Chapitre 7: First “Not So Friendly” Encounter
The 9.00 pm alarm jolted Hana awake. She was momentarily confused, why was she in this pitch-black surrounding with a faint sound of grasshoppers and crickets nearby?
[Where am I? Did I fall asleep on the floor or something? Why is there sounds of insects nearby?]
Hana tried to recall her memories absent-mindedly.
As her hands were fumbling at the ground to look for her spectacle, suddenly she froze.
She had touch something scaly, cold and a little wet.
[Ohhhhhh...goddddd...help this aunty...]
Previous memories resurfaced as Hana felt a slithering feeling from her palm to her left arm. There was even a coiling motion on her arm towards her upper biceps. The motion stopped just shy from her shoulder.
Terrified as she is, she got goosebumps all over her body as she tried hard to avoid making any movement for a good 30 minutes. She was in total darkness and in utmost fear. Her heartbeat sounded so loud in her ears. The background sounds of animals increased her agitation even more. They sounded so close!
Several colorful expletives came out from her mouth silently. Hana had thought that the previous experiences inside the cave and in the rainforest was just an extra realistic nightmare. She knew how wrong she was now as she could feel something scaly wrapping her arms firmly.
She tried to move her arms shakily. The little reptile did not budge. Surprisingly, the alleged culprit did not weight much at all. She tried to move her arm in a larger motion. It still did not move. It's as if it were sleeping.
Hana was too scared to pull the little snake away from her like how she had seen it done by those snake experts on Discovery channel. She knew that it will only made the snake pissed off at her. She just prayed and prayed silently that the snake will just continue to sleep or go away on its own when it got bored. She didn't want to be bitten again. Although the pain on her toe was not to be reckoned with, the feeling of fear what's make it much worse.
As Hana did not know what to do, she try to observe her bitten toe. Her spectacles that she tried to find before were actually right there on her face . If not, she wouldn't be able to see anything at all. As her eyes are already familiarized with the darkness, she can see that the wound on her toe was tiny and ragged. This and the fact that she was still alive showed that the snake shouldn't have any venom. It turned out that she had fainted from the extreme fear just now. If the snake had venom, she'd already in the embrace of God by now.
[Wuuuwuuuu (1)..I really hope I won't get any infection. I want my hubby...]
Hana patted her agitated heart with her other unoccupied hand while shedding some tragic tears. Right now, she felt like she was the unluckiest person on earth. She felt sorry for herself.
Such a melodramatic aunty!
[I can't take it anymore. All this in one day... I'm going crazy!!]
Hana buried her face in both of her hands. She didn't care anymore. If the stupid reptile wanted to bite her, then just bite. Whatever. She slapped her face hard using both of her hands to squeeze in some courage to her already fragile little heart.
She looked at her trembling fingers in the darkness and her eyes fall to her wedding band on her right ring finger. Although it was very dark, and she could only see a tiny glimpse of her wedding ring, she knew it was there on her finger. Just like her family. Although they are not in front of her, they are existed and was fraught with worry for her somewhere out there.
[No!! I must not lose myself here. Arash and my daughters are waiting for me.]
Hana's love for her family has once again bring her spirit up.
She glanced at the sleeping little snake she decided to ignore it and continue to return to the cave. Slowly, she got up and regathered all the branches, banana leaves and bags. Thankfully, she just needed to maintain the same direction.
Arash was not here to pamper her like usual. So, she can only steeled her heart and moved forward on her own. Every single second in the wilderness at this time will increase the risk of facing another danger.
After walking around 5 minutes, she finally arrived at a small clearing where she first saw the song bird. A ray of gentle moonlight spilled on the clearing illuminating her path, calming her heart.
She finally found the inconspicuously hidden entrance at the side of the hill-like boulders after carefully searching for it. Hana forgot to mark the location of the entrance and currently it was quite hard to find it as it was dark.
[I need to put some landmark that only I know tomorrow.]
Hana sighed in relief. Hana did not realize that the snake had detangled itself from her arm and entered the cave before her when she was still fumbling around in darkness.
When she finally entered the cave, she immediately dropped all the things she collected at the side of the wall.
[Eh?! The snake is gone! Banzai!!
I must block the entrance immediately!]
She immediately grabbed whichever rocks and boulders near her and stuffed the entrance until full.
