Story-A-Day #208: Snake In The Grass

SNAKE IN THE GRASS

Some creature’s have all the luck when it comes to your comparisons. A bird’s eye view is an enviable perspective. A fish eyed lens provides a cool effect. The industrious are described as being busy as a beaver. Even doing it like rabbits evokes pleasant nostalgia.

So what does a snake in the grass get you? An unpleasant surprise, perhaps, or an unwanted visitor at best. Why is that though? What have we done to earn so much derision, to be greeted with so much fear and revulsion?

Is it our urge to catch a few rays while basking on a warm rock? We are cold blooded from a biological perspective, and yet you have co-opted that unique trait of ours to represent something sinister in your own kind. You are warm blooded by nature, and yet you too seek the warm embrace of the summer sun. You lounge on your beaches and chairs, and revile us for seeking the same comforts.

Have you ever tried seeing things from our perspective? Do you know how difficult it can be for us to achieve the simplest things – a warm meal, a comfortable home, a bit of peace and quiet?

Think of a worm’s eye view. You know that as a low perspective close to the ground. Now imagine you lived at that level and had giant monsters stomping about trying to kill you any time they laid eyes on you.

Imagine you were forced to slither around at ground level scavenging for food instead of plucking it from the shelves of your fancy stores. It is no easy task being a snake.

We are forced to stick to the grass as a means of protection, and yet these swirling seas of green are a hindrance to us as well.

Sure they keep us safe from your prying eyes and murderous tendencies, but they also make the simple job of finding food, or even our way from Point A to Point B, much more difficult than needs be.

It is disorienting down here in the green. Most of my brethren are simple creatures, and yet we are forced into a life of flight, without the feathery graces of your precious birds.

Do you not see that an eagle is a greater threat than a lowly grass snake? Do you not comprehend the difficulty you add to our existence by your hatred alone?

All we want is a little respect and some peace. Your thunderous footfalls are a greater threat to us than we could ever be to you. One step can kill us, and yet our bite to you is no more than a pinch – and that is the best defence we have.

I would like to call a truce. I would like peace between our kinds. And yet I know, as soon as I turn away, the cudgel will fall crushing me to a pulp.

And you say we are the monsters…