A True Story, WW Draft #2

"What was that?" Tommy whispers as he runs through the kitchen. Mom looked up from reading her magazine in the glider. It was just turning dark and the light from her lamp was beginning to be useful. She noticed his puzzled look and asked what was wrong.



"I think there's something underneath the kitchen rug."



Mom gets up from the glider. I put another spoonful of rainbow sherbet into my mouth as I glance over to Tommy. Troy walks into the kitchen to take a break from studying and grabs a bowl of cereal. He doesn't notice my mom and Tommy looking around he rug. I'm sure Dad would have been in the kitchen too for some reason had it not been that he was out of town on business. I ask Mom what she's doing when I notice her walking around the rug.

"I think there's something under this rug" she says as she lifts up a corner. "AAaaaaHhhhhh!"



We all look toward my mom who is backing away from the rug- right as a baby rattler coils up on top of it. There we are, the four of us, spread out around the kitchen surrounding this baby rattler in the middle of the rug. We look at each other without speaking, wondering what to do. Dad is gone...he usually takes care of any bugs, mice, snakes, or other rodents. I decide to speak first.



"Mom, what do we do? Aren't baby rattlesnakes the most dangerous?"



She looks at me hard while thinking about what to do. She doesn't have a chance to figure something out.



Without a warning, the electricity goes out leaving the four of us and the snake alone in the kitchen.

"Ok kids, I want each of you to go the nearest door and run over to Bill's house. We'll see if he can help us. "

This night was turning into something out of a horror film! I moved toward the garage door to make my way over to Bill's, who lived next door. My other family members managed to make it through the dark towards Bill's as well. Bill was a WWII veteran who wasn't afraid of anything. He had often helped my father with bigger tasks...capturing a scorpion, scaring a bobcat away from the backyard, and capturing numerous other snakes. A baby rattler was not new to his list.

We started to explain the problem to Bill when the electricity came back on. Bill went to the garage to get his shovel and the five of us headed back toward our house. Upon entering the kitchen the rattlesnake was nowhere to be found. In the few minutes it had taken us to get Bill it had wondered off. Now it was time to hunt for the snake. There was no way that I was going to be able to sleep tonight knowing that it was on the loose. Mom sent my two younger brothers back over to Bill's house while I was left with the adults to search for the snake. I peaked around each piece of furniture with dread. I did not want to be the one to find it.

Loveseat, check.
End table, check.
Glider, scream.

There it was and it was slithering right towards me! I jumped on the couch and saw it coil and prepare to lunge at me. Before it could reach me, Bill's shovel found it. I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for Bill. My mom helped calm me down while Bill buried the rattler's head outside. Troy and Tommy rejoined us and we spent the rest of the night talking about how crazy the sequence of events we experienced that night really was!