The Slug Under A Rug

The Slug Under A Rug

by Paul McCann

Such a pity for him , the slimy little slug . He never did no harm to anyone. He lived a clean life, munching fresh greens every day . He did no wrong to no one or nothing but somehow in life things just go wrong even though it doesn’t seem right . On cold nights in the winter the slug tried to keep out of sight . He really didn’t need anyone , or anything to bug him . Even though he was lonely , even though he never complained , there was never a hug for a slug like him so he kept to himself and tried not to bother anyone .'

Sometimes he hummed quietly to himself under the rug. He tried not to snore when he slept under the rug at night . Sometimes he would just crawl in from anywhere outside and try to find somewhere warm to hide that was safe away from prying eyes.

There were times however when he wished that someone would pick him up and put him in a paper cup and hand feed him toasted buttercups and afterwards place the paper cup on a shelf high up somewhere where he had a nice view of the garden during the day. 

If there was ever a determined slug worth mentioning then it surely was him . He slipped and slithered , here and there never looking back at the other bugs who giggled in the garden whenever he was around . ‘He never went out looking for a fight , he kept a low profile , he pulled his head in and he just kept on looking at the bright side of life .

He often liked to think that he could swim and discover a secret universe under the water if only he got the chance , Well, it wasn’t too long and he did get the chance . 

In the house where the slug crept under the rug , there was an old fisherman who spotted the slug one night . It happened all of a sudden .The winter had gone and the fisherman took up the rugs off the floor to send them off to the dry cleaners . 

Later that night when the slug slipped under the back door , the rug had disappeared and that’s when the fisherman saw the slug , who just stared up at the fisherman's face who immediately scooped him up and put him in a paper cup and left him on a high shelf and the next morning the slug found himself dangling on a hook on a fishing line that was thrown into the water from a boat and in a moment of frenzy the slug was swallowed by a sleek silver trout who himself was caught by the old fisherman who put him into an ice box and brought back to the house where the fisher man lived and later that night the trout was cleaned out and battered and cooked in a frying pan for dinner that night . Such is life the next day the old fisherman had a heart attack and was found dead by the man who brought back the rugs that had been dry cleaned the night before .

The End