Page 25 of Wild for You
To my surprise, it flaps its wings dramatically and spins around in a circle.
“Jack, I think he likes me!” I skip forward to get a closer look and repeat my call.
Again, the bird gives me a show, fluffing up his feathers and stomping his feet. I feel like I’ve shed some piece of myself by immersing in something bigger than I ever imagined. I kind of get it now.
Eyes wide and heart racing, I glance back at Jack, who’s wearing a proud grin on his face. He’s got his camera pointed at the colorful bird and me, and I can barely hear him teaching his audience about the rare encounter.
I’m encouraged by the attention and make sure to adjust my sleep dress for as much modesty as possible. I walk toward it, extending my hand out as an offering. The bird seems just as fascinated by me as I am by it. When I’m finally an arm's length away, I stretch my fingers, channeling my inner Snow White and singsong, “Here, birdie birdie birdie.”
To my absolute delight, he fluffs up his feathers and clamps a scaly foot around my finger. I’m surprised by the weight of him, and my hand falters just a little—then he lunges at me.
Black and yellow feathers flap angrily against my face, and I try to shield myself the best I can with my arms, but then it begins dive bombing me. “Jack! Help me! I think it’s trying to kill me!”
I hear Jack laughing in the distance, and I don’t have to look to know he’s recording every second of the attack.
“Mother fucking devil bird!” I scream as I swing blindly at the flying tyrant, never making contact. Another ambush to my face makes me fall back onto my butt, and pain radiates up my body. The bird, satisfied with its K.O., rushes toward the tree line, and I moan, half humiliated and half furious that Jack caught the whole thing on camera. I can sufficiently die of embarrassment now.
“Ouch!” I whine. “What did I ever do to you, you damn bird!”
As I start to get up, Jack sternly whispers, “Don’t move.”
I immediately lay back down, as if Jack’s somehow used a Jedi mind trick to control my body. I’ve never heard this tone from him, and chills pebble along my skin. I find him staring at me, his eyes wide and dark like he’s on high alert. His face has gone pale, and he’s standing only a few feet away from me, but it may as well be miles as far as I’m concerned.
My body stiffens, and I freeze as my fight or flight response takes over. “What is it?” I hiss. Urging him to tell me as I try to look for whatever has Jack looking like he’s just seen a ghost.
“There’s a highly venomous snake right by your—”
Before he can finish his sentence, I feel something slither around my thigh. “Oh my God,” I whimper. “Jack, please get it off.”
My heart is pounding so hard, and all I want to do is get up and run as fast as I can, get as far away from the threat as possible, but I’ve seen Jurassic Park, and I’ve never identified with such pure paralyzing fear until now.
“Gwen, I need you to hold very still. Do not move an inch, do you understand me?” Jack lowers himself to a squat ever so slowly but doesn’t make a move to get any closer.
“Yeah, I can do that, but … it’s … it’s—” I squeeze my eyes shut, stifling a cry, as the snake's smooth, heavy body slowly inches its way up toward my torso, its head creeping up the bottom of my nightgown.
Jack inches a little closer, now that the animal’s head is fully covered by the hem of my nightgown. “You’re doing great,” he assures me in a low, calm voice.
I plead with him with my eyes as a hot tear rolls down my cheek.
“I’m going to come closer now, but I need you to be brave, okay, baby? Hold perfectly still.”
I nod ever so slightly and squeeze my eyes closed as I breathe slow, shallow breaths, trying my best to hold as still as possible.
“That’s it. You’re doing great,” he assures me. “On the count of three, I’m going to lift your shirt and grab it, okay?”
“Okay,” I say through a silent sob and let my head fall back on the cool, hard earth. I haven’t given much thought to how I would die, but lying here completely helpless while an actual predator creeps up my body isn’t how I’d ever imagined it happening.
A wave of memories flashes through my mind as my brain forces a replay of some of my core memories. My angry father, screaming at me when he found out I didn’t apply to law school; the equally terrified yet delightful feeling of walking through my college campus for the first time; the awkwardly disappointing loss of my virginity at my senior prom; but mostly the long lonely nights spent at home combing over work that bleeds into the late night hours.
I want to shake the memories away, to get up and run as fast and as far as I can so that I never have to face them again.
“I’m going to lift your shirt now, okay?” Jack’s calm voice frees me from the tortuous playback reel, and I suck in a sharp breath, clenching my hands so hard that my fingernails pierce my palms.
I feel him move beside me as he slowly lifts the hem of my night dress. “One. Two—”
He clamps down on the snake's heavy body before he says three and jerks it off me. A flash of cold air coats my skin where the snake’s body used to be, and I cry out in relief. Shivers run up and down my body as I begin to shake, the fear finally running its course.
I turn on my side, pulling my legs up to my chest as the guttural cries rip through me.