A good 15 minutes later, a breathless Hana was beaming with satisfaction when she placed the final rock at the last noticeable gap. She immediately went for her smartphone and swiped open the flashlight and placed it on the cave floor facing upwards. Immediately, the whole cave became very bright. Brighter than it usually was during the day.
As Hana turned around she saw the small snake was waiting patiently directly behind her as if to compliment her for her hard work to close the cave entrance.
She was so dumbfounded until she forgot to scream.
Hana stepped to the left. The snake slither to the left. Hana stepped to the right, and it slithered to the right.
"Shooooo! Shoooo!!!" She picked tiny pebbles and threw gently near it.
She was too scared to offend the reptile with a big stone as she might get bitten again. The snake did not move at all and continue observing Hana with interest.
She sighed and gave up.
"What do you want? I'm so sorry I've stepped on you just now. You have even bit me just now right. So, we're even now. Please stop harassing me."
The little snake tilted its head to the side like a cute dog trying to ask for a bone. It did not move however.
Three black lines appeared on Hana's forehead.
[Is it trying to act cute or what?]
The notion was super absurd!
Hana never learned anything about snakes. She only knew the body language of cats. So, she was stumped as she could not understand what the snake wanted.
She took the time to observe the little snake. It was about 3 feet long, shiny black in color. What amazed her was the tiny red color jewel at the center of its eyes. It was hexagonal in shape. What's more ridiculous was the horn-like single protrusion a bit higher from the jewel. The horn-like thing was silver in color when illuminated with the flashlight from her smartphone.
Hana got a headache. Although she did not know much about snakes, she was very sure she never heard such characteristics on a snake in Malaysia.
Is it a new undiscovered breed?
The little snake seemed to be highly intelligent; when Hana seemed agitated, it kept quiet and did not move. However, when Hana wanted to move away from it, it stopped her by blocking her path.
When Hana was still deep in thought, the little snake quietly slithered and jumped towards her! It immediately coiled on her wrist this time. She screamed from shock and nearly fainted again. She was so scared when it used its long reptilian tongue and caressed her inner wrist.
What she didn't know was this little snake has imprinted Hana as its mother. It tried to pacify her and reassure her that it meant no harm. It even tried to act cute. It was confused as why this being was getting more agitated from its actions. It gave up and slithered down slowly after a while. It moved a little to the back of the cave and stayed silent.
Hana was still in an emotional overdrive from all the shock she received today. The actions of the little snake were like the cherry on top. Perfectly finalizing her nightmarish experience for the day.
When there's no more movement from the reptile, Hana took a long breath.
[What is wrong with that snake? Is it mental or what? It should be thankful that I'm afraid of it. If other kid did this prank on this aunty, I've already spank his bottom hard!]
Hana was a little angry and speechless with the snake's behavior.
She then realized that she still didn't treat her bitten toe. She sat down randomly beside her shining smartphone and looked at her toe properly.
The blood had dried up for quite some time already. Hana went towards her stashed item and got herself a bottle of water and one sheet of wet wipe. She poured a tiny bit of water on her toe and proceeded to gently wiped the injured location.
Well, that was the best that I could do for now. Hopefully I will not get any infection.
She suddenly remembered that she needed to at least inform Arash that she was okay. The 9.00 pm alarm which jolted her awake before was a reminder for Hana to contact her hubby. They promised to message each other at around 9.00 to 10.00 pm. Now it is quite late.
She switched her location to the special spot and then she typed a short message saying she was alright and she will contact him later when she has finished. She didn't wait for a reply. There's still so much things to do.
She left her smartphone at the site with its torchlight opened and started gathering firewood to build a fire a few steps in front of her smartphone spot.
This is the time for this aunty to show her campfire-building skill.
Author's Note:
(1) Wuwuwuuuu = a not-so cute crying sound
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
mrandmrsmooncat
mrandmrsmooncat Hi guys! Mr n Mrs Mooncat here :)
This week was a rather eventful week. Its just the aftermath of general election in Malaysia and for the first time since the formation of our country, a different party took over. Even until now, the state governments were not really formed yet (as of the time Mrs. Mooncat upload the story huhu).
Hope for the best for the country this time.
Enjoy the chappy! Wait for the next one next saturday, 0900 gmt +8 :D
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
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