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Snakes in the House
Sarah Sito
One day this past summer, after my brother’s family and I had enjoyed the beach, we came home in high spirits. As we were walking into the living room, there was an unbelievable sight that caught our eyes. A snake was eating a frog. The snake was white and as big as a beer bottle. We stared at it. The snake became aware of us, but it didn’t want to forsake the food. We were so shocked that it seemed like time was standing still.
Suddenly my brother said, “Let’s go around it.” So we put down the bags softly and drove to the nearest McDonald’s.
My nephew was so excited and said, “How cool is that snake? I want to catch it and make it my pet.”
What a joke he had just told. His mother said, “Not only would the snake eat your hamster and crabs, but also if we keep it, the police would arrest us. You won’t be able to see us.”
But what could we do next? My brother said to his wife, “I go outside every day and just stay home at night, so I don’t care.”
His wife said, “I got it. If one morning when you find a snake is sleeping next to you, don’t cry out.”
Why were they joking around at this urgent time? After about an hour, we opened the door carefully and went into the living room. The snake had disappeared and only some blood on the floor reminded us that the snake had once been there. At once we started our strategy. We set up video cameras around the living room, that might confirm if the snake we had was poisonous or not. After that we felt nervous because even just sitting at the table we assumed that the snake could bite our feet. I asked my nephew, “My room is nearest to the living room. Can you share your room with me?” and made a pitiful face. But he refused without hesitation.
I didn’t have a choice, and I wasn’t able to sleep, so I searched and I found out from some myths that snakes would bring wealth and luck. I couldn’t help imagining how rich I would be, and I chuckled to myself.
From that day on, nothing happened, and the snake never came again. When at last we felt relieved, something even stranger appeared. A glue trap for catching cockroaches had caught a new snake, smaller and lighter-colored than the previous one, stuck and still wriggling. Maybe the first snake and this one were mother and baby.
We were scared that if the baby snake died in our home, the mother snake would want revenge. We were in a panic and urgently called the police and City Hall. Finally the city zoo agreed to come and rescue our snake and take care of it.
After the summer, I came back to New York. No news about the snake. This year is the year of the snake, so could the snakes really have come to bring something special just for us?
