Happy Monday to all! :)
This week’s
prompt: This isn’t about you…
Slither on Over Here
Serious working title…trust me! lol
Part 3
copyright © 2015 Havan Fellows
Chapter Three
The blades of grass shifted, only slightly at
first. But as the slim green body grew in girth, the green being drained of any
blue aspects and vibrantly changing to a shiny gold, the grass more than
shifted. The blades bent and folded to the strength of the now thirteen foot
giant serpent that demanded its obedience.
He coiled under the bush not far from Marvin’s
window and watched him pull his jeans up and carefully button them sans
undergarments. He wondered about those special parts that the human race seemed
to keep covered in public. He knew Marvin had them, he’d seen many times while
watching this human. When the opportunity to investigate them up close
appeared, he couldn’t help himself.
It did seem to agitate Marvin, who usually took his
little visits with good humor. He wondered what was so special about those
parts that would cause Marvin to not want to share them with others.
What if he did share them? What if when he left on
his long visits he was sharing what he hid when here? That thought didn’t sit
well and he uncoiled to resettle himself in a different position.
“Son. What are you doing by this house again? And
in this form? You promised me never to use this too visible body again.”
“He misses it.” He answered his mother without
looking over to her. “He spoke of me to his parents again today.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I visited him again.”
“Son, you will endanger yourself with these trips
you make. He will capture you and kill you. It is their way.”
Marvin had long since finished dressing, but
instead of leaving the room and heading to his family he had taken a spot by
the window. The snake liked to think that Marvin was searching for him. Maybe,
if he flicked his tail out from under this sheltering bush Marvin would see and
come to him. He twitched his tail, inching it closer and closer to the patch of
grass with the sun beating down. In perfect view of the window and Marvin.
His mother hastily slithered over his tail and
successfully halted the movement. “Don’t even think about it. You go down that
path and there will be no coming back. He is man and you are serpent. There is
no future for you two.”
He raised his head and flared out his neck like
their brethren cobras. “I could be man.”
His mother hissed and mimicked his pose. “No! I won’t
lose you to some idle thoughts you may have about a creature unlike us. What is
your fascination with this one? You helped him out of trouble once, that is
all. You owe him nothing, you owe us allegiance. Stay where it is safe, my son.
Don’t dare for something that can be your undoing. If not for yourself, think
about us.”
“This is not about you,” he replied to his mother,
But he noted the urgency in her voice and rested back down to the ground. “I
don’t know. I don’t know why I’m drawn to this man every time he returns home.
Why I feel a loss when he is away. But if I do nothing, if I never venture to
find out, I will spend the rest of my time wondering. That is no life I look
forward to. This feeling in me, it is different than any I encountered before.
It is surrounded around him.”
His mother also relaxed back down and slithered
over him, wrapping around him tightly. “If you go to him as man, you may not be
able to come back. Remember the others. They never returned. I couldn’t bear
losing you.”
“We don’t know why they didn’t return, mother.
Maybe it was a choice they made?”
“Or maybe man killed them for their differences.”
He looked back to the window, now void of Marvin. “He
wouldn’t kill me. He is gentle and kind. In all the visits I’ve paid him not
once has he shown aggressiveness. It isn’t in him. He is different.”
“Yes, he is. He is man.”
He continued to stare at the empty window. Marvin
limited his time at home. He’d be leaving soon. He faced the same question he
asked himself every time Marvin came back. What if this was Marvin’s last time
home. What would he do then, live the remainder of his days wondering why he
was drawn to this man?
His mother was wrong, Marvin wasn’t like other men.
He didn’t hurt creatures for no reason.
Something stirred his instincts. He popped his head
up, his mother quickly following suit. Flicking his tongue out, he scented the
threat in the air.
“It’s that beast again.” His mother slithered to
the edge of the bush to investigate.
“Mother no!”
