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Terence Waldrip, like most sentient beings except snakes themselves, was born with an instinctual fear of those narrow reptiles, but it was by no means his only fear. He was afraid of being late for work. He was afraid of heart disease and open elevator shafts. He was afraid of diabetes and Ebola. He was afraid of love and he was afraid of not being loved. His life was as narrow as a snake’s path, walled on either side and defined by fear. He maneuvered surprisingly well within the limited space allowed by his timidity; he was comfortable there. He had learned early on not to let his ambitions grow too large for their constraints.
Then Evan moved in next door and Terence was no longer comfortable. He began harboring “what-ifs”: What if he invited Evan over for dinner? What if he accepted Evan’s invitation to join him at the pool? What if, instead of letting his gaze slither away when he passed Evan in the hall, Terence returned the younger man’s smile and engaged him in conversation?
From the safety of his second-floor apartment, Terence sometimes watched Evan at the pool. He envied the sinewy confidence of the young man’s muscles, the total lack of hesitation when diving from the undulating surface of the spring board. Evan would leap into the air and hang there in defiance of gravity (Terence felt his heart stop during those endless seconds/minutes/hours), his long form parallel to the water. Then, at an angle so oblique that it was barely discernable, Evan’s hands would slice the water and he’d submarine into the depths.
Terence went online and ordered a pair of swimming trunks. When they arrived, he breathlessly stashed them in the bureau under his neatly folded tee shirts. For the first time in his life he owned swimming trunks and they weren’t black or dark blue, but a vivid look-at-me green. He was in awe of his own daring.
California summers are long and the summer of the hidden swimming trunks seemed particularly so. Terence graduated from watching Evan through the blinds to sometimes sitting on his balcony in prescription sunglasses. He couldn’t see distances well through the corrective lenses, but he didn’t mind. The important thing was that no one could see his eyes. To the smooth gold bodies at the pool it might appear that Terence was staring at the palm trees across the street, or reading the pool rules sign on the fence, or perhaps dozing in the summer warmth. Sometimes Terence held an open magazine. No one need know or even suspect the real object of his watchfulness.
One day he sat on his balcony long enough to sunburn the top of his feet. Perched on the edge of his bed that night, Terence stared down at the bright red half-moons, studying them for signs of melanoma. He could already feel the disease metastasizing a savage path up his legs and he visualized the oozing lumps that would invariably form on his vital organs. This was his punishment, Terence realized glumly. This was the dark reward for a fascination he had no business indulging.
He went to the medicine cabinet and took a Xanax. After a moment’s consideration, he swallowed a second one. Detouring to the dresser on his way back to bed, he found the swimming trunks and tossed them into the trash.
The drugs callously and abruptly pushed Terence over the edge of wakefulness. From lying in the dark with his feet on fire, Terence transitioned directly into dreams. He sat on his balcony and stared down at the pool that pulsated unfamiliarly under pinkish light. It was deserted except for a long shadow beneath its lavender surface. Terence stared as the shadow wove its dark path across the pool and emerged from the other side. It was a monstrous snake. Its brilliant green scales gleamed under the pastel light as it slithered onto the cantilevered deck, coiling its impossibly long body behind it.
Terence watched helplessly as the snake slid over the pool fence and disappeared into the hedges directly below. He could hear its approach. The huge reptile made surprisingly little sound as it wound its way through the hedges and up one of the palm trees that the complex management always insisted on decorating with lights for Christmas, but he could hear it just the same. It whispered his name.
“Terence…” the snake lisped, “Terence…”
It came into view, twisting its way up and around the palm. When it was even with the balcony, the snake stopped and regarded him silently. Its eyes were the color of pool water.
Terence tried to scream himself awake as the snake’s head came to rest on the railing. It kept coming, pulling its wet coils over the railing with mesmerizing grace. He felt the first touch of its hot body on his feet, then around his legs and eventually wrapping around his shoulders. He realized with shock that it wasn’t slimy at all. The snake’s embrace was warm and firm and somehow comforting.
Its head was inches from his face. “I have something for you,” the snake hissed. Its slender tip of its tail was coiled around an apple. “I have something for you,” the reptile repeated. “I have something for you, Terence…”
In his dream, Terence gasped.
He was making a green salad with fat free ranch the next day when he was surprised by a knock on the door. Evan was outside on the landing. “I’m grilling burgers down by the pool,” the young man said. “Are you hungry?”
“Absolutely ravenous,” Terence replied. “Just give me one second.”
He returned to the kitchen and snatched the swimming trunks out of the trash can. After a short consideration, he dumped the salad, bowl and all, into the garbage.
Deborah Winter-Blood is a writer, dog mom and displaced California Valley Girl. Her work has appeared in various print and online publications over the past 30 years. She has recently completed her second novel.
