“Snake Food”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Oh, come on!”

I stare up at the apple.

“Oh, come on,” I sigh, taking a step away from the juicy fruit.

It’s literally right there. Right. There. But of course there’s got to be a giant, vicious snake right in between me and that little piece of heaven.

The snake uncoils itself slightly until its eyes meet mine.

“Oh, hey, I recognize you,” I say, staring back at the snake. “You’re Sie. You ate my sister last year.”

Sie doesn’t blink once, holding my eyes. I begin to tremble slightly and take another small step back. As I move, he follows me, slithering forward slightly to maintain the distance between us.

“I, uh, I’ll just go find another apple then I guess,” I mutter, continuing to back away.

In a flash, Sie’s encircled me. His rough scales rub against my skin; I’m definitely going to have some bald patches later. Strange, how I’m thinking about bald patches when I’m not going to be around for anyone to see later.

He’s staring at me again, his unblinking eyes strangely hypnotic.

“So…” I say, clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, “how’s your day been?”

His tongue flicks out, just barely brushing the tips of the fur on my cheek.

“I mean, my day was actually going pretty well until I saw that nice apple up there in your tree,” I say. “But you know what? I’m not even hungry anymore. Isn’t that crazy? I’m literally always hungry. Like, I’ll never not eat. And I’ll eat pretty much everything. Just stick something in front of my mouth and I’ll probably eat it. But I’m not hungry right now! Isn’t that fantastic? Look at that, you’ve cured my obsessive eating habit! Really, I should be thanking you. So thank you, I guess, for finally stopping my eating habit which was, quite frankly, disgusting, but also necessary. Did I tell you that I hibernate? Yeah, it’s such a weird thing, hibernation, don’t you think? I mean, I guess you wouldn’t know what it’s like, to fall asleep in one season then wake up and it’s suddenly completely different outside. Oh, and you want to know something else that’s insane? I saw my first snowflake a few days ago! I’ve never seen a snowflake before! And… oh… you’re… squeezing… me… excuse… me… can’t… breathe…”

Final Comments: Huh…

Overall Rating: 😳