Slither
William Case
Slither
William Case
Copyright 2013 by William Case
Marvin relaxed on the back porch looking at the sunset over the mountains. It was beautiful this time of evening. The Sun was just turning orange and starting to set into the horizon.
He could see the leaves move on the trees at the edge of their yard as a mild breeze blew through them. The air was clear, and he could smell the Apple Blossoms from the orchard located at the far end of the neighbor’s property.
As Marvin sat there, he thought back to the stories his Grand Father had told him about the Cave on the mountain. He told him about a creature that was believed to live there, and how the creature was so territorial that it would kill anything and anyone who dared enter the cave. He described the creature as looking like a snake with wings attached to its body. Some people believed that the creature could walk upright like a human, and others say that it slithered like a Snake.
He had told Marvin that according to stories passed down over the years, there had been many people who had gotten curious and went to investigate the cave. Most of them had never been seen again. Others had been found with two puncture wounds that looked like Fang marks in their bodies.
Marvin, who was already fascinated with Aliens, ghosts, and other paranormal creatures, became extremely intrigued with the Cave and the creature that was supposed to have lived there.
Marvin checked the time on his watch and saw that it was almost eight o'clock PM. One of his favorite shows would be coming on soon. The show was called, "Close Encounters, The Unbelievable." It’s a show about an organization that goes around the world investigating weird creatures.
"It would be so cool if they would come and investigate the cave on the mountain." Marvin thought to himself as he walked back into the house. He entered the Living room and looked around for the remote to the Television. He saw it lying on top of the Cable Box. He picked it up flipped on the set, and switched to the channel where the show was to come on.
On this particular episode, they were investigating a creature that was spotted in a lake near a small town in Southern Arizona. This creature was the cross between a Lobster and large turtle. The creature was reported by a group of college kids who had been swimming in the lake when the creature surfaced and began swimming toward them. Before they could get away, the creature grabbed one of the members of the group with its huge pinchers and pulled him under the water. The rest of them panicked and ran for sure. When they got to sure, they piled into the Van they had come in, and went for help.
Marvin began thinking again about the story his Grand Father had told him. He wondered if it could actually be true. He wasn't sure if he believed the story or not. Someday he wanted to go find out for himself.
He fell asleep on the couch while watching the show. He was woken up the next morning by a knock on the front door. He continued lying there figuring his Mom or Sister would answer it.
"Marvin! Craig is here to see you." his Sister Tara yelled from the other room.
"I'll be right there." he answered as he sat up and got to his feet. He walked into the other room and saw Craig and Tara talking. Craig stood there nervously shuffling his feet. He did this every time he was around Tara. He had had a crush on her ever since Junior High School. Tara stood smiling and talking to him as if she didn't notice anything at all. She knew Craig liked her but would never date him because he was her brother's best friend. To her that just wasn't something a respectable Sister would do.
"What's up?" Marvin asked Craig.
"I'm going to pick up a load of lumber for my Uncle at the Mill over at the bottom of the mountain. You wanna come along for the ride?"
"Sure, let me get my shoes on."
When Marvin returned from putting on his shoes, Craig was already waiting in the truck. He walked out the door and down the narrow walkway, through the small gate that closed off their yard, and got into the truck on the passenger side. He pulled the truck door shut and fastened his seatbelt.
They pulled away from the sidewalk and headed down the short street. When they got to the end of the street, they took a right turn onto the main road. It took about thirty minutes to get to the Lumber Mill.
The Lumber Mill was surrounded by a ten foot high chain link fence. It had an opening just large enough for trucks to get through. The opening was closed off by an electronic gate that was controlled by a switch inside the small guard shack that sat to the left of the gate.
Craig showed his ID and paper work to the man who occupied the small shack. The door slid open and they drove through.
Inside the fence there were five buildings. On the far left was the Management office, beside of that was another which was a sleeping area for workers who stayed there full time, and the third was a maintenance building where small tools and supplies were stored. Off to the right was a large building with aluminum walls. This was where they stored the lumber that had already been cut. Just beyond that was another building with aluminum walls. This one wasn't quite as large as the storage building. This one housed all the large saws and other equipment that was used to cut and prepare the lumber. Way off to the left sitting by a small Pond was a pavilion with two picnic tables where many of the workers sat to eat their lunches and take breaks.
