Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Sharon Bryant

August 23, 2006

SNAKE!

Sharon Bryant

Someone on Storytime is a good friend of mine.  You all know her.  It's Carol.  She will help you if you need it, and the other night I needed some help, so late in the evening, Carol came to my rescue.

A few days ago I was watering my rose bushes.  I had reached down to pull some weeds when a snake slithered out from under the bush.  It was a baby, but it was unusual in color.  It was about 9 inches long, round head (so that means non-poisonous) but the head part for about 3 inches was black and silver stripes.  The rest of the body was a bright blue.  I jumped back when I saw it and it slithered away in the grass.

Carol and I were talking about it the other night.  Neither of us had ever heard of a snake with those colors.  So Carol started looking at snakes online and was sending me photos to see if anything came close to the color of the snake.  She sent me many photos of snakes.

I'm not fond of snakes.  If there are any snake lovers on Storytime, I'm sorry, but I cannot stand a snake.  I prefer a dog for a pet, a bird, cats, and I could even tolerate having an elephant in my yard, but not a snake.

As the photos kept coming from Carol, my skin began to crawl.  I saw snakes coiled up, snakes about to strike, snakes entwined with other snakes.  After so many photos, I began to get this creepy crawly feeling on my skin.  It was midnight and I had about as much snake photos as I could take so I emailed Carol and told her I was going to bed.

Hubby has fallen asleep in his recliner.  Bob, our Corgi and Ladybug our Border Collie were sleeping in the hallway.  The computer room is in the back of our house.  I had not put the night light on in the kitchen yet so when I went to exit the bedroom, the hall was very dark with only the glint of the moon coming through the bathroom window.  The bathroom is across the hall when you exit the computer room.

I stepped into the hallway and my eye caught view of something lying on the floor right inside the bathroom door.  It was coiled, and suddenly, I saw it move.  I froze.  If I thought my skin was crawling just LOOKING at photos of snakes, my whole body went rigid when I saw what was lying on the floor.  I saw the tail and when it moved, my blood froze.  I couldn't yell out to my husband for fear it would come after me.  The dogs were a bit further down the hall, so they didn't see it.

I just turned 60 this past January.   Many years ago I used to broad jump in H.S.  I was pretty good at it. 

Trust me, folks my age still can run at 55 mph and we still can leap pretty high in the air.  I jumped, then I ran for the kitchen.  Both dogs knew something was wrong so they were both on my heels.  I hit the bathroom floor, turned on the light, then went back to the dining room (which is between the kitchen and bathroom) and hit that light.  One more light to go......I hit the hallway light.  And then, I slowly stuck my head around the corner to see the bathroom.

There on the floor I about died.  Ladybug had dragged her stuffed animal lion into the bathroom at some point.  It has a tail on it.  The tail had been lying on the floor vent.  When the air conditioner cut in, it made the tail move.  That was my snake.

Nothing like my cute, adorable Border Collie playing with her toys and not putting them back, giving me a heart attack.  I shall have to train her better to pick up her toys!

Sharon Bryant

1946@bellsouth.net