I had left them.
Why?
Just as I thought about saving the three other snails something crossed my line of sight. A flash of green. The leaf deteriorated before my eyes as flake after flake was chipped off by the gentle wind.
'The leaf... I don't have time left.' I told myself as I pushed down my urge to save the other three snails.
"FORGIVE ME!" I yelled behind me.
I felt the dry leaf below break as I slid over it. Like a falling platform in a video game, chips of leaf fell off behind me as I travelled forward towards my destination: the branch.
Cracks had not only formed behind me but in front of me. The cracks joined other cracks. And cracks spread from those cracks as they followed thinner parts of the leaf that had been eaten.
Suddenly, a crack sprung up millimetres away from me.
With excellent reaction time, I jolted myself towards the right and narrowly grazed the edge of it.
Another breeze. Another hole. I swerved.
Another small crack. Another stretch over the crack.
Like playing chess, I moved and the leaf responded. But unlike chess, it was an unfair game as more and more and more holes and pitfalls appeared before me.
My mind went into overdrive as I planned my route and executed it immediately. My heart pounded in my head as it desperately tried to supply my body with the oxygen it needed to travel as quickly as I could.
Suddenly, another large crack appeared in front of me. Ripping noises filled my ears as the tear in the leaf grew larger and larger until it reached the edge of my leaf.
Before I could even react, I felt my stomach being pushed up into my body as I dropped downwards. Suddenly, the tried to resist my fall. Rip. The sound of ripping filled my ears as the leaf tore more but seemed to stop and hold up my weight.
I bounced up and down and took in a deep breathe. I stopped moving.
My path forward was cut off.
It seemed like I had to take a long detour to get back to the branch.
But I didn't like that idea. 'It'll take too long.'
Don't ask me how, but I came up with a more brilliant idea.
I didn't waste time to think about it. I didn't take the detour. No. I didn't back down. I slid forward. I brought myself to the edge of the crevice and I... I jumped.
Well, I tried to jump but I didn't. I kept my foot stuck to the leaf below me.
With a jolt from my momentum, I lifted myself and the leaf below me.
Cccccchhhhhrrrhrhhrhhr... The crack had torn even more with my movement.
But that was the plan.
I felt the weight in my body shift as I fell downward again.
"AAAAHHH"
Screams. Screams that didn't come from me, but my siblings who were on my shell.
"WE ARE GOING TO DIE!"
'It's doable.' I thought as I ignored their screams of agony.
I slid more forward and balanced a third of my body over the edge of the torn leaf.
'Up.'
I pulled my body upward once more. Once again, I was able to gain some vertical height.
'Not close enough.' I thought as I fell back down again.
But I was closer. Closer to the goal.
Cccchrrr... The leaf had ripped a little bit more.
'Once more.' I told myself as we hit a new low and the leaf tore even more.
This time, I pushed down instead of pulling straight up. The leaf still held some elasticity. And used it as if it was a springboard.
With the built energy, I sprung up once more. I hit a new high. Yet, it wasn't enough as I watched the goal appear before my eyes and disappear just as quickly.
Once again, the crack grew. With every iteration, I was closer and closer to tearing the leaf in half.
'Once more.' I told myself as I immediately squished myself downwards and then launched myself upwards once more. Like compressing a spring, I tried to compress the leaf as much as possible before it launched me upward again.
'Go. Go. Go.' I thought in my head as more screams filled my ear from my passengers.
Then, I saw it and passed above it.
A yellow and green horizon - the side of the leaf that was attached to the branch.
I reached forward. I felt air flow around my outstretched foot as gravity dragged my body downward once more.
Time seemed to slow down as I desperately swiped the air. 'Closer. Just a little bit closer.'
The result?
Another miss.
I felt my heart pound harder within my chest as I watched as my goal slipped between my proverbial fingers.
Falling down once more, I felt the leaf tearing below me.
'Please stop.' I prayed in my head.
As if defying my plea, it ripped even more as the tear broadened to over half the width of the leaf!
And then, I felt the speed of my fall slow down.
'Now what do I do?' I asked myself. I could keep trying, but I became uncertain if I could reach the same height once more.
Bang.
I heard the loud noise of an impact in the distance. I had another idea. But it was even riskier as this time, the timing was everything.
I pushed down on the leaf once more and then launched myself upward for the third time. Like a helping hand, a felt a slight wind pick beneath me as I was pushed upward as well.
Again the green horizon appeared before me and I passed it once more.
I reached out desperately once more as I fell. I knew I wouldn't have many chances or even a single chance for that matter if I missed.
And then I touched it. I touched the solid leaf that was in front of me. I instantly latched on to it with as much as the front of my foot as possible.
But then it hit me.
The rest of the shockwave from the blast.
Instantly, I felt a giant force push across the side of my shell pushing me sideways.
'I can still use this.' I thought in a split second.
At that moment, without thinking any further, I let go.
I felt the back of my foot lift off the leaf below and into the wind. With the front of my foot as my anchor, I allowed my body to be pushed.
My body swung around and my body jolted. I had nearly lost what little grip I had, but I managed to cling on long enough for my body to touch down on top of the leaf.
I clung to the leaf and held on.
I held on to the leaf below me for dear life.
Seconds later, the wind died down once more.
I instantly let out the breath that I was holding.
My risky maneuver had worked! I was saved, the snails on my back were saved.
As soon as I made sure all the snails had survived the ordeal, I bolted towards the stem of the branch as I dodged hole after hole.
Seconds later. I heard a scream behind me.
I looked behind me as I heard another scream entered my non-existent eardrums.
The half of the leaf that I had left behind had torn off completely. With it, the siblings that were still on it. Within seconds, they were gone. Two shells. Two siblings. Two more lives were lost to the abyss below.
"Forgive me," I said quietly to myself as I made it to the stem of the leaf - the only part of the leaf that was still solid.
A chorus of cheers filled my ears as I was welcomed by my siblings who had made it to the branch.
...
They celebrated. But I didn't.
...
Now that I think about it, my luck stat was probably really high back then, because I was seconds away from dying as well.