Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Eek! (02/25/10)
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TITLE: What If? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Connie Dixon
03/04/10 -
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Parked under the carport was my yellow truck, a trophy marking my rite of passage into adulthood. I would never forget the day I faced the chubby car salesman…all alone. Greasy hair slicked back, he snuck up behind me looking a little like Danny Devito on steroids. Three other salesmen had me on their radar as I approached the yellow beauty.
Vulnerable and naïve at age 23, I had driven onto the lot in a rusted-out Datsun that had to be jump-started to get it out of my driveway. I’ll never know whether the salesman liked my spunk or whether he felt sorry for me. Either way, I drove out of that place in a sporty little Dodge pick-up, red and orange pinstripes accenting its bright sunny color…and only 30,000 miles.
Six years later, I still loved that truck as much as the day I bought it…maybe more. With some upgrades…sunroof, nice stereo, cool wheels, a canopy and a custom kit in the back, I thought I was somethin’ when I took my ‘ride’ for a ride.
Hurrying off to choir rehearsal, I put my key in the door and popped the lock. As the black knob exploded upward, I screamed. On the window ledge laid a black and yellow snake that jumped higher than I did. I didn’t hear it shriek, but it was so shook up, it fell off the ledge and landed somewhere on the floor of my pick-up. Eeek! Now what do I do? K-I-R-K!!!
I pushed the duplex door open screaming Kirk’s name. “Come quick…out front…HURRY!!!”
Kirk calmly wandered out of the bathroom in his skivvies, drying his hair. “What’s up, Babe?”
“There’s a snake in my truck, help – you’ve got to get it out of there! Hurry!”
Kirk hated snakes as much as I did, maybe more. But he wasn’t really afraid of them, he just wasn’t about to let one get the best of him…or his sweetheart. Go, Knight in shining armor.
We both ran to the truck, Kirk throwing the door open. The little bugger was nowhere to be found. After poking around with a twig out of the garden, there was a movement. My knight spotted the beast and dragged it out with his stick, tossing it onto the pavement. Instead of slithering off in a panic, the animal curled up and hissed at its attacker.
I felt kind of silly as I loomed over the six-inch reptile. Just minutes before, lying on that window ledge, it appeared...um…huge.
Kirk found a big rock and prepared to strike. He looked at me, then at the pitiful little snake…then back at me. I urged him to go through with it, to put that pathetic little pest out of its misery, or at least out of my misery. I didn’t want to find it back in my vehicle ever again.
As we hesitated, communicating solely by eye contact, the snake took advantage of our indecisiveness and slithered out of sight. By the time Kirk decided to pound the thing to death, the aggressor had disappeared.
The whole ordeal was rather amusing until I started thinking: What if I had been driving and the snake crawled up my pant-leg? Or what if I hadn’t noticed the little wretch until I was on the highway and I caught it out of the corner of my eye…still sitting on the ledge, or what if……?
Even though I detest snakes, whether six inches or six feet long, my recollection of this story is a reminder to me that God, in His infinite wisdom, created all things with goodness in mind. And I have gained an appreciation not only for His creation but also for the creativity with which it was crafted.
And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 (NKJV)
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Good for you...seeing the good in all of God's creation. My husband and I had a similar incident with a snake, but I'm afraid the snake didn't make it out alive.
I had trouble seeing the snake jumping as high as the mc did...but maybe so.
I lol'ed at the mc hovering over the little six inch monster, great word picture!