My small Farm

When I was in high school, I had a rather unique morning routine. Early in the morning, just as the world was waking up, I would venture out to hunt for snails. It seemed that in the early hours when the air was still cool, these little creatures would come out of hiding, perhaps migrating or seeking moisture, but whatever the reason, it made them easy to find.

I would spend my mornings scouring for snails, and within a week, I had amassed quite a collection. Meanwhile, my sisters and siblings would sleep peacefully, unaware of my early morning adventures. When they did wake up and find me engaged in my snail hunting, they thought I was wasting my time on something frivolous and fleeting.

It was a few days later when a neighbor paid us a visit and stumbled upon my snail "farm" – a small enclosure I had set up in a pent-up bucket. As he peered inside and saw the quantity of snails I had collected, he was impressed. To my delight, as a small child, he slipped me a 500 Naira note, which to me felt like winning a million dollars. My sisters were astonished by this unexpected validation, and they didn't hesitate to join me in my snail hunting efforts in the days that followed.

They were even more determined than me. Turning every stones and uncovering all uncovered.