#cohd

Just sitting there, and no one was eating it! Naturally, they slithered over and feasted until the light was at a dangerous point. Luckily, thick stalks with branches shaded them. It was really quite lovely. That is until five monstrous flattened pillars burst through the stalks. They plucked up Romano as Antonio gaped in horror. He yelled out that he would find Romano, no matter what the cost. Antonio wasn’t sure if he was loud enough, not that it mattered. Romano disappeared, and he was all alone. Antonio had been too upset to eat at that point, keeping himself busy with the thought of saving Romano from whatever fate befell him. What would the pink pillars do to Romano? Surely they wouldn’t….smash him? That perked Antonio up from his perch. With the might of ten snails, he slithered as quickly as he could to the misshapen cave where the pillars lived. Or at least, he slithered in its direction. Snails weren’t exactly made for the speed he needed to be at. But he was making great pace! The great glowing stone in the sky was only at its half-point. Which meant he could make it past the feast stalks to the seeded trees. With a little luck, he would even miss the great furred beast! As he hoped, Antonio made it to the shade of the seeded trees before the giant glow made it back to its rightful place. For now, the sky was a lovely soft lavender. Soft enough to be laid in for a nap. He wished Romano was here. If he hurried, maybe that could happen. Motivated once again, he crept to the end of the stalk pathway. This is where the cave began. All he needed was a bit more time, and---Suddenly a monstrous roar stopped Antonio in his tracks. Without even turning, he knew what it was. But if he stood still, maybe it would leave him alone.

Closer and closer it stomped, sending the ground up in flecks. Its hideous bushy tail and curved claws would forever haunt him in his nightmares. Luckily, it spotted a seed and shoved it into its cavernous mouth. With a flick of its tail and an insidious glare at Antonio, it leapt away. He sighed in relief. To think...if he was interrupted this soon into his journey! On he crept, working up a good amount of slime to cling onto the cave. Now all he needed was to find an opening! But that proved difficult. One part of the cave was slick, and he remembered it being open before. Maybe he was just hallucinating? Or the pillars must have repaired it when he wasn’t looking…Regardless, he had to find a hole soon! The light was starting to creep around the shade cast by the seed trees. A wrong turn and soon Antonio would be burning! Frantically, he slithered this way and that, sliding up and down the cave wall. But alas, he just couldn’t find a single opening. Antonio was giving up hope. He had made it so far, yet, was caught up in the simplest aspect of his rescue mission. Trapped by the light on both sides and lacking the speed to move faster, Antonio was ready to accept his fate. He felt the rolling sizzle at his tail and expected it to continue. Then, all of a sudden, he was lifted by the accursed pillars! Except this time, it was less accursed and more blessed. Thank the great stone in the sky, he was saved. It had a face too apparently. It was saying things, but it all sounded incomprehensible. If Antonio had the knowledge of humanspeak, he would have heard the little boy tell his mother that he found another snail on the wall. “This time, it was by the sunflowers!” Gilbert said. With Antonio in hand, the little boy ran inside to add it to his terrarium. He was going to have the best show and tell tomorrow, he was sure of it. Meanwhile, Antonio burst into tears and excited ramblings when he saw Romano, happily munching one of the red foods. “I came to rescue you!” Antonio said, suddenly remembering his original purpose.

“Why?” Romano asked mid-munch. “I wasn’t in trouble.” “But don’t you want to go back?” Antonio asked.

Romano rolled his eye stalks. “Come over here and look,” he said. Antonio slithered, head low, to where Romano was. From their little box of solid air, they could see everything from their old home. The tree seeds right outside, the furry monster up in its goliath tree, the black sea of death. Right behind it all was the light, slow on its way to dimming. The sky was a faded pink that darkened into a red similar to the food in their box. “It’s...it’s beautiful here,” Antonio said.“And you wanted to leave,” Romano laughed. “Look, there’s tons of food and nothing ever tries to kill us. Please stay.” Antonio smiled. “The second I knew you were here, I was all set to stay.” Romano nudged him playfully while Antonio moved his shell closer so they could better enjoy the moment together.“It’s cute that you tried to save me,” Romano said. “Even though I don’t need it.”“Anything for you, Roma,” Antonio said. So they sat, quest no longer needed, in the terrarium while the sunset. And they would happily stay in that terrarium for many days and nights until they felt another new adventure was needed.