Morning Encounter

I Its body moved like a freshly poured viscous black ooze through a carpet of fresh spring grass. Common to the area and many a backyard garden, it caught my eye not so much by its length, short of three feet, nor by the sheen of its onyx-like skin, rather by the grotesque bulge midway between its head and tail – a fresh kill, a small rabbit or rodent probably – adding little drag to its glide. The sudden tenseness that gripped me when first sighted had loosened, my heartbeats reduced to near normal. II Watching it slither off I began speculating about the unwary victim’s final moments, likely foraging only inches away perhaps, the snake hidden under layers of fallen leaves, its body coiled in waiting, silently reeved up to strike when the distance between life and death ensured a sure strike. At that moment, it was all or nothing, now or never, the snake uncoiling with the speed of a bullet, lashing itself securely around the hapless creature’s struggling body, compressing its supple frame ever tighter into a compact mass of fur and bones, its breathing and cries cut off until all struggling ceased. III With its jaws unhinged, its mouth enlarged, it slowly advanced over the victim’s nose, head, and body until only a pair of tiny feet – which might have sprung its life into another day – disappeared.