A novelette in 20 chapters
Telling the Bees: Chapter 17
Collateral Damage
It would be quick. Would it also be horribly painful? She had no idea.
She regarded the eastern brown. Such a pretty snake: slender, lustrous brown above, fawn below. Its delicate head made mousey little movements: tiny darts to left and to right, tasting the air, as it crossed a single pace in front of her.
It would save a lot of bother. She could sit down by the trail, in the midst of this glorious forest, perform some gentle yoga exercises and coax the venom from her lymphatic system into her bloodstream, thence to stop her heart.
But then, wouldn’t it be a shame? To scare this innocent animal into an unnecessary attack?
Almost too late. The whiplike tail was sliding away into the leaf litter.
It was gone. Too late now.
If she had been there one pace, one heartbeat earlier, would their destinies have entwined? It would have been so easy, had she been taken unawares, not given the opportunity to dither.
Tom would have been distraught, of course. But then, Tom was going to be distraught sooner rather than later anyway. Did it matter when, exactly?
