Nino the Snail leaves a silver sparkle wherever he goes, but he wishes his shiny trail would disappear. In a quiet garden full of leaves, daisies, and moonlight, Nino is about to learn that the very thing he hides may be the thing that helps most.
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In a quiet little garden, under the big green leaves, lived two good friends.
Nino the Snail and Coco the Caterpillar.
Every morning, they met beside the daisies.
"Good morning, Nino!" said Coco.
"Good morning, Coco!" said Nino.
Then off they went to explore the garden.
Coco wiggled over the leaves.
Nino slid slowly behind her.
Wherever Nino went, he left a thin, shiny trail.
It sparkled in the sunshine.
But Nino did not like it.
He looked behind him and frowned.
"My trail follows me everywhere," he said.
Coco looked at the silver line.
"I think it is pretty."
Nino shook his head.
"I don't want a shiny trail."
So Nino tried to hide it.
He crawled over a dry stone.
Slide, slide, slide.
He looked back.
There it was.
Shiny!
He crawled across a brown twig.
Slide, slide, slide.
He looked back again.
Still shiny!
Then Nino crawled under some soft green leaves.
"Now no one will see it," he said.
But when he came out...
Coco pointed behind him.
A silver line sparkled across the leaves.
Nino sighed.
"I will always have a shiny trail."
Coco smiled.
"That's because it belongs to you."
Nino wasn't sure that was a good thing.
That afternoon, Coco saw a beautiful red flower on the other side of the garden.
"I'll just go and have a look," she said.
She wiggled past the daisies.
She crawled around a flowerpot.
She went under a tall fern.
The red flower was beautiful.
But when Coco turned around...
everything looked different.
"Which way is home?" she whispered.
She went one way.
Wrong way.
She went another way.
Wrong again.
Soon the sun began to go down.
The garden grew darker.
"Nino?" called Coco.
There was no answer.
Coco felt worried.
Then something twinkled beside a leaf.
Shimmer... shimmer...
Coco moved closer.
A thin silver line sparkled in the soft moonlight.
"Nino's trail!"
Coco smiled.
She followed the shiny line.
Around the flowerpot...
over the little stone...
past the daisies...
and there was Nino!
"Coco!" he cried.
"Nino!"
Coco hurried over and hugged her friend.
"Your shiny trail showed me the way home!"
Nino looked behind him.
His silver trail stretched through the garden, glowing softly in the moonlight.
For the first time, Nino smiled at his shiny trail.
"Maybe my trail is special after all," he said.
Coco smiled.
"It helped me find my way back to you."
Coco wiggled beside Nino.
Nino slid slowly through the grass.
Behind them, his silver trail sparkled under the moon.
Shimmer... shimmer... shimmer...
When they reached their favourite daisies, Nino looked back one last time.
He didn't try to hide his trail anymore.
He smiled proudly.
From that day on, Nino was happy to leave a little sparkle wherever he went.
And whenever Coco saw a shiny silver trail across the garden, she knew her best friend could not be far away.
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