“Them snakes are dangerous”

He felt exuberant, waking up at dawn. He couldn’t remember ever having woken up early, feeling excited for the day – maybe since he was a child. This must be it, he thought. This must be the key to a better life. In the kitchen, he pushed the window open, hoping to feel some fresh, crisp morning air, like people always rave about. Instead, he was hit by a wall of humidity; it was hardly fresh in mid summer.

Undeterred, he put on his running gear and started off down the road, towards the palm forest. Real running, outdoors – not on a treadmill listening to self-development. This was real life.

The snake looked up at him, and he felt a rush of adrenaline. Of fear, yes, but also – he felt captivated. In that moment, he felt he could reach out, grab the snake by the neck, maybe wrestle with it a bit. He could feel like his primal self; his hunter-gatherer essence.

A car zoomed past, then screeched to a halt, making a sudden U-Turn and coming back down the highway towards him, stopping a little ways back. The driver leaned out the window.

“Hey,” the driver called. “Hey! Them snakes are dangerous, what are ya doin?”

He looked at the car, at the driver, who felt as though he was reaching out from another world – from the real world – trying to drag him back in.

He didn’t know what to say, and eventually just raised his hand, giving half a wave. The driver shook his head, pulled himself back in the car and sped away.

He looked back at the snake, whose head was raised, looking at him. Perhaps preparing to strike? He didn’t know if this was a dangerous sort of snake; the driver seemed to think so, and he was meant to know these things, living in this area, but he didn’t.

He reached his hand slowly towards the snake. The snake stayed frozen in place. His hand stopped one foot short of the snake’s head, and the snake pulled his head back –