Myrtle and Gail

There was once a snail named Myrtle
who looked very much like a turtle.
His shell was gigantic and his head was quite small
but look closely, no legs — you see, he is a snail after all.

Myrtle was teased for the size of his shell.
The little snail bullies treated him not very well.
Myrtle would ooze home from school with tears in his eyes,
his tentacles drooping, his slime supersized.

Myrtle’s mom was named Nancy
she kept their snail home quite fancy.
She tried to console Myrtle with bits of cucumber
but he ignored the treats and instead he did lumber

over then under a nearby big boulder.
Here he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder
with his friend Gail.
Gail was a turtle who looked like a snail.

Gail, yes, he had a very small shell
and his head and neck, yes, they did swell.
He was teased by the other turtles at school.
They called him names, like fool and uncool.

These two met on a Saturday,
both out wandering, with no one to play.
Each had crawled under this boulder
as it was getting dark and a little colder.

They were both shy, not easy to meet.
Myrtle went first and he said this to greet,
“Hi, I’m Myrtle. What is your name?”
and Gail replied back with much of the same.

They quickly bonded although neither did speak
of the way they were different or how they felt like a freak.
Instead they both delighted in having a true friend,
someone to hang with, someone on which to depend.

It makes all the difference to have someone who cares,
it lightens your burdens when another is there.
For Gail that is Myrtle, and for Myrtle that’s Gail.
They are best friends, this turtle and snail.