December came, and since I held up to my end of the deal, I got what I wanted. I held back a lot of meltdowns, even if it meant having to walk out of there so I could let my emotions out in my room or somewhere where I was alone. It was a new thing for me to do, which only showed how much I wanted a pet. It even helped a bit with being able to be around people a little longer. Friends were still something I didn’t really have, but there was clearly an improvement. My family was very happy to see that and as promised, I got to pick out a pet.
I guess Mum and Dad had expected me to go for something as simple as a puppy. Man’s best friend, you know? So when they found themselves looking at reptiles, they were a bit frazzled, to say the least.
“You’re sure you want a reptile?” Dad asked, uncomfortably pulling at his collar. We were in a shop specifically made for selling and breeding reptiles of all sorts. It was a bit more rundown since reptile breeding wasn’t a huge thing and with so many unknowns regarding a lot of the species, people feared getting too close. My parents weren’t exactly stoked about being in such a sketchy place, but they were people of their word and knew if I wanted a reptile, this was the place to go. An employee in a very worn out janitor like outfit was showing us around, helping us find what I was looking for. It was going to be hard to pick. From snakes to lizards, they had them all. Different morphs, subspecies, everything. It was fascinating!
“Yes!” I said, gluing myself to one of the nearby enclosures. A bearded dragon was inside it, simply chilling on the rock. “Oooh! You’re so cute! C’mon, come out of your little hut, you don’t have to hide!”
“I think he’s comfy where he is, dear,” Mum mumbled, trying to pull me away from the glass. “Don’t bother him.”
“I’m not! See?” I pointed at the lizard, who had come out of his little hiding spot and came right up to the glass. He even put his little lizard hand on the glass right where mine was.
“Odd.” The employee said with a puzzled expression. “I’ve never seen him do that.”
“I wonder if more will do it!” I cheered, running to the other enclosures to see what other beautiful reptiles were in them.
“In fact… I’ve never seen any of them do this.” I heard the employee mumble as he looked around the room. Almost every reptile had come out of their hiding spots to come closer to the glass to see what was going on. It seemed to have really surprised the employee, but I saw it as an opportunity to meet all of them faster.
* * * * *
A few hours had passed and my parents were getting quite tired. At this point, they just wanted me to pick an animal so they could go home. Being in a sketchy place surrounded by reptiles wasn’t their cup of tea. Meanwhile, I could’ve lived there and been perfectly content. Maybe they couldn’t talk, but I felt like I had dozens of friends around me that I could communicate with without issue.
“Alright, Beatrice.” Dad sighed. “You need to pick something. It’s getting late.”
“There’s too many to choose from,” I whined. “I can’t just pick one!”
“Do you know what type of reptile you want at least?” Mum asked. “Then we can get the supplies for the enclosure while you make your decision.”
“Snake!”
“Out of all the animals…” Mum mumbled under her breath. “Alright. You have to pick one then. We’re going to go get the supplies.”
I nodded and roamed around a little bit more. I was pretty sure the employee was getting tired of me by now. As I roamed, something caught my eye. In one of the enclosures, there was a small clutch of eggs. Curious if there were baby snakes, I stood on my tippy toes to peek inside. There didn’t seem to be any, but I still found the eggs quite interesting. I was about to move on to look at another snake when suddenly one of the eggs moved. Upon closer look, I could see the egg had pipped. My eyes widened as I watched a little green nose poke out from the egg. Then a cute little face poked out. Slowly, the cute little guy slithered out of his egg, showing off his beautiful green and slender body. Curiously, he came to the glass and looked at me.
“Hey, little guy,” I said softly. “Welcome to the world.”
The little snake poked the glass over and over with his cute little snout, looking for a way to get to the other side. Every time he hit the glass, he would jerk back a bit, only to try again.
“Beatrice?” Mum and Dad returned. “Have you picked one?”
“This one!” I stood up straight and pointed at the baby snake. “I want this one!”
“Alright.” Mum let out a relieved sigh. “Sir? Could we get that one?”
“Yup. One second.” Tiredly, he went over to the enclosure and opened it. Immediately, the snake took his chance to come out and come right for me. Mum let out a yelp of panic, thinking he was attacking me, but instead, he wrapped around my arm and rested his head on my shoulder, looking quite content.
