was like tickling a small child; they can’t help but laugh. Cats can’t help but purr when pet behind the ear.
After a nap, Tabitha was praying. “Dear God, please let me help someone today. Amen.”
Tabitha opened her eyes, stretched her legs, and arched her back. She sure does love her afternoon catnaps. As she walked through the house. Francine was in her room playing with her dolls, Timmy had a wooden sword in his hand and a cape around his neck, their mom was in the kitchen cleaning.
She strolled to her food dish, munched on leftover breakfast, and lapped some water to wash it down. Now it was time to go outside.
She looked up at mom and meowed. Mom wiped her hands on a towel, knelt, and scratched her behind the ears. Tabitha purred. She rubbed against moms leg, meowed again, and looked over at the screen door.
“You want to go outside, Tabby?” mom asked.
“Meow,” Tabitha said.
Mom opened the screen door, and Tabitha stepped off the porch and into the green grass. She stretched, arched her back, and looked around. A squirrel was scampering in the neighbor’s yard, and a pretty blackbird was flying overhead. Tabitha saw a tiny purple dot in the yard and knew it was where she needed to go.
She took a few steps and saw it was a snail. It’s a girl; it must be — no way a boy snail would have a pretty shell like that. The snail looked tired and looked like she could use a little bit of help.
Tabitha walked up to the snail and meowed. The snail hid inside her shell.
“Go away, Mrs. Tabby Cat. Please don’t hurt me,” the snail said.
Tabitha could tell the snail was scared. So, she left. Tabitha was sad she couldn’t help her. The snail looked like she wanted to get somewhere. It must’ve been far because she looked tired.
Tabitha knew one thing. If you aren’t able to help someone, then you find someone else who can. Maybe her size scared the snail. She saw the blackbird and called out to him.
“Hello, Mr. Blackbird. Can I ask you a favor?” Tabitha asked.
“Most certainly,” said the blackbird. “How can I be of service to you, tabby cat?”
“Do you see that snail over there?” Tabitha pointed her tail to the snail.
“Why, yes, I do see her,” the blackbird said. “She looks sad and scared. Do you know why?”
“No,” Tabitha said. “I tried to help her, but I scared her. You’re smaller; maybe you can help her?”
“I shall do my best,” the blackbird said. He took off in the air toward the little snail.
“Thank you,” Tabitha said. She made her way around the house so the snail couldn’t see her. She saw the squirrel again, he was picking up acorns, looking for a place to hide them.
Tabitha prayed, “Thank you, Lord, for giving me the chance to help the snail. Please help Mr. Blackbird help her get where she is going.”
Tabitha opened her eyes, and saw a pretty butterfly. She liked to chase butterflies. She had never caught one… yet. She didn’t really know what to do with one she ever did. But it was fun.
After the butterfly flew away, she walked back to the screen door and meowed. Francine let her in, scratcher her behind her ear, and asked about her day. Tabitha answered with a meow and a purr.
She had a fun day. Her prayer was answered; she was able to help someone. Even though they didn’t accept her help, she was able to find someone else who could.
Maybe one day she will know what happened to the little snail. Until then, it was time for an evening catnap and another prayer to see who she could help next.
Originally posted July 10, 2019
Moments for the Heart 