AM I A SNAKE?

I hear the sound of the animal’s awake beginning to start their hunt as I feel a beam of sunlight hit my scaly snake skin. I stretch slowly by unraveling myself from the somewhat wide ball I sleep in. I start to slither around when I hear a familiar crackling sound in the grass. Anxious to find out what it was, I continue to slither around toward the direction. I finally reach what seems to be my destination, when I find I’m blocked by a small bush. I poke my head through to see what I’ve been hearing hopefully curing my anxiety.

That’s when I saw it! It was another snake, about 3 inches longer then I, complimented by red scales with yellow stripes containing black outlines; it was very beautiful compared to my dull mud brown scale color. It was about 8ft compared to my average 5ft length. Not only did it look better then I, it moved with reflexes so quick in the blink of an eye it could be wrapped completely around you. Everything about this snack made me wonder. In awe I feel myself slithering farther and farther out to see more, when I notice the snake was devouring a bird. For some odd reason I couldn’t stop staring.

Seeing the fluffy plump bird that contained only a few amounts of feathers took me back in time. It was a couple years ago in my earlier snake days, months after leaving the egg. It was a cold windy night and I was slithering around looking for a cave to sleep in, when suddenly I felt a sense of hunger. I stopped moving while I sat and debated whether to go find a meal or to just find shelter and wait till the morning. I decided to just go find shelter, as I continued to slither towards the cave direction I hear a wild flapping noise in a bush. Off impulse I hurried to the spot preparing to eat. I finally reached the spot and found my prey. It was a baby bird trapped in the bristles of the bush unable to escape.

Easiest prey in the world I thought to myself. Without hesitation I slither towards it until I’m in range to attack. I slowly stand up tall rapidly hissing in order to pin point the exact spot I want to strike. In less than a second I take my strike. As I latch on and begin to suck it in I hear another sound. The sound was flapping noises again, but this time getting farther and farther, higher and higher. It was the bird escaping; instead of the bird it turned out I struck the branch preventing its escape.

As I sit and watch the snake devouring this bird I can’t help but envy it. As it seeps its 2in fangs through the bird slowly swallowing it, I stare without movement questioning myself. Why couldn’t I devour that bird long ago? What did I do wrong? Do I deserve to be a snake?