SNAKE

Adrian Korpel

"Snake !" Leonard yelled, jumping back hurriedly from the spot where he'd heard the rattling. The trail was narrow, and he bumped hard into Lisa who was following close behind. 

 "Christ," he said, " that rattlesnake almost bit me. Look over there, under the leaves. See the diamond markings on its back?" 

 "There are no rattlesnakes in Canada," Lisa said, "and those spots on his back aren't diamonds, they're ovals. You're panicking again, darling."

 "What about the rattling then; you think I dreamed that up?" 

 "Of course you did. You have a great imagination, especially when you're scared." 

 "I tell you, it rattled." 

 "Okay, so it rattled. What does that prove? A lot of snakes move their tail in the dead leaves to imitate rattlers. It's called mimicry. You can look it up if you don't believe me." 

 "Dead leaves? In the middle of summer?" 

 "There must be leaves left from last fall. And if it wasn't leaves, then maybe it moved its tail in the grass."  

 "That would make a swishing sound, not a rattling sound." 

 "Not if the grasses are stiff; they'd rattle." 

 " You mean if they are reeds, I suppose. But we're on the edge of an escarpment, Lisa dear, hundreds of feet above the level of the lake. Where in God's name would we find reeds?" 

 "Where you heard the snake rattle, I'd imagine. Why don't you look?" 

 "Thank you very much; why don't you look?" 

 "Oh, all right, I will. It's a perfectly harmless snake and has probably left now anyway. I don't see it anymore." 

 But the snake hadn't left yet. It had been listening with interest to the conversation. It had been remembering old snake myths, legends about the time that the first woman had framed the first snake for making her steal the apple of knowledge. When God had taken away the first snake's feet for punishment. So that from then on snakes had crawled on their bellies through hot sand and cold mud. Which made it all right for everybody to despise them and beat them up. She's got knowledge all right, the snake thought, boy does she have knowledge. She has come a long way. How could she be so wrong about snakes? 

 And when Lisa stepped closer to find the reeds that rattled, he bit her.