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Rattlesnake Junction
Nov. 22nd, 2012 10:32 pmWhen I was in grade six, I was very briefly one of the popular kids. It's easy when there are only five people in your whole grade. I lived in a tiny community, and there wasn't a lot of opportunity to be choosy about one's friends. And so I became friends with Adrienne, who was a nasty, manipulative girl (she once told me she was friends with me because she surrounded herself with ugly people so she'd always be the beautiful one).
She invited me to sleep over at her place one night, and my parents agreed to this. Excited at my sleepover date, I went home with her after school and she showed me around her yard. She told me a joke I didn't get, but laughed at so she wouldn't think I was stupid. I still remember the joke: How do you know you had oral sex the night before? You wake up feeling like a glazed doughnut.
She showed me her fort out back. It was made of lots and lots of 2x4s, all arranged in a maze-like fashion with plywood on top as a roof. And then she took me into the house. She showed me the bed where her big sister slept, pointing at a stain in the sheets left from when she'd had her period and soaked through her pad.
I was still years away from puberty, and all this talk mystified me and made me determined that I never, ever wanted to grow up.
And then she showed me her pet. His name was Buzz, and he was an enormous rattlesnake. He was inside a terrarium. The glass was badly cracked.
When I asked why the glass was cracked, she said she'd tapped on the glass and it made him angry. He struck so hard that the glass cracked. I asked if she was scared he'd make it through the next time, and she laughed.
I wasn't so secure.
I stayed over, but wondered about that giant angry snake.
When I told my parents about the snake the next day, they were upset, and told me I could never stay there again so long as there were rattlesnakes in the house. I didn't argue, because I agreed with them.
Sometime later that year, my teacher, Mr. Trepanier, said he had a special treat for us. He brought a large box into the classroom. It was made of wood and screen: the sort of screen you might have on a screen door. Inside the box was a rattlesnake. People crowded around the box for a closer look. I was curious, but kept what I thought was a respectable distance. I suggested to the others that they might not want to get so close.
My teacher smiled at me. "Are you scared of snakes? It's ok. He's inside the cage. There's a screen in the way."
I looked at him. "Not particularly. But I'm cautious. Considering Adrienne's broke aquarium glass, I don't think a screen is the best barrier."
His smile faltered, and he ushered the kids further back.
She invited me to sleep over at her place one night, and my parents agreed to this. Excited at my sleepover date, I went home with her after school and she showed me around her yard. She told me a joke I didn't get, but laughed at so she wouldn't think I was stupid. I still remember the joke: How do you know you had oral sex the night before? You wake up feeling like a glazed doughnut.
She showed me her fort out back. It was made of lots and lots of 2x4s, all arranged in a maze-like fashion with plywood on top as a roof. And then she took me into the house. She showed me the bed where her big sister slept, pointing at a stain in the sheets left from when she'd had her period and soaked through her pad.
I was still years away from puberty, and all this talk mystified me and made me determined that I never, ever wanted to grow up.
And then she showed me her pet. His name was Buzz, and he was an enormous rattlesnake. He was inside a terrarium. The glass was badly cracked.
When I asked why the glass was cracked, she said she'd tapped on the glass and it made him angry. He struck so hard that the glass cracked. I asked if she was scared he'd make it through the next time, and she laughed.
I wasn't so secure.
I stayed over, but wondered about that giant angry snake.
When I told my parents about the snake the next day, they were upset, and told me I could never stay there again so long as there were rattlesnakes in the house. I didn't argue, because I agreed with them.
Sometime later that year, my teacher, Mr. Trepanier, said he had a special treat for us. He brought a large box into the classroom. It was made of wood and screen: the sort of screen you might have on a screen door. Inside the box was a rattlesnake. People crowded around the box for a closer look. I was curious, but kept what I thought was a respectable distance. I suggested to the others that they might not want to get so close.
My teacher smiled at me. "Are you scared of snakes? It's ok. He's inside the cage. There's a screen in the way."
I looked at him. "Not particularly. But I'm cautious. Considering Adrienne's broke aquarium glass, I don't think a screen is the best barrier."
His smile faltered, and he ushered the kids further back.