He was too late in his warning. The scent had
darted from the side of the bush to the back where his mother had moved. A
furry paw darted under the branches and leaves and swiped at his mother’s brown
back, disrupting the scales and tinting them slightly red.
His mother’s scream raked through his head. Without
thinking of the consequences he quickly charged out the side of the hedge.
Taking no time at all with his huge form he rounded the foliage and came up
behind the massive beast attacking his mother.
In one fluid movement he raised his head and
circled the beast’s midsection, constricting as he wrapped himself around and
around. The predator yelped and flung itself to the side, twisting his neck
trying to nip.
Even through the sting that shot through him from
the beast’s wild movements, he wouldn’t let go. He sensed his mother move from
underneath the bush and quickly head to their home. He constricted tighter when
the beast noticed her fleeing.
The beast threw himself to the ground and rolled to
his back, pushing his legs out into the air.
He could feel his skin dragging against the blades
of grass as the beast pushed him farther into the ground. He couldn’t remember
the last time he experienced pain like this. His scales peeling back just to be
pushed forward again, tearing apart with each kick the beast made.
Finally he couldn’t scent his mother anymore. He
hoped that she was a safe distance away and speeding home. He gradually
loosened his grip on the beast’s midsection, wondering the best way for him to
flee.
Once the beast felt him ease up he jumped to his
paws and wiggled free. Before he could slither away the beast turned on him and
he watched in terror as the beast’s jaws clamped down on his midsection.
***
Another mangled sound drifted in through the screen
door. “Is that Rufus again?” Marvin set his coffee cup down and shoved the last
piece of bacon into his mouth.
“Son, no one is gonna steal your meat. Biting and
chewing are good, you know?”
He rolled his eyes at his father. Another yip from
the backyard had him standing and moving over to the window by the sink. “Bacon
good.” He growled over his shoulder.
He chuckled at his father’s expression as he turned
to look out the window. Yeah that was Rufus alright. “Damn dog is rolling
around in our grass again, I thought the Horns fixed that fence.”
“Every year they fix it, and every year it breaks,
Marvin. Rufus doesn’t do any harm though.”
“It looks like he got wrapped in something.” Marvin
paused and squinted his eyes, “And it’s gold.” He burst through the screen door
and stood on the porch, trying to decipher what he was seeing. “Rufus!” He
attempted to get the mutt’s attention.
Suddenly the dog jumped to his feet and squirmed a
bit. Then he turned quickly and snapped at the thing that was wrapped around
him.
“Holy shit,” Marvin swore softly. Rufus had his
golden snake. “No! Rufus no!” He leaped off of the porch and ran across the
huge backyard toward the damn mutt. He couldn’t believe that all these years of
hunting for it came up with nothing, then one day the stupid neighbor’s mutt
decided to use it as a chew toy?
Unfortunately, once Rufus saw Marvin running toward
him he automatically thought it playtime. He shook his head back and forth then
took off into the woods, the snake’s long body twitching on both sides of him.
An average size dog wouldn’t be able to drag a snake that huge in his mouth.
Rufus wasn’t average. What type of dog Rufus was remained a mystery—they were
sure his parentage was mutt on both sides. But Marvin could testify from all
the times Rufus knocked him down and slobbered on him that he weighed in close
to a hundred pounds. Right now he was working that size to his benefit.
“Come on Rufus, stop and dropped the snake.” Marvin
dodged the trees just moments after Rufus, but he wasn’t gaining any ground.
The dog was in seventh heaven with his new toy and his playmate. He cut to the
left, the snake’s poor head bouncing off the ground to hit a sapling.
“Rufus stop.” Marvin put as much authority into his
voice as possible while sprinting to his body’s ultimate capacity.
Rufus slowed down to a leisurely skip, glancing
over his shoulder at him. Marvin breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed no
puncture holes in the golden scales. Rufus evidently wasn’t biting to harm,
even though the snake probably wouldn’t take solace in that fact right about
now.
Marvin stopped just feet away from the dog.
