Benny and the Snake
There is no feeling in the world comparable to being within the grasp of a snake's fleshy, squirming tail.
The sun was hot and the humid stifling air was oppressive as the shirtless, shoeless little boy made his way down the embankment of thick switch grasses to the woods just north of the homestead to do a little exploring. Benny's red swimming trunks were stained with a half summer of exploration already; so they hardly stood out as he trudged through the waist to chest deep grassy hill. Much to his mother’s chagrin, Benny often spent entire summer days away from the house returning only at dark, and the woods down the hill were a favorite spot for him.
As he descended he thought of the stream, the pond, the two small islands and the animals that he’d seen in these woods. He’d seen mockingbirds, snapping turtles, a bobcat and a number of deer. He descended toward the little pond that he’d helped Daddy dig two years before with nothing on his mind except checking on his forts and perhaps building another. It was the feeling of a living, writhing finger encircling his right ankle that woke Benny out of his sweaty, walking trance. His greatest fear confronted him.
The blue racer, the second largest he'd ever seen, lay in the grass nearly straight and unmoving. Benny, frozen in terror, followed the sky-blue body with his eyes, and it went on and on at least twice as long as he was tall. The last time he had been frozen in fear was at his grandpa's farm when a blue racer 12 feet long reared up at him about twice his height. That time he couldn't move, couldn't yell or even breathe. He just watched as the behemoth swirled away and whipped through the downed trees from the land that has just been cleared.
As a boy of nine, Benny had no greater fear than that of being attacked by a blue racer. Fear cinched his little muscles tight nailing him to where he stood. Finally, Benny's eyes found the shifty, diamond head with the blue racers black, depthless eyes.
The spell broke, and Benny ran back up the hill to the tool shed behind the house. The Benjamin air rifle, the 22 caliber with real wooden stock and hand rest, came off the wall and Benny pumped it as he ran back. The gun was nearly as big as he was, and Benny had to hold the hand pump part against his chest while he pulled the gun, pointed straight up, toward himself with both arms. One. Two. Three... Ten, just as he came up on the baby blue demon.
He dropped the gun to his side, slid open the breach and carefully placed a single lead pellet inside. Locked and ready he stalked the snake. Alert and tense he circled looking for a clean shot. When he found a shot he liked he aimed and the air gun spurted a soft retort. A red dot appeared on the snake head and it jerked to the left. The blue racer's body jerked in a series of spiraling loops before going limp.
The mighty shirtless, barefooted hunter circled his kill slowly scanning the scene. He'd only made about a half circle around the snake when it started to move almost imperceptibly at first. But as it started to jerk back and forth, Benny started going through the routine of pumping the Benjamin again in a calm frenzy. Luckily Benny was wise beyond years, and he knew not only that he had to kill that snake which he feared or he'd never enjoy his woods again but also that a hunter should carry spare ammunition.
By the time the air rifle was loaded a brown snake was about two feet out of the dead blue racer's mouth and was writhing backwards in order to escape. It emerged and started to limp away in a slow slither. It seemed disoriented and stunned, so it took little effort for Benny to put the muzzle of the gun to the head and pull the trigger. Only after the fact did he realize the brown snake was a Michigan Rattler.
Benny never told his parents about the snake incident. He was afraid that his mother wouldn't let him play in the woods again.
There is no feeling in the world comparable to being within the grasp of a snake's fleshy, squirming tail.
The sun was hot and the humid stifling air was oppressive as the shirtless, shoeless little boy made his way down the embankment of thick switch grasses to the woods just north of the homestead to do a little exploring. Benny's red swimming trunks were stained with a half summer of exploration already; so they hardly stood out as he trudged through the waist to chest deep grassy hill. Much to his mother’s chagrin, Benny often spent entire summer days away from the house returning only at dark, and the woods down the hill were a favorite spot for him.
As he descended he thought of the stream, the pond, the two small islands and the animals that he’d seen in these woods. He’d seen mockingbirds, snapping turtles, a bobcat and a number of deer. He descended toward the little pond that he’d helped Daddy dig two years before with nothing on his mind except checking on his forts and perhaps building another. It was the feeling of a living, writhing finger encircling his right ankle that woke Benny out of his sweaty, walking trance. His greatest fear confronted him.