“Aw, you look so comfy.” I smiled, petting the top of his head with my finger. “Are you ready to come home?”
He nodded and continued letting me pet his head.
“Alright! I’m all set-”
“Oh shit-” The employee suddenly jolted awake, looking over at the snake around my arm. “I messed up the labels- Do not move. I need to get him off of you. Now.”
“Huh??”
“He’s a green Mamba.” He explained with a panicked expression. “They’re highly venomous. Don’t move.”
“No!” I pulled back the minute he reached for him. “He’s mine!”
“Beatrice!” Mum had turned a whole new shade of white. She looked utterly petrified. “Do as the man says! You could get hurt!”
“I want this snake!” I said, backing up more. The commotion startled the baby snake and he looked up. First, he looked at me, then the employee.
“See? You’re startling him!” He warned. “Don’t move and I’ll get him off of you! We’re only breeding his kind for anti-venom! Not for pets!”
“Then why did you give it to her?!” Dad exclaimed angrily.
“I messed up the labels, okay!” He defended himself while trying to focus on getting the snake off of me with the funky hooked bar he had. “This place doesn’t have the best of funding or business, and things get messed up! Now, stay still and let me get that snake before he bites you! Baby snakes are unpredictable and we don’t know how venomous they are as babies yet!”
“He’s gentle, though!” I argued, protecting the baby snake.
As if he was going to bite me! And if this was what was going to get me killed, then so be it! At least these reptiles gave me more of a chance than people! The snake sensed what was going on and let go of my arm and dropped to the floor. He coiled his body, looking ready to strike the man if he tried to touch me.
The employee took a chance and tried to use his fancy stick to pick up the snake, but backed off when the baby snake made a threatening hiss and lunged a bit, but not enough to go near the guy. As quickly as he lunged, he slithered right back to me and got in front of me, ready to strike again if the man tried to touch me. Being the idiot this man was, he tried again. As expected, the snake went to attack.
“Bad snake!” I scolded him. My parents looked at me in disbelief. They were shocked I thought that would even work… until it actually did. The snake backed off and came back to me. I bent down to pick him up and let him wrap around my arm again.
“No biting anyone,” I said to him with a stern voice while waving a finger in his face. “Do I make myself clear?”
Almost looking ashamed, he nodded and calmed down.
“Good boy.” I smiled, giving him more head pats. “I can’t wait to show you home!”
Beaming, I looked at my parents who looked ready to shit a few bricks at this point. Both of them were sweating nervously, eyeing the snake who was resting soundly on my shoulder.
“Uh, are you sure that’s the one you want?” Mum asked hesitantly.
“Yes.” I nodded.
They exchanged looks before giving in to my wishes. They both knew I wouldn’t be leaving that store without him. So, they paid for him and we left for home. The employee was so flabbergasted that he didn’t fight it and let us go on our way. When we got home, I proudly showed off my pet snake to all my siblings.
“A snake??” William looked at it from afar. “I hate snakes, Beatrice. Couldn’t you have gotten something we all like?”
“No, because he’s MY friend.” I glared at him. “So I got to choose who I wanted.”
“Jeez… Your eyes match the snake when you glare like that.” Alexander mumbled.
“Well, I think he’s cute.” Angel smiled, petting his body. “Especially with this beautiful green color.”
“Glad we agree,” I smirked. The snake loved the compliments and happily accepted the love from Angel.
“You lot be careful with him.” Dad said, keeping close in case anything went wrong. “He’s venomous.”
“Of course.” Most of my siblings groaned. None of them were even the slightest bit surprised.
“What are you going to name him?” Mum asked, collapsing into the chair to take a breather after the day she and Dad just had.
I looked at the snake and smiled. “Fluffy.”
“Fluffy?” Ada asked. “What sort of name is that?”
“He’s a snake.” Reginald pointed out. “He’s the opposite of fluffy.”
“Well, let me ask him what he thinks.” A small his from him told me he liked it. “He says he likes it. So his name is Fluffy. Fluffy Malcolm Hawthorne.”
He took to his name quite well and happily hissed in a way that almost sounded like he was saying his name. Hearing that made me smile broadly. From that moment on, I knew we would be best friends. No matter what.
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