How Snakes Lost Its Legs

My family and I are pure blooded snakes; We’re the originals. My Dad told me that when I was just a boy. I carry those words with me as I hunt through the jungle. I hide in the shadows of the tallest grass, and I wait for prey to crawl past.

There are so many choices, so I patiently wait for the weakest target. I see a frog hop onto a rock close by; He doesn’t have a clue that his life expectancy will soon be cut short. Not even a chance to say goodbye. I jump out of the grass and grab the frog with my feet; Frogs have an exotic taste.

I wipe the residue off of my face, and I hurry back to the pit before sundown. Mom gets worried when I hunt after dark. Dad went out hunting late at night a year ago and never returned. Mom has never been the same since. I wish I could go out and find him, but she won’t let me far enough away from her to even look.

I make it to the pit and my siblings are down there wrestling each other. In the corner of my eye, I can see Mom giving me the evil eye; she knows. I do my best to not make eye contact. She calls out, “Sliyle, where have you been? Come here. We need to have a talk.” I walk over to her with an attitude, but I answer her with the upmost respect. “I’ve been out.”

She looks at me with that look Moms give when they’re about to reverse your existence. I try again. “I’ve been out hunting.” She gets in my face and says, “I’ve warned you, Sliyle, about the dangers of hunting after daylight. You give me no choice but to forbid you from leaving the pit until I can trust you again. Your younger brothers will be in charge of gathering food from now on. Stay behind and watch your sisters.” As much as I wanted to tell her off, I couldn’t. I had to show her that she was wrong; She can trust me. I’m the oldest!

I knew it was time to find Dad. Mom had completely lost touch with what it means to be a snake. I escape when everyone else is sleeping. The sky is dark; The quiet is chilling. Mom’s advice was beginning to sound sane. Then, I hear footsteps moving in my direction. The heat from its body is intense. It has to be something larger than I’ve ever encountered.

My heart is racing, and my body is twitching. It’s getting closer and closer. I have no where to hide. I’ve reached a land without tall grass. I’ve never seen grass this low before. I look up and see a giant. It picks me up and puts me inside of a cage. I pass out immediately.

I regain consciousness and open my eyes. For a minute, my vision was a little blurry. I can smell other snakes here, so I thought maybe it was all a dream. That I would awaken to Mom and my siblings horse playing in the pit; I was sadly mistaken.

A snake bumps into me, and I hit my head on a rock; knocks the vision back into me. I’m horrified at what I see; Legless snakes. I slowly look down with great fear, and my legs are gone too! I pass out again.

I feel a hard, slimy smack across my face. “Sliyle! Wake up.” I hop up and gasp for air. I know my Dad’s voice when I hear it. He’s right over top of me. He wrapped his body around me and asked, “Where’s your Mom and siblings?” I redirected his question and replied, “Where are our legs?” The look on Dad’s face is heartbreaking. His soul is clearly destroyed. There was just an ounce of hope left in him. He wasn’t happy to see me, so I know whatever he has to say couldn’t be good news.

“Son, you’ve seen the giants because you’re here… Well, those giants removed our legs to use as a secret ingredient to become more snake-like. We have to find a way out to save our blood line. Our family will perish without one of us to protect them. If they die, there will be no more snakes with legs; We’ll become extinct. Someday, we’ll be just another myth.” Though I could feel how desperately Dad wanted to go home, we both knew that we would never make it out of this cage alive, and that’s how snakes lost their legs for good.