Ruwen Roarwell wondered why he had not heeded Trevalyan’s advice and left the hard shelled food for those with strong jaws and claws. It was that crack, crunch noise that he so hated but it was self-inflicted so he could not grumble. It was just a nuisance and he hoped that it had not wrecked his recent orthodental treatment.
As it was he had wasted his time yet again because there would have been very little meat on the Hermit Crab. Also it had such viscous claws that Ruwen was forced to spit it out because again he had bitten of more that he could chew. Now it became clear to him what that saying actually meant and there, he thought he would go through life saying the expression and never knowing what it meant.
The thought-filled lion flicked his tail, more through habit than necessity and then licked his sore mouth. The Hermit crab on the other hand had beaten a hasty retreat and disappeared down one of the many escape tunnels. It was surprised by the attack and wondered what had occurred to make it happen. That was a first for him and he decided that later on he would check to see what was afoot outside. He settled down and drew himself back into his shell. This is a tight fit, he thought a wriggled about in the hope that it was a mis-entry. Alas, it made no difference how much he wriggled, his shell had shrunk or he had expanded! After some thought he remembered that he had gorged himself a few days ago on some very exotic fodder He pondered for a while and admitted to himself that he had only himself to blame for his growth *. It struck him that at the time it crossed his mind that his eyes were bigger than his belly and now his belly was bigger than the *
Just as he was pondering on the why’s and wherefore’s in the bolt hole there was movement from within the cavernsized nook and he was horrified to spot the largest * in his entire life and he had been on the planet for a few years now.
He had wondered about how he was forced to change shells every x many seasons and perhaps that was what he needed to do now. Anyway his ponderings had been interrupted by this surprise encounter and he thought that had ever had a particular faith then now would be the time to prove that he had it!
