Speed-o (standard:fairy tales, 956 words)
Author: Ira L. White	Added: Sep 30 2002	Views/Reads: 3444/2204	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Ever wonder how sea snails evolved and why they move so darn slow? My fanciful tale reveals this darkest secret of the deeps!

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


Reluctantly, Neptune returned to the shallows where he noted the problem
was even worse than before! By putting the speed-os' homes on their 
backs he had slowed them down very little. To make matters worse, 
carrying their homes made the speed-os heavier, so they kicked up even 
more sand and silt as they zipped across the bottom of the ocean. 

“I'll fix that!” exclaimed Neptune. 

King Neptune cast a spell that left the speed-os with only one leg to
stand on then went back to the deep and his castle thinking that this 
time the job was done. 

The next morning, Ulan appeared at his castle again. 

“Don't tell me,” mumbled King Neptune when he opened the door and saw
the mermaid there. “Speed-os again. What shall I do? What shall I do?” 

Neptune trudged back to the shallows determined to end this problem once
and for all. To his dismay he saw the speed-os hopping on one leg 
making the water muddier than before. Despite having only one leg, they 
were still very fast. The king thought deeply for a moment and then 
cast a spell taking away the speed-o's remaining leg and all the bones 
in their bodies. The spell also compacted their homes making them just 
big enough for their bodies. To compensate the speed-os were left with 
one foot that allowed them to crawl along at a much-reduced rate 
guaranteed not to stir up the silt and sand. 

The speed-os were quite angry at first, but after a few weeks the water
cleared. When that happened, they realized that they all would have 
suffocated in the murky water had life continued as before. Now they 
were slowed down they were able to be caught and eaten by some of the 
other sea creatures but at least their race and all the others would 
now survive. However, the speed-os now had to find another name! 


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