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26 Responses to “OPHIDIOPHOBIA • by Deborah Winter-Blood”
Comments
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September 1st, 2010 at 1:22 am
Excellent piece of writing.
It needs to be read by anyone who’s put life on hold due to a debilitating phobia.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:56 am
Every time I saw a horrible cliche coming on, you twisted it to make it something unexpected yet still familiar. This one’s a natural five from me.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:59 am
Nice read, a lot of us can relate to the xanax use. Well, I’ll speak for myself…I can relate to the xanax use, as well to being a safety junkie. I think the first paragraph should win awards all by itself. Thanks.
September 1st, 2010 at 5:06 am
We’re so used to snakes being negative symbols, but they can also be symbols of healing–as it seems to be here.
September 1st, 2010 at 5:19 am
Way to go, Terence! I was cheering for him all the way.
Great writing, very easy to empathize with Terence and wonderful imagry. Serpents and apples, do they always lead to evil? Would Terence sharing a burger with Evan be considered evil? Depends on your point of view, I guess.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:41 am
To just say wow would minimize the excellence of this writing. This is a wonderful piece of fiction with a layered depth, rare in the world of flash. I continue to be mesmerized by Deborah’s brilliance in weaving together short fiction.
-bravo!-
September 1st, 2010 at 7:16 am
A very nice wake-up call to embrace your fears, Debi. Nice piece of writing indeed. (Four stars.) Me? I like to read yesterday’s newspapers tomorrow so I can say, “I’m glad that’s not happening now.”
September 1st, 2010 at 8:15 am
Really nice work. Fluid, elegant writing and an intriguing story that remains just out of reach throughout its length. Excellent.
September 1st, 2010 at 8:23 am
I’m so glad they got a happy ending, I was expecting something tragic in the end. Terence seems so nice, I hope things work out with Evan.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:09 am
I really enjoyed this. We were in Terence’s head and it was a pretty awesome trip. I especially liked the sunglasses scene.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:30 am
As always, when I read one of your stories, I enjoyed your eloquent choice of words and your imagery. It never ceases to keep me engaged. I, too, was cheering for Evan and empathizing with him. Fear is a disabling state of mind. I am so glad he walked through it.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:33 am
oopa. You know I meant Terence. Lol.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:49 am
I could feel the snake around my ankles.
Thank you as always for allowing me to escape, even if just for a moment.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:54 am
Excellent! I was starting to be so very sad for Terence and really worried about this snake but then: Dump the salad, baby, and go live! I love it.
PS I’m sure that sharing burgers was *not* evil because, if Evan is as awesome as we’d like to think he is, there are veggie burger options on that grill.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:13 am
Amazing writing as always. I LOVE your work! 5 stars!
September 1st, 2010 at 11:22 am
What an intriguing story! It leaves me almost speechless and I will read this again. For now 5 stars.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Excellent story, and well told. Nice work!
September 1st, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to read my story and for leaving such great comments! I’m very glad you all seemed to enjoy it.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Strong imagery, and surprising depth. Well done.
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:01 am
Amazing , what a drugged sleep with a positive dream
can accomplish.
Well written with a good hook to get you into it,
and a neat twist at the end.
5 *****
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:59 am
Vivid details, well-written without being dense; very nice work here
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:15 am
The whole piece was excellent with lovely turns of phrase. However, the abrupt change at the end from obsessive, hypochondriacal phobic to free and easy/grab at life was just too quick to be believable. All it needed was ‘Terence hesitated’ or ‘stopped momentarily to consider at least…Otherwise really great.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Sorry Rose, but I gotta disagree with your assessment. I think if Terrence had hesitated at all, he would’ve shrunk back from the invite. He was ripe for the invitation and just needed the slight tug to get him out of his nature. The quick response was like a solid exclamation point on the ending.
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Good writing. A question: Did Terrence eat the “forbidden fruit” in his dream and wake to some variation of knowledge he didn’t have before? Was this a visitation sort of dream? Or am I being overly analytical? The snake and apple thing combined with the invite by Evan seem connected, but I’m not sure why. Don’t need the how, just the why.
September 2nd, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Christopher, that’s a great question.
As to “why” the dream is connected to Evan’s invitation, I can only say it’s really not connected. It’s strictly coincidence that Evan ventured to once again invite Terence down to the pool the day after the dream. But, of course, the dream is why Terence overcame his fear and accepted.
And as the author (I love our omniscience as writers!
), I have personal knowledge that it was just a particularly vivid Xanax- and stress-induced dream, not a visitation.
October 25th, 2010 at 12:03 am
[...] Ophidiophobia written by Deborah Winter Blood read by Matt Cowens “Ophidiophobia” was originally published in EDF on September 1, [...]