Small but mesmerizing

Sam was humming to herself as she followed the meandering jungle path she had discovered behind her Bungalow. Finally, she had found a way of escaping the boring beach holiday routine her parents and brother seemed to enjoy much more than she did. Glad for the privacy afforded by the dense undergrowth, the teenage girl had opted for a strapless bikini as her only clothing. The heat seemed to press down on her shoulders with supernatural might. Careful not to step on anything with her bare feet, she kept glancing down at the leafy forest ground. Hence, she only noticed the branch with the small green tree snake, when the animal was dangling right in front of her face. Shocked, she jumped back, giving a small scream of surprise. However, it took mere seconds for her to recover. After all she was pretty interested in the tropical flora and fauna. The snake looked at her with it’s unblinking yellow eyes. Sam smiled. „Don’t be afraid, little one.“ Keeping what she figured was a save distance - after all she had no idea if the snake was poisonous - she started snapping pictures with her cellphone. 

Especially the snakes staring eyes seemed quite dazzling to the unsuspecting girl. She moved closer to get a better shot with her phone. The snake didn’t move an inch, keeping it’s eyes focused on Sam. Intrigued by the snakes lack of alarm the teen moved even closer. It was hard to concentrate on the screen of her phone with the snake looking directly at her. Its eyes were so beautiful, quite distracting. She lowered the device - she figured that she’d taken more than enough pictures anyways. The longer Sam was watching, the more it seemed to her that the snake had not chosen this particular branch above the forest path by chance. It’s yellow eyes glistened with intelligence. They seemed larger than before, almost mesmerizing. She had to get closer. By now she knew with overwhelming certainty that the snake wasn’t poisonous. How could a beautiful creature like this want her any harm? Taking another step forward she stood on tiptoe for an even closer examination. 

With the snake only inches from her face, she couldn’t but start smiling happily. The cellphone slipped out of Sam’s right hand and landed on the forest floor without the captivated girl even noticing. The bright yellow lightbulbs that were the animal’s eyes drew her gaze like magnets. Wide eyed, she stared at the snake, her mouth gaping open slightly as her facial muscles relaxed. Sam knew she couldn’t look away from the fascinating creature, but didn’t care in the slightest. Everything around her seemed to blur into insignificance. It was so relaxing to just not worry about anything. Sam gave a long, hearty yawn. An overwhelming sleepiness had overcome her. She just wanted to close her drooping eyelids and just let her heavy body drop to the forest floor. But she couldn’t, for the snake’s mind seemed to talk to her. „How does your race have the right to exploit this beautiful island?“ it seemed to ask „What gives you the right?“ Sam blushed for shame. She was standing in front of the most magnificent creature she had ever encountered and was hurting it with her presence. Disgusted, she started to fumble with her bikini top. Once she had removed these shreds of human corruptness from her body, she closed her eyes enjoying a profound sensation of liberation. Standing in the middle of the forest, a small snake sliding over her bare shoulders, Sam felt that she had been reborn, born to a life far from anything she had ever known.