In an ancient garden bathed in golden sunlight lived a little snail named Oliver. Oliver\u2019s shell was caramel-colored, with several rings of patterns that looked like donuts. He always walked very slowly; with every step, he would first extend his feelers to feel his way, then carefully move his soft body forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a corner of the garden stood a beautiful rosebush named Rosa. Rosa\u2019s branches were covered with plump, pink blossoms that looked like shy little faces and gave off a sweet fragrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oliver loved Rosa the most. But Rosa grew so tall that it took Oliver a very, very long time to climb up just to the lowest leaf on the rosebush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRosa, Rosa,\u201d Oliver tilted his head back and called up, \u201cYour flowers smell so good! Can I climb up to take a whiff?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa bent her head down and gently shook her leaf, making a rustling sound: \u201cOf course you can, little Oliver. But take your time\u2014don\u2019t rush. I\u2019ll be right here waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oliver nodded and continued climbing. As he passed a leaf, he spotted a sparkling dewdrop on it. He stopped and washed his face with the dewdrop; it felt cool and incredibly refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRosa, I just washed my face!\u201d Oliver shouted happily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s wonderful,\u201d Rosa said with a smile. \u201cThe dewdrop is a little gift from the sky for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oliver climbed for a while longer and came across a little ladybug taking a nap. Afraid of waking it, he stood on tiptoe and tiptoed very, very quietly around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRosa, I just walked on tiptoe, just like a little ballerina!\u201d Oliver whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re such a polite little gentleman,\u201d Rosa said, her voice as gentle as a breeze, \u201cThe flowers are all clapping for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, just as the sun was about to set, Oliver crawled up next to Rosa\u2019s tallest flower. He extended his antennae and gently touched the soft petals. Wow, it smelled so good! It was as if he\u2019d breathed in all the sunshine of spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRosa, I can smell you!\u201d Oliver sighed contentedly. \u201cThis is the happiest moment of my day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa gently let a petal fall onto Oliver\u2019s shell, as if tucking him in with a little pink blanket. \u201cThank you for coming to see me, little Oliver. Because you took your time, I got to see so many sights I wouldn\u2019t normally see. And your persistence has shown me that waiting can be a wonderful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The moon rose, casting a silvery glow over the garden. Oliver let out a tiny yawn, curled up inside his shell, and nestled against Rosa\u2019s branch, ready to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood night, Rosa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood night, my little Oliver. Sweet dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The garden was quiet, with only the gentle breeze rustling through the air. The rosebush and the snail drifted off together into sweet dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Snail and the Rose Bush<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[21,18],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","tag-children","tag-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":477,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions\/477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyrecyclebin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}