Snake! - Day 124: 5 Minute Freewrite

wordymouth (61)in #freewrite • 7 years ago (edited)

Taken in Santa Cruz California, by Julia Larson. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Prompt master @mariannewest must have know this would be a Monday/Tuesday after the US President's Day Holiday. I spent my day off doing nothing. And now I must pay.

The prompt today is Snake. And I happen to have an easy tale to tell.

When I was roughly 3, my family would spend a lot of time at my grandmother's house near the Mexico border 100 miles east of San Diego. The ranch was a magical place. Grandma Kay had a collection of peacocks that would wander between the trees. It was a hot, dusty, place so close to the border. But the ranch was an oasis of sorts and never seemed unpleasant.

I remember wandering the yard and finding a place to sit on a chase lounge under one of the trees. I climbed up on the seat and pushed my way to the back. I was lying on the chase lounge when suddenly a big snake jumped up the end of the chaise. It bit my toe and left a purple mark on my foot.

My mother almost lost it and came running to my aid. My father went looking for the snake with my grandfather. He carried a large shovel around the yard. Finally, he found the snake.

I didn't know the difference about snakes back then. I knew the snake had a big head, was gold and brown, and really fast. I was sure it was a rattlesnake. It turned out to be a good snake, a gopher snake. Why it bit me, I don't know. Probably, being small, I just managed to sit on it!

They took me in the house for a bandaid and I must have fallen asleep because I found myself in my home. The next year my grandparents moved to Oregon and I never visited the ranch again.

My childhood was a serious of misadventures. I will tell you the time I nearly drowned when I have more time.