Slow Sammy And Fast Freddy

Slow Sammy and Fast Freddy

Sammy the snail, and Fast Freddy the mouse,
Were always together, around the house.
Best pals they were, one slow one fast,
Frequently they’d race, Sammy always came in last.

One day they raced down the hall like so many times before,
Freddy running away so fast, not to be seen any more.
Sammy slid along rapidly at his snail-like pace,
Freddy ran round in circles all over the place.

Sammy huffed along, looking around, wondering when,
Freddy would appear, he always tormented his friend.
He rounded a corner, thinking he’d soon be lapped,
When he spied his pal Freddy, his tail snagged in a trap.

“Hey Sam ol’ pal, I’m glad you finally came ‘round,
I’m in a bit of a fix my friend, my tail is bound.
Think you can help me?  I’ll be forever in your debt.
That dang cat may be here soon, I’m willing to bet.”

“Well, well now Freddy, how did you get caught?
Whatever caused you to get stuck in this spot?”
“Sam, stop asking silly questions, you know I love cheese.
Do you think you can get me out of this, pretty please?”

“Now Freddy,” said Sammy, “You know I have no hands.
I’ll do my best to help, but I’m not sure I can,
Get your tail free of that trap, but I’ll see what I can do.
After all, we’re friends, and I wouldn’t want to lose you.”

Sammy slid as fast as he could, across the trap’s hammer,
He did his best to free his friend, without causing much clamor.
He tried to wedge his shell, but didn’t get very far,
The hammer scratched it up, leaving a small scar.

Sammy started to worry, that he wouldn’t free his friend,
Afraid that ol’ house cat would soon come round the bend.
The more Sammy worried, the more slime his body created,
Coating the trap’s hammer, until Freddy slid free unabated!

“Sammy my friend, you’ve done it, you’re the best!”
Freddy was beside himself, he felt no longer stressed.
Then suddenly the cat appeared, and Freddy ran away quick!
The cat saw only the snail, and gave his shell a small lick.

“Yuck!, Meowed Silas the cat, snails didn’t taste too good,
Now where was that silly mouse, he’d eat him if he could.
But Silas wasn’t very fast, he was old for a cat,
No longer slim and racy, he had gotten pretty fat.

When Sammy made it back home, Freddy was waiting there.
He looked at Sammy and said, “My dear friend, I swear,
From now on in our race, sometimes you will win.”
While you couldn’t see it, one could almost see Sammy grin.

Sammy said, “Freddy you don’t have to do that.
But one thing you could do, is let me ride upon your back.
I’ve always wondered how it is, to move around so fast,
It’s my dream to move like that, before my time is past.”

That must have been a strange sight to see,
Sammy riding on Freddy’s back, happy as can be.
And Silas?  Well, he joined their club, they all became friends,
Each knew there was someone, on whom they could depend.

Jim Dorrell
04/6/11