Snail mail and Atty the sloth

David sat at his desk writing a birthday card,

To Atty,

Happy Birthday

Much Love

David .A.

PS: I hope to come and visit you very soon in your new home.

As he sealed the envelope, he noticed Mr Snail Mail arrive to collect his letter.

“Good morning, Mr Snail Mail.”
“Good morning, David.”

“This card is for Atty, the new sloth born at Edinburgh Zoo.”

Mr Snail Mail smiled. He had heard of Atty's arrival — us slow‑moving creatures stick together. He tucked the birthday card into his shell and set off.

As he slid down the driveway, he made his way to a large sycamore leaf. It was due to fly on the next high wind heading to Manchester. He joined some other snails on the leaf. He secreted some mucus from his mouth, which caused him to stick like glue to the leaf.

Lift‑off.
The leaf went sailing through the air. Looking right, he could see the River Thames sparkling below. On they floated over the Cotswolds, where his Aunt Shelly lived on Blackberry Lane. Before too long, they landed in Heaton Park, Manchester.

Moving as slowly as he could, he attached himself to a rucksack lying on the ground. It belonged to a lady preparing to take part in a wheelchair marathon in Edinburgh. The rucksack was put in the baggage hold on the coach, and within three hours Mr Snail Mail arrived in Edinburgh.

He decided at the last minute to take part in the marathon with the young lady. He attached himself securely to the handlebars, and with a sticker — No. 7 — on his shell, they were off. Mr Snail Mail had never seen so many cheering people as No. 7 sped over the winning line.

After all this excitement, Mr Snail Mail spotted a lunchbox with some lettuce in it. He ate heartily. Before he could finish, the lunchbox was placed into a toddler’s pram — they were headed to Edinburgh Zoo. They were going to visit Atty the new sloth.

Ten minutes later, Mr Snail Mail slid through the bars of the sloths’ cage, and there he saw Atty holding tightly to his mother’s belly, smiling brightly with a set of fully formed teeth and eyes wide open. He opened the card with his claws. It was from the man he was named after — a famous environmentalist and campaigner for climate‑change mitigation and reversing biodiversity decline.

Mr Snail Mail spent the night at Edinburgh Zoo with Atty’s family, where he shared with them his flight on a sycamore leaf to Manchester and coming first in a wheelchair marathon. Atty smiled. He hoped one day to travel to Costa Rica to visit the secure protected reserve lands.

Slow but sure wins the race.