Kaylie was a zoologist working for a conservation center in Brazil. Two weeks ago, a patron of the center had asked for a few snakes to be brought with a zoologist to present them at his son’s birthday party. Instantly, Kaylie had volunteered. It had been so long since she had been in the city after she had run away five years ago, the prospect of going back to her hometown had appealed to her. All until she had realized that the house where she would be presenting the snakes was the same place where her grandmother was now housekeeping.
Kaylie carried the crates occupied by snakes proudly down the passageway, speeding up ever so often to catch up with the maid. Eventually, they reached a large empty room where the maid explained some rules about her stay herez and told her to wait in the room until the party called for her.
“I understand.” Kaylie nodded politely, eagerly waiting for the maid to leave. Once she had, she turned back to her snakes like an excited child. There were just four but they were her favorites. A slender broad headed cobra, a water snake swimming in its tank, a handsome black one, and- a shiver went up her spine when she saw that the last crate was empty.
In a few seconds, Kaylie was barreling through the empty room for the missing snake, but it was nowhere to be found, yet she forced herself to keep checking.
She heard someone grumble at the door, and instinctively stepped to hide the cage, but it was too late.
“Move.” She heard her grandmother say. Kaylie felt her heart hammer as the plump stout woman strode towards her, her white hair bun bobbing on her head as she shoved Kaylie to the side, gasping when she saw the empty cage.
“I can-”
“No. No, you can’t. I knew this job was terrible.” Her grandma muttered the last few words, making towards the door but Kaylie caught her by the hand. “Please. You can’t tell. I’ll find the snake. I swear I will, but if you tell them I could lose my job and everything I’ve worked so hard for.” Kaylie said in desperation.
Her grandmother took a moment to consider, her eyes flitting across Kaylie’s troubled face, before her expression turned dead pan and she grabbed the empty crate. And for some reason, it still broke Kaylie’s heart to realize that her grandmother was just as disappointed in her today, as she had been so long ago. That seeing her with the other staff in he dining room yesterday hadn’t just been a truck of light, nor the presence of a family member in the house been just a mistaken rumor. She had really been avoiding her, until now.
“Go. Present the other, reptiles.” Her grandma said, as though the last word was bitter in her mouth. “Distract the attendees, and keep them in one corner of the room. I’ll look for the snake and bring it to you.”
The party
was a mesmerizing mess. With a maze of pipes full of kids throttling through it near the ceiling, and ziplines near the entrance, it was like a scaled down amusement park. The dance floor was packed with children, and the walls were lined with tables stacked with delicacies Kaylie had never seen before, but she wasted no time getting back stage, too distracted by the missing snake to be able to marvel at her surroundings. She shoved through the crowd of performers with a force field of snake-crates to finally get past the curtains.
Unhesitatingly, Kaylie grabbed the mic from the last performer and placed her crates down. “Step right up to get to know snakes from the Amazon rainforest!” A few curious eyes darted up at the crates. What had her grandma said again? Perform. But, she wasn’t a performer. Stumped in front of a crowd of aristocrats, Kaylie stared at them nervously. Her breaths came in shallow in her chest. She saw her grandmother in the crowd, the crate still empty in her hand, but her sharp eyes focused on Kaylie now. She nodded, and Kaylie began to ease into a story.
Initially, all she could hear was her loud thudding hear. All the crowd could hear was her voice, shaky with doubt and fear. However, when she began to look to her snakes, her voice seemed to grow louder and stronger. Just like in the forest. When she presented to a group of ten or fifteen. Kaylie smiled as she introduced the snakes and recounted their stories of founding and development while watching them slither and poke around their heads in response. It suddenly became easier for her to forget the snake she was missing, and her grandmother who hated her.
When she finished, it was to ravenous applause and an impressed birthday boy who had just got a chance to handle all three of the snakes. It was the silence that reminded Kaylie of her situation again.
Kaylie jumped off the stage with her crates before the crowd even stopped applauding, instead running back to the room they had escorted her to earlier where she placed her crates. The more time passed, the bigger her worries grew. The snake could be anywhere by now. She would be stripped of her license if the snake was found by anyone other than her grandmother.
Kaylie shook her head. It was still possible that her grandmother would tell her employer, she thought as she reached the room.
She got out the snake catcher from her kit, instantly regretting not remembering to provide her grandmother with it. How would she have captured the missing snake even if she had found it? The line of thought made Kaylie queasy with every creeping step she took down the corridor.
Finding a missing snake
She peeked in every room, most were occupied by entertainers and identically empty of paint and furniture besides props and suitcases. Most people were at the party. She considered rechecking there for the snake, but she trusted her grandmother had done that. The passageway was so long though, the number of rooms never seemed to end. The snake could be anywhere. Her best hope was that her grandma had not scared it into attacking her, and that it hadn’t fled to another floor.
Kaylie was startled by a loud ringing sound behind her. She turned to a dish rolling on the wooden floor, out of the last room. Kaylie ran towards it.
The sight she saw there caused her heart to skip a beat. Her grandmother was wrapped up by the thick lithe missing snake they had been searching for. Its yellow scales glimmered with bright blue patches as its grip around her grandma tightened, causing her glasses to slip off as she leaned her head back as far as she could from its zipping tongue.
The ones we choose to forget
It felt like a nightmare. Kaylie’s hands trembled as she approached them, her breaths came out shaky. She motioned with her hands for her grandmother to crouch. Her grandmother heeded her advice, slowly going down. Kaylie realized there were tears in the old woman’s eyes, consequently, immense guilt filled her. Her grandma had chosen to risk her life to help her, despite the past five years. The thought made the hair on her neck rise as she neared the snake. She blinked, shaking her head while the snake began to lower off of her grandmother’s body and onto the floor. She brought her snake catcher to it, and just as soon as it was completely off, she caught it by the neck.
Her grandma half ran, half stumbled towards the empty cage in the corner of the room, and Kaylie noticed a trail of eggs leading into it. She threw the cage near Kaylie who released the snake into it, slamming the door shut on it when it tried to lunge out. The sound of the lock clicking caused both of them to sigh in relief.
Kaylie let go of the snake catcher, her hands sweaty and clammy. She turned to her grandma, a short scared woman now with a tear stricken face. “You did so well Kaylie. I-I don’t know what I was thinking baiting the snake in with those eggs. I saw it on youtube, and I know you had once told me to not believe everything I see on the internet but-” Her grandmother’s voice cracked.
Without thinking twice, Kaylie hugged her. They stood in silence for a few seconds, when Kaylie felt her grandmother shaking in her arms, and her shoulder sleeve get wet with the old woman’s tears. “I’m sorry.” She heard her break down. The loss of composure not only startled Kaylie, but also broke something inside her. Her grandmother wasn’t cold. She wasn’t heartless. Kaylie pat the back of her head. She wouldn’t be the one leaving. Not this time.
The snake hissed in its crate, it’s dark eyes gleaming at the reunion.
Sources:
Image: https://www.thesprucepets.com/snake-species-1239472
Upcoming:
An exciting detective story about a killer with the ability to read people’s minds trying to sabotage the case of a famous detective with an ability of his own! Who will win? https://saragawde.com/the-murderous-mind-reader-chapter-1/