The Snake Charmer

VII

After filling up my bag, I turned and looked in the mirror, seeing the fear and sadness that filled my gut as I thought about everything that was about to happen to me. Here I was about to leave behind my entire life, my home. I know I have always lived by myself, but at the same time I truly did feel alone, even though I wasn't.

"How do you wish to travel? I have money I can use to get us a plane if you like, or do you have different plans?" I asked as I wiped my face free of the tears, eventually turning around to look at him.

"I wish to travel along land, from there we will head toward the ocean where we should receive help crossing the sea to what you humans call Snake Island." Caspen answered as he walked up toward me in his human form.

"You live on Snake Island?" I asked as I looked at him. "I mean, of course, it just makes sense, living around the rarest and the deadliest of snakes in the world."

"You didn't seem to be bothered by snakes at...what did you call it? The zoo?" Caspen asked as he approached her.

"That is different. These were all snakes I knew about, whereas most of the snakes on Snake Island, nobody has even dared to really get a look at what is there." I replied as I looked at him. "Not just that, they may react to me being near you a little more treatningly than even the snakes in my own home. You already have said you can't promise me complete protection when coming with you, yet the second I step onto that island, a single snake bite could lead to game over."

Looking at him, he seemed like he wanted to retort to that exclaim that I had just given him, yet in his eyes, I could tell that he understood what I was talking about. That I was correct about the risk I had of going with him. "You know what, forget it. Let's just go, ya know. I mean it's not like it is my own life at risk." I cried as I grabbed my keys and my bag. "I mean, let's just have a mere adventure, while we are at it." I walked around him to leave the room, but he merely grabbed my arm and pulled me back to look at him.

"I will do my best to protect you, but I need you to trust me. You're right to be worried, but let me worry about that for you." Caspen spoke, as he looked me in the eye. "If I have to, I will have you wait at a civilization nearby to make sure they won't attack you when you arrive with me. Ok?"

I merely nodded back to him, before walking out to my car and loading my bag into the trunk. Walking back into my house, I saw all of my snakes were grouped together on the other side of the door, looking right at me. Taking a quick glace behind me, I walked in and closed the door behind me. I saw Clyde as always land on top of my shoulders as he usually does, coiling up around my neck in the process, which brought a small smile to my lips as he looked at me in the face, his forked tongue sticking out at me in the process.

"Hey, buddy." I muttered as I reached up and stroked his scales. I looked down and saw Jewel slithering up my leg, befure I saw several of the others follow her in the process, as some of them jumped onto me while others slithered up to me, making me laugh as I crouched down and found myself covered by all of them. Scales rubbing up and down my skin, while I also felt tongues near my ears or along my face in the process.

"What has gotten into all of you guys? You act like I am gonna leave you all here. If he thinks I am gonna do that, he's wrong." I spoke as I looked at the snakes, only to look up and see a small, dark blue snake slithering up toward me.

"How the heck are you so small?" I cried as I looked at him, only for the snake to merely ignore the question and slither up my arm that I was using to support myself from falling over. Sighing, I brought myself up to my feet and opened the door, as several of the snakes were either coiled around my limbs, or even my chest as some of them slithered out the door after me as I walked over to the car and helped them up into the back seats. This felt pretty weird, the idea of driving a car with tons of snakes inside it, on the loose, but at the same time I was not just gonna leave them at home on their own. Heading back in the house, I grabbed a couple of rats to feed them on the drive in the process, filiing up a bucket to put in the car, since I didn't want anyone eating eachother on the long drive.

Locking up the house, I sighed as I looked at the door to where I had been living for the past couple of years, part of me sad that I leaving, but the other part of me felt excited for a new adventure. Feeling something gently bite my ear, I turned my head to find Caspen looking right at me on my shoulder. Sighing, I went back in the house on instinct and walked to where my room was, making sure there wasn't anything I truly wanted to forget, but as I turned to my closet, I saw a box on the shelf in my closet, and grabbed it. It was closed up, and was something I knew that I had not opened in years, but yet some instinctive part of me told me to grab it and take it with me.

Feeling the same snake nudge my ear again, I sighed as I close the closet door and walked out of my room with the box in my hands, walking out the door in the process as I did. Approaching my car, I slid into the driver seat, making sure none of the snakes were sitting in it as I did, before I set my box down in the passenger floor space. Putting my seatbelt on, I turned and looked at the several snakes that were either on me, or around me in the car, sighing.

Inserting the key into the ignition, I turned my car on and looked at the house, before taking a deep breath and pulled out onto the road, leaving everything behind.