The blue racer, the second largest he'd ever seen, lay in the grass nearly straight and unmoving. Benny, frozen in terror, followed the sky-blue body with his eyes, and it went on and on at least twice as long as he was tall. The last time he had been frozen in fear was at his grandpa's farm when a blue racer 12 feet long reared up at him about twice his height. That time he couldn't move, couldn't yell or even breathe. He just watched as the behemoth swirled away and whipped through the downed trees from the land that has just been cleared.
As a boy of nine, Benny had no greater fear than that of being attacked by a blue racer. Fear cinched his little muscles tight nailing him to where he stood. Finally, Benny's eyes found the shifty, diamond head with the blue racers black, depthless eyes.
The spell broke, and Benny ran back up the hill to the tool shed behind the house. The Benjamin air rifle, the 22 caliber with real wooden stock and hand rest, came off the wall and Benny pumped it as he ran back. The gun was nearly as big as he was, and Benny had to hold the hand pump part against his chest while he pulled the gun, pointed straight up, toward himself with both arms. One. Two. Three... Ten, just as he came up on the baby blue demon.
He dropped the gun to his side, slid open the breach and carefully placed a single lead pellet inside. Locked and ready he stalked the snake. Alert and tense he circled looking for a clean shot. When he found a shot he liked he aimed and the air gun spurted a soft retort. A red dot appeared on the snake head and it jerked to the left. The blue racer's body jerked in a series of spiraling loops before going limp.
The mighty shirtless, barefooted hunter circled his kill slowly scanning the scene. He'd only made about a half circle around the snake when it started to move almost imperceptibly at first. But as it started to jerk back and forth, Benny started going through the routine of pumping the Benjamin again in a calm frenzy. Luckily Benny was wise beyond years, and he knew not only that he had to kill that snake which he feared or he'd never enjoy his woods again but also that a hunter should carry spare ammunition.
By the time the air rifle was loaded a brown snake was about two feet out of the dead blue racer's mouth and was writhing backwards in order to escape. It emerged and started to limp away in a slow slither. It seemed disoriented and stunned, so it took little effort for Benny to put the muzzle of the gun to the head and pull the trigger. Only after the fact did he realize the brown snake was a Michigan Rattler.
Benny never told his parents about the snake incident. He was afraid that his mother wouldn't let him play in the woods again.
1 comment:
SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN! i KNOW WHO YOUR SPEAKING OF AND i AGREE TO A POINT. ADOPTION FOR KIDS THAT JUST BECAUSE THIER PARENTS WEREN'T MARRIED!? WHY PUNISH THE MOTHER OR THE CHILD BY TAKING THE CHILDREN AWAY JUST BECAUSE THE DAD IS A DEAD BEAT?
GROWING UP MY MOTHER AND FATHER WEREN'T MARRIED BUT MY FATHER WAS ALWAYS AROUND AND WAS A REAL FATHER. I TURNED OUT OK, DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK LOL
I HAVE FOUR BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN THAT I WOULD GIVE THE WORLD. TWO OF THEM BORN ILLEGITAMATE.I WAS YOUNG AND I THOUGHT I WAS IN LOVE BUT REALLY I HAD NO IDEA WHAT LOVE WAS UNTIL I MET MY HUSBAND NOW OF 8 YEARS THAT HAS TAKEN TOO MY TWO BOYS LIKE THEY WERE HIS OWN.i HAD NO IDEA THE JERK WOULD NOT COME HOME OR THAT HE WOULD HAVE 4 OTHER CHILDREN BESIDES MY OWN.
I'M NOT STICKING UP FOR THE DEAD BEAT DADS THAT PLAY AND DON'T PAY OR REALLY CONTRIBUTE AT ALL TO THEIR UPBRINGING, JUST THE ADOPTION THING YOU SAID AT THE END.
TO EACH HIS OWN OPINION BUT I THOUGHT I'D GIVE YOU MINE.
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS.I MUSTA PRESSED THE BUTTON SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE LOL
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