The majestic creature who saved his life so many
years ago, the one snake he searched for on a regular basis when he still lived
here...it killed him to see that proud animal hanging lifeless from the jaws of
this mutt.
Not to belittle Rufus, he liked the dog well
enough. But he loved this snake...dreamed of it and worshipped it for the
second half of his childhood into his adult years. To finally find his snake,
and know that there was an above average chance that Rufus’s play could be the
end of it. Completely unacceptable.
Holding out his hands he talked softly to the
animal, “Rufus puppy. Come on and drop the snake. You wanna play with me...we
can roll around in the leaves like you like. Come on big boy.”
Marvin took a step forward and Rufus hopped a bit
away. It looked like the snake was trying to flex his body in Rufus’s mouth,
but it appeared to be backfiring because it made the dog clench his jaw
tighter. Marvin saw the teeth imbedding in the scales, the beautiful golden
skin so close to being punctured.
Keeping his voice soothing and low, Marvin tried
again. “No no no, you handsome pupster you. Relax your jaw…you can’t play with
me if that nasty thing is hanging from your mouth.”
The snake suddenly flung his head and tail up simultaneously
in what appeared to be a frantic angry movement. Rufus reared on his back paws
for a moment as he shook his head side to side, elated that his new toy was
getting rambunctious.
Marvin kept eye contact with the dog as he knelt to
the ground. “You stop fighting, snake. I’m gonna get you out of this.” He didn’t
betray any of his anxiety in his voice. “You saved my life, now it is my turn
to save yours. Just please play possum. Just hang there and don’t draw
attention to yourself.
“Come on Rufus—”
He stopped his soft banter when the snake suddenly
hung limp in Rufus’s mouth. His heart skipped a beat when he thought that Rufus
had killed the snake. He looked closer, there were still no holes in the scaly
hide, no blood running down his circular long body. It was as if the snake
understood him and did play possum.
His need to save his snake ratcheted up a few notches
and he continued his soft lullaby to the dog, “Come on you baby, drop the toy
and come get me.” Good thing it wasn’t the words that mattered but the tone,
because he was almost out of nice words to say to the fucking dog. He couldn’t
believe he was trying to communicate to a dog to save a snake’s life, but
weirder things had happened to him. Namely this golden snake protecting him
from the bullies. It had to be the same one, how many golden huge snakes could
there be?
Marvin started patting his thighs. “Rufus, come
here boy. Drop the snake and bring your mangy self over here. I’ll even let you
lick my mouth like you like.” He made a face but kept his tone sweet and
endearing. “Come on and play with me.”
A couple more hard thumps to his thighs and he had
Rufus’s full attention. He dropped the snake and jumped at Marvin.
Rufus’s quick change in attention didn’t give
Marvin a chance to brace for his attack. Huge front paws landed on Marvin’s
shoulders and propelled him backwards. The wind was knocked out of him, his
head bounced off the ground and he didn’t have time to straighten his bent legs
when the dead leaves under him started to slide. He tried to reach out and grab
something but his hazy mind wouldn’t work and he followed the leaves down the
hill.
He felt the little sticks jabbing into his skin as
he rolled down the embankment. His head banged back and forth and every time he
tried to throw his arms out for leverage his body flipped over again and his
wrists would bend backwards.
Finally his body was jolted to a halt against a
thick tree. His head lolled to the side and he looked up the hill. Rufus and
the snake seemed to be staring down at him. As his vision blurred and black
dots started appearing he saw the golden snake stretch up to the sky. Suddenly
a naked man was running down the embankment toward him.
To
be cont’d…
The
fun is never over with just one turn—we are the Story Orgy™ remember *winks*—so
head over to the next blog and enjoy multiples with us…
Oooo, snake shifter? Wood elf? Something else entirely?! Loving this! More please!! And bad Rufus, BAD DOG!
ReplyDeleteI call cheating! This is titled part #3, but I only see a part #1 prior to this. Hmm...
ReplyDelete