Craig drove the truck around the aluminum buildings, turned to the right into a small pull off, and then slowly backed the truck up to the loading dock. He turned off the motor, and both of them got out, and walked toward the back of the truck.
AS they walked toward the loading dock, they spotted the Mill Forman Joe waiting for them. He was a husky man with a large muscular upper body. He had a large Dragon Tattoo on his upper right arm. He wore a pair of dirty, faded jeans, a gray short sleeve shirt, and badly scuffed boots. He was leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the building smoking a cigar.
"Good morning gentleman." He said to them with a smile. "Beautiful day isn't it?"
"It sure is." Craig replied reaching out to shake his hand.
"This is my friend Marvin Conley." Craig told Joe introducing the two of them.
He reached out to shake Marvin’s hand. You any relation to Gilbert Conley?"
Marvin shook Joes hand and said, "Yes, he's my Grand father."
"How is he these days?" Joe asked Marvin with a friendly smile.
"Stubborn and cantankerous as ever." He replied with a chuckle.
"It was nice meeting you Sir." Marvin said to Joe.
Joe answered, "Likewise."
"You can wait at the pavilion. It's going to be a while and it will be a lot cooler there in the shade." Craig said to Marvin.
He walked over to the pavilion and sat down on the bench of one of the picnic tables. The tables sat side by side. He sat at the one closest to the pond facing it. The water was almost transparent. The sun shined through the water and lit it up so bright he could see fish swimming around near the shore.
The scenery was so peaceful, and quiet. There was no noise, other than the sounds of the Birds and crickets. It was so quiet that he decided to lay his head down and rest his eyes. He crossed his arms on the table, and laid his head on them. A few minutes later, he fell asleep.
The next thing he knew, he heard a noise and it sounded like it was coming from right beside him. He raised his head to look and stared in horror when he realized what the source of the noise was. Not even five feet away from him coiled up on the table was a snake ready to strike. This wasn't any ordinary snake. It had wings. Each wing had another limb which looked like a claw sticking out from its tip. Both claws had seven sharp pointy spikes at the end of it.
He was so horrified that he was having
trouble breathing. He could feel his heart beat in his ears. It sounded like someone was pounding his ear drum with a sledge hammer.
He thought to himself, "What do I do?" He couldn't think straight. He had to calm down and get himself together. He had to think of a way to get away before this thing killed him.
Marvin started to stand up and move away from the table, but before he could even flinch, the snake lunged at him and sunk its claws into his shoulder. It wrapped its body around his chest and then sunk its fangs into his neck. He tried to scream, but nothing came out.
He frantically tried to pull the snake off of him. His fingers were white from squeezing so hard. The more he tried to pull the thing off, the tighter it wrapped around him. "Oh my God, I'm going to die." He thought to himself as he started to fade into unconsciousness.
He jumped and yelled as Craig shook his arm to wake him. His face was white and he was sweating and shaky. It took him a few minutes to get his thoughts together, and realize where he was.
"You ok?? Craig asked Marvin concerned.
"Yeah I’m fine." Marvin answered unconvincingly.
He had never seen Marvin like this before. He was really worried about him. He asked Marvin again if he was ok, and he said he was. Craig didn't push it any further.
The two of them walked across the parking area to the loading dock and climbed into the truck. Once they were inside, Craig started the truck and pulled away from the loading dock, drove around the building, and headed toward the gate. They drove past the guard sitting in the little shack and turned onto the main road. Marvin hardly said two words all the way back to his house.
About thirty-five minutes later, they took a left turn onto Marvin's street. They stopped in front of the house a couple minutes later. Marvin opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
"Thanks for riding along." Craig told Marvin.
"Anytime man. See yak later." Marvin replied as he closed the truck door and walked through the gate of his front yard and up the river stone walk way to the front porch. He opened the door and walked into the house, closing the door behind him. He heard Craig drive away as the door clicked shut.