Shell!  Patterned in crags and colours,
that dash of luminous yellow, 
plus tinged red sides, 
aquatic racer of the terrarium, 
I see you with these eight year old eyes
and I am agog.

You live in a library, 
well a tank amongst tomes,
couched on pillows I sit,
gazing into your home,
glass clear, 
spindles of light pierces, 
revealing the base 
to your personal pond. 

Foliage shudders as you blunder 
through thicket,
face touches calm and ripples emanate
as I watch you slide into your sea
and rest, 
my enemy the bell
signalling the end of break.