I am 8 years old. I see a 9 foot viper nearby, ra
I am 8 years old. I see a 9 foot viper nearby, razor sharp fangs gleaming in the sunlight. It slithered closer. Human, why are you here It hissed. I…got lost I whimper. It revealed a line of razor sharp jaws. AHHHHHHHH! I yell. What the fuck? I say. Child, You should not be saying that!! It said in anger. How could you say that, you are just a child It added.
The world was a symphony of chirping crickets and rustling leaves. I, a scrawny eight-year-old with a scraped knee and a heart pounding like a drum solo, stumbled through the dense undergrowth. My breath hitched in my throat. A shadow stretched across the path, long and sinuous. It was a viper, nine feet of coiled muscle, its emerald scales shimmering like a thousand tiny gemstones in the dappled sunlight. Its razor-sharp fangs glinted, glinting like polished obsidian.
“Human,” the snake hissed, its voice a chilling rasp. “Why are you here?”
My legs turned to jelly. “I…I got lost,” I whimpered, my voice barely a whisper.
The snake moved closer, its scales whispering against the dry leaves. The sun glinted off its fangs, illuminating the jagged line of deadly teeth. A primal fear seized me.
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!” I screamed, the sound echoing through the silent woods.
“What the fuck?” I yelled, my voice a strange mix of fear and anger.
The snake recoiled, its eyes narrowed. “Child!” it hissed, its voice dripping with indignation. “You should not be saying that! How could you say that, you are just a child!”
It was then I realized what had happened. The snake was not a monster, but a creature of the woods, as lost and confused as I was. We were both scared, both trapped in a situation we didn’t understand.
A wave of guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry,” I choked out. “I didn’t mean it. I’m scared.”
The snake, its anger subsiding, shifted slightly. “Scared?” it asked, its voice a soft rustle. “It is a natural emotion. Tell me, child, where is your home?”
And so, we sat there in the forest, the snake and the boy, two lost souls sharing a silent understanding. The fear, though still present, was no longer a barrier. It was a bridge, connecting us, a bond forged in the heart of the wild.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple, the snake, who introduced himself as Silas, led me through the woods. The path he showed me was hidden, winding, and almost magical, leading me back to the familiar world beyond the trees.
Silas watched me go, a silent guardian of the forest. I waved goodbye, knowing that even though we were two different creatures, our shared fear had made us, for a brief moment, something more. It had made us